The New Computerised Transit System (NCTS) is a Europe-wide digital system designed to provide better management and control of goods under Union and Common Transit. It involves all EU countries and Common Transit Convention (CTC) contracting parties. Based on transit declarations, NCTS processes safety and security data for entry and exit formalities.
NCTS comprises interconnected national applications which exchange messages on a common network. These messages are exchanged electronically on three levels:
- between the economic operators and customs (‘external domain’);
- between customs offices of one country (‘national domain’);
- among the national customs administrations themselves and with the Commission (‘common domain’).
Why is NCTS important?
NCTS facilitates the movement of goods between two points in the customs territory of the Union (CTU) while passing through or ending in an area outside that customs territory. In this process, there is no change in the customs status of those goods. NCTS also enables Common Transit, which facilitates the movement of goods between CTC contracting parties.
History of NCTS
In 1997, the Commission adopted an action plan to reform the transit system in Europe. This reform aimed to recreate a balanced, realistic and trustworthy transit system for economic operators and customs authorities.
One major pillar of this action plan was the development of a New Computerised Transit System (NCTS) to better monitor, streamline and speed up transit processes. NCTS was launched in 2004 and became mandatory for Union and Common Transit in 2005.
NCTS has been released over several phases. Phase 4 was released in 2009, and Phase 5 is currently being implemented, with a full deployment date of 2 December 2024.
Transition to NCTS-P5
Impact of transition from NCTS-P4 to –P5 on business processes
NCTS Phase 5 has several new features: the alignment of information exchanges with Union Customs Code (UCC) data requirements, the upgrade and synchronisation of interfaces with other systems for better supervision when several procedures and systems are involved, and other new functionalities.
The table below summarizes the impact of the transition from P4 to P5 on the business processes:
- The first step of implementation covers NCTS’ core functionalities. It ensures operational continuity of the system through a standard transit declaration (core flow), simplified procedure at departure/destination (authorised consignor/consignee), amendment/invalidation, diversion (at transit and destination offices), inquiry/recovery processes and the sending of business statistics. It may also cover non-core functionalities. The deadline for National Customs Administrations to deploy this first step was 1 December 2023.
- The second step covers newly introduced NCTS-P5 functionalities such as the development of an interface harmonised with Automated Export System (AES), declarations lodged prior to the presentation of goods, declarations with reduced datasets, incidents ‘en route’, and formalities for the office of exit. Some countries have chosen to develop and deploy the first and second step together in one go. The deadline for full implementation of NCTS-P5 is 2 December 2024.
For more information on NCTS implementation, please consult the UCC Work Programme.
See below a schema illustrating those steps.
29 countries (Member States and other countries which are part of the Common Transit Convention) have deployed the new phase 5 of NCTS and in all countries the operations are running smoothly.
North-Macedonia (MK), and Greece (GR) are expected to join during the month of December to be followed by the final group of countries with Andorra (AD), Belgium (BE), Hungary (HU), Malta (MT), Portugal (PT) and San Marino (SM) which are expected to go-live in January.
It’s worth reminding that the legal deadline for the deployment by Member States (MSs), Common Transit Convention (CTC) contracting parties and economic operators to deploy and use NCTS5 is 2/12/2024. The delayed countries and the economic operators involved in transit operations in these countries are using the transitional period which runs till 21/01/2025 to get the final touches to their new system and interfaces. Attention should be drawn to the fact that besides the technical aspects also business adjustments will be needed in the way that data is collected and submitted to NCTS5.
To present, more than 85% of the transit declarations and related messages are being transmitted through this new system in compliance within the deadline. The remaining 15% is to be transitioned in the upcoming weeks in line with the national plans and transition strategies defined by each of the countries, and with as ultimate deadline for all stakeholders being 21/01/2025.
The transition and migration period ends also for the economic operators at the latest by 31/12/2024 for Ireland (IE) and by 20/01/2025 for France (FR).
In view of the final take-off of the NCTS5 on 21/01/2025, all MSs, CTC countries and economic operators are asked to be well-prepared and to take the necessary extra measures for this upcoming crucial event!
The graphic below summarizes the deployment status for all MSs and CTC countries.
Transit Declaration structure in NCTS-P5
In NCTS-P5, the format of the Transit Declaration now consists of four Levels of detail instead of two levels in NCTS-P4 :
- Declaration level: The data elements of the declaration level contain information that applies to the entire declaration.
- Master Consignment Level: The data elements of the master consignment level contain information that applies to a transport contract issued by a carrier and direct contracting party.
- House Consignment Level: The data elements of the house consignment level contain information that applies to the lowest transport contract issued by a freight forwarder, non-vessel or aircraft operating common carrier or agent or a postal operator.
- House Consignment Goods Item Level: The house consignment goods item level is a sub-Level to the House consignment. It contains information that originate from different positions in the transport document referred to in the current house consignment.
In practical terms, data elements that are related to the whole declaration appear at Declaration level, information about the whole consignment is at Master consignment level, data which belong to a particular house consignment are at House consignment level, and information about the goods are placed at House consignment item level.
When there is one item in a transit declaration, the information will be entered at Declaration + Master Consignment + House Consignment level and there is one House consignment item level. When there are multiple items on a transit declaration then there are Declaration + Master consignment data, but depending on the number of the lowest transport contracts, there can be several House consignments and each can contain several goods items. See below a schema illustrating those points.
How to prepare for NCTS-P5?
To correctly deploy NCTS-P5, it is important for national authorities to strictly follow the latest available technical specifications. This ensures harmonised implementation across authorities.
Particular attention must be paid to conformance testing. This ensures business continuity and enables a reliable product capable of processing exchanges between NCTS countries. Planning for conformance testing is crucial, since this activity can take a significant amount of time.
It is also important to maintain close contact - both between customs administrations and with the trade community - so that all relevant stakeholders are informed about the steps that national authorities are taking.
New features in NCTS-P6
NCTS-P6 will be released in March-September 2025. It features specific requirements for safety and security data in transit customs declarations of goods brought into the Safety and Security Area (SSA) of EU countries plus Norway and Switzerland.
NCTS-P6 is divided into two approaches: opt-in and opt-out.
- By opting in, a country chooses to connect to ICS2 via the Transit ENS Data (TED) Processing Bridge, a converter that helps communicate ENS data to ICS2 (Article 130(1), UCC). This link with ICS2 means that economic operators (EOs) can now submit only one declaration, instead of two separate ones to NCTS and ICS2.
- By opting out, a country chooses not to connect to ICS2. Therefore, ENS data cannot be used by NCTS. Nevertheless, these countries must update their systems to NCTS-P6 specifications. A country may later decide to move from opt-out to opt-in.
How does NCTS work?
Transit declarations include information on items carried, their sender and recipient, the mode of transportation, the intended route and the customs offices engaged. The holder of the transit procedure must also provide a valid guarantee.
When a transit declaration is accepted, NCTS generates a unique ID called the Master Reference Number (MRN). The MRN enables the product’s movement to be tracked throughout its transportation procedure. Customs officers in each customs office can track the movement of goods via NCTS to ensure that they travel on the authorised path. See below a schema of the process.
When a movement is initiated, the holder of the transit procedure receives a digital Transit Accompanying Document (TAD) or MRN of the transit declaration to confirm that it has been accepted, can be released for transit. The vehicle containing the goods can then go to the first Customs Office of Transit (if any).
If the consignment is destined for outside of the Safety and Security Area (SSA), it arrives at the Customs Office of Exit for Transit to leave the SSA. If its risk analysis results are positive and permission to leave the SSA is granted, the consignment arrives at the Customs Office of Transit where frontier-crossing processing occurs. Subsequently, the consignment leaves either for the next Customs Office of Transit or ends its journey at its destination.
When a consignment arrives at its destination, the goods are presented to the Customs Office of Destination. The trader sends an arrival notification, which is processed by the customs office. Once processing is complete and the destination control results are received, the Customs Office of Departure writes off the movement and releases the guarantee.
In case the Customs Office of Departure does not receive any feedback or control results on the movement from Customs Office of Destination within the expected period, an enquiry procedure is started. Depending on the results of the enquiry and/or potential discrepancies, a recovery procedure may be started, and additional taxes and duties may need to be collected. In all cases, sooner or later, the movement is written off.
NCTS and transit movements
There are several forms of transit movements which require processing via NCTS:
Used for customs transit operations between EU countries (and Andorra and San Marino). It is generally applicable to the movement of non-Union goods for which customs duties and other charges are at stake. It is also used for Union goods which, between their point of departure and point of destination in the EU, must pass through the territory of a third country.
Used for the movement of goods between EU countries, EFTA countries (Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland), Turkey (since 1 December 2012), the Republic of North Macedonia (since 1 July 2015), Serbia (since 1 February 2016), the United Kingdom (since 1 January 2021), and Ukraine (since 1 October 2022). The procedure is based on the Convention of 20 May 1987. The rules are effectively identical to those of Union transit.
Generally applicable to non-Union goods. It allows for non-Union goods to be moved from one point to another point within the CTU or between CTU and CTC countries with customs duties and other charges suspended.
Generally applicable to Union goods. It allows goods to temporarily leave and re-enter the CTU while maintaining Union status.
Allows goods to be transported across multiple borders using a single TIR carnet, thus travelling between customs offices in two countries or customs unions - of departure (entry) of destination (exit). The TIR carnet is used as a customs declaration which also serves as an internationally valid guarantee for the payment of suspended duties and taxes. Note: the CTU is to be considered as one territory. In addition to the paper TIR carnet, the holder is obliged to lodge the data in the NCTS system. The TIR carnet is only valid when the related guarantee is accepted in the CTU.
NCTS connects with national risk analysis systems and ensures that risks analysis is initiated once transit data is received and validated by NCTS.
National risk analysis systems carry out the required analysis and send the results together with a control recommendation back to the NCTS.
Within the countries of the SSA, NCTS forwards the risk analysis results, control recommendations and control results to the relevant Customs Offices involved.
When EOS-registered traders are to be declared in an NCTS message, the unique Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) number shall be declared. When validating a received NCTS message, the NCTS consults the EOS through the CRS to check the provided EORI number. If the declared EORI number is invalid or if it is not declared where required, NCTS rejects the transit dataset.
Authorised Economic Operators (AEO) and their AEO certificates are registered and managed in the EOS. When validating a received dataset, NCTS consults the EOS to check whether the appropriate traders are registered as AEOs and whether they have a valid AEO-certificate of the relevant type. The query will be performed based on the declared EORI or Third-Country Unique Identification Number (TCUIN).
CDS enables electronic processing and central storage of the applications and authorisations, as well as the publication of the list of holders on the Internet.
This system facilitates the necessary consultations between EU countries’ customs authorities during the decision-taking period and the management of the authorisations process.
When validating a received data set for which authorisations are valid in more than one EU country, NCTS consults the CDS to check the existence and validity of the customs decisions.
When export is followed by transit, EU countries’ NCTS need to connect with AES. Part of the so-called national domain, this is to synchronise and optimise transit and export procedures and avoid open movements.
For both external and internal transit, NCTS and AES exchange the following information:
- Goods are released for Transit;
- Goods are not released for Transit;
- The Transit declaration is amended;
- The Transit declaration is invalidated.
In case of control: when Control Results are communicated to the Customs Office of Departure, NCTS will inform AES that there are positive/negative Control Results.
In case of negative Control Results, NCTS will inform AES about the identified discrepancies of the movement. Finally, in exceptional cases of recovery, NCTS will inform AES at the start of the recovery.
NCTS-P5 interacts with the centrally deployed TARIC3 system to validate the commodity codes declared in the transit declaration.
The aim of TARIC is to be a compilation of the community tariff, commercial and agricultural legislation, codified in a unique and consistent way.
NCTS is to be tightly coupled with ICS2 Release 3. The NCTS-ICS2 interface (via the Transit ENS Data Processing Bridge (TED)) will support the interactions required to manage the submission and further lifecycle of ENS particulars contained in a (combined) transit declaration.
Legal texts
- Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 October 2013 laying down the Union Customs Code
- Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446 of 28 July 2015 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards detailed rules concerning certain provisions of the Union Customs Code
- Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447 of 24 November 2015 laying down detailed rules for implementing certain provisions of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the Union Customs Code
- Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2023/2879 of 15 December 2023 establishing the Work Programme relating to the development and deployment for the electronic systems provided for in the Union Customs Code
- Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/341 of 17 December 2015 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards transitional rules for certain provisions of the Union Customs Code where the relevant electronic systems are not yet operational and amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446
- Convention on a Common Transit Procedure
Important links
- Union and Common Transit
- UCC Work Programme - incl. national project plans for AES and NCTS
- MRN Follow-up (Export & Transit)
- Reference Data & Customs Offices List
- Transit Movements Electronic Map of the EU and selected countries
