Extending the EU Import Control System 2 to road and rail transport changed the timing of an old responsibility. Safety and security data now has to be provided before the goods arrive, so there is less room to fix vague information at the last moment.
Rail cargo is especially unforgiving, because several parties may handle the information along the route. Once the train is moving, corrections can be slow and it gets hard to trace who is responsible. Road shipments run into the same issue when the declaration is prepared from documents received shortly before arrival. And none of this is only the forwarder's issue. A good declaration starts with the purchase order and the commercial documents.
Before booking a road or rail shipment, we would check that:
- the product description properly identifies the goods. Words like accessories, samples or machine parts may be perfectly clear inside a company, but as customs data they are weak;
- the supplier uses the same product name on the invoice, the packing list and the carton markings. If not, the forwarder receives a problem instead of a shipment;
- consignor, consignee, routing and classification details are consistent across every document;
- product descriptions are standardised, and responsibility for the HS classification is agreed;
- the commercial documents reach the forwarder early enough for the declaration to be prepared without a last-minute rush.
The point is not more paperwork. It is that the supplier, the forwarder and the importer describe the same goods the same way, which is now part of transit reliability.