Digitalisation and AI are reaching every corner. The path from science to international relations. The next challenge: customs
It is clear that everything changes and that change is always linked to negatives, which are always considered to break routines, which human beings themselves have considered did not need to change, but “digitalization” comes to show us that changes are more real every day and that this reality is difficult to assimilate due to the speed of the process, artificial intelligence runs towards unknown scenarios and in the face of all this uncertainty, do we change? Do we wait to see what others do? The most curious thing about all this is that “artificial intelligence” is the one that sets out guidelines for us to find answers to these questions and even more curious, if we stop to think, artificial intelligence itself is supported by work developed by human intelligence , it is man who works with all those data that will give answers to all those questions and in the end, we will have to adapt to the change that will be marked by the response of artificial intelligence, developed by humans.
Digitalization goes through customs
The customs environment is not left out of all these changes , it can even be said that it is very clear that these changes have already begun because, we cannot forget, among other variables, that “customs” are part of the “administration” and some years ago we were forced to communicate “digitally” with the entire administration, as companies and professionals, supported by “digital certificates” that record and are fed with the data that we ourselves provide and that are the basis of the digital transformation in the new communication processes between company-customs-company.
Importers and exporters can attest to how they had to communicate to customs, digitally and from the AEAT website itself , who were their representatives in customs operations. This was already taken care of by the Union Customs Code (UC) in 2014 when it established the first guidelines for the development of “ Digital Customs in the Territory of the Union ”. However, it was of course so ambitious, as well as novel and innovative, that this change was not believed in, it needed time or it was simply not possible or wanted to see the need for adaptation .
What is clear,
very clear, is that customs have continued to work, at a global level, understanding the territorial, political or economic limitations of each country, where customs work made a bet on digitalization as clear as it is real and that according to the SAFE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK , in 2010, the World Customs Organization (WCO) established guidelines so that electronic information was established as a priority with the sole objective of streamlining the communication process between customs, ports and companies, guaranteeing security focused on the final consumer to whom , the transmission of the data would provide real traceability to each and every one of their purchases and in all this time, online commerce has continued its operation and today, it has far exceeded the expectations that were had in the movement of goods, it has even expanded the actors in it, no longer only exchanges are made between companies or from companies to individuals, now it is the individuals themselves who can carry out “commercial exchanges” between themselves and with the support of platforms that are invading the globe, and in this situation, there are still actors who continue to think about whether or not they should assimilate the change and adapt to the digital customs process that is eating up traditional spaces.
Faced with all these new scenarios that have been completely identified after the pandemic, there is only one way out: to adapt, not because of a “legal imperative” but rather because of “common sense”, to digital processes that simplify, streamline and guarantee this new scenario, where trade is increasingly digital and global.
The steps to follow
The World Customs Organization (WCO) has established a work plan that prioritizes the approach of companies to their new digital processes . The WCO has recognized that international trade pivots between companies that are SMEs and in a family business environment, where, worldwide, more than 90% of the international business figure is developed by them and that, statistically, it is proven that their real operation is outside the irregularities and crimes pursued by customs legislation. All the regulations that are developed for the protection of the environment, the defense of minors and the corresponding persecution of child labor. Add to this the fiscal and tax control of companies, the persecution of smuggling, counterfeiting or criminal environments within the international exchange of people, capital or products. Therefore, economic measures are focused on pursuing these gears that do not comply with the norm and not on persecuting the SME. The regulations establish that all companies that are verified as “safe and reliable” by customs itself may be recognized as
AUTHORIZED ECONOMIC OPERATOR (AEO)
companies and enjoy a series of benefits and advantages. An initiative that would avoid inspections, controls and breaks in their international logistics chain and, therefore, digitally facilitate the exchange of data for the benefit of the new digital processes of global platforms where products that have already been accepted by customs are exchanged.
Importing and exporting companies are obliged to update all their administrative procedures and adapt their daily operations to digital processes. To do so, they must be certified as OEA companies. These processes will differentiate them in everything that involves commercial exchange, with the aim of not losing market share. Currently, the end consumer has information about products that is as changing as their interests and needs linked to digital exchange options that offer faster changes than the company can assimilate in its manufacturing and marketing processes. The consumer will buy OEA products not only because of the product guarantee but also because of the speed and agility in shipments, and that is not just digitalization, it is savings in the buying and selling process .
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