ASYCUDA INFORMATION SHEET - AW-IS/GC

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ASYCUDA INFORMATION SHEET - AW-IS/GC GENERAL CONCEPT The AsycudaWorld concept is the latest result of a process that began when UNCTAD identified the first signs of the potential of the World Wide

1 ASYCUDA INFORMATION SHEET - AW-IS/GC GENERAL CONCEPT The AsycudaWorld concept is the latest result of a process that began when UNCTAD identified the first signs of the potential of the World Wide Web. The wide implementation of an AsycudaWorld system including business-togovernment and government-to-government transactions is likely to have a significant impact on the development of e-government driven reforms.

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3 UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT 1. FOREWORD AsycudaWorld is the latest result of a process that began when UNCTAD identified the first signs of the commercial potential of the World Wide Web. UNCTAD s Trade Efficiency Summit (Columbus, Ohio, 1994) looked at how to reduce transaction costs by applying information technologies to every link of the trade transaction chain. At the time, the potential annual cost savings were estimated at up to $100 billion. The $100 billion target remains elusive, but an initiative launched by the G-7 was based on the belief that it was nonetheless achievable, as long as customs data requirements can be harmonized and simplified. That objective is now being pursued by the Brussels-based World Customs Organization, which is developing a global, harmonized standard data set that uses uniform electronic messages. The WCO Customs Data Model, as it is called, is likely to have a major impact on the processing of businessto-business, business-to-government and government-to-government transactions. These developments, combined with the fact that 85 countries around the world are already using the same customs IT system, ASYCUDA, represent a formidable opportunity for using the Internet to make international trade simpler and cheaper whilst also making international markets more accessible to enterprises from developing countries. AsycudaWorld builds upon the successful experiences of ASYCUDA++, which was designed to function in difficult telecommunications environments, but also to operate through GSM networks that are already widespread in developing countries. Being web-based, the AsycudaWorld system will allow Customs Administrations and traders to handle most of their transactions from Customs Declarations to Cargo Manifests and Transit documents via Internet. 2. PRINCIPLES AsycudaWorld is being developed in line with the traditional strategic objectives: ASYCUDA should assist Customs Administrations reforms and modernisation, by supporting both facilitation of legitimate trade and efficiency of Customs clearance controls. ASYCUDA INFORMATION SHEET - AW-IS/GC 1

4 ASYCUDA must implement harmonized codes, international standards, simplified procedures etc. ASYCUDA should fit the requirements of all Customs operations worldwide: a unique, parameterised system, which brings a vast economy of scale, allowing UNCTAD to propose cost-effective solutions. Any specific enhancement must maintain the functional and technical coherence of the system. ASYCUDA is provided by UNCTAD at no cost 1. The implementation of the system is carried out through UNCTAD Technical Assistance projects, comprising general support activities, training, documentation and/or specific product developments on cost-recovery [non profit] basis. ASYCUDA products should match the highest standards of quality the industry. In addition and based upon the extensive and inside knowledge and understanding of the beneficiary countries, the following paramount principles are governing the development of AsycudaWorld: (1) The investments made previously by the beneficiary countries and/or donor organisations in the computerisation of Customs Administrations using ASYCUDA should be protected. (2) The Customs Administrations in the beneficiary countries should have ownership of the system. (3) The implementation of new and reliable IT technologies should support the Customs Administrations operational priorities. 2.1 Protection of previous investments In accordance with this principle, AsycudaWorld is being developed to coexist with and operate in the environment of ASYCUDA++: an operational Integrated Customs Information System (ICIS) based on ASYCUDA++ could integrate AsycudaWorld components, which could replace partially or totally an ASYCUDA++ module, or could complement an ASYCUDA++ function, using the same databases; ASYCUDA++ Customs sites and AsycudaWorld Customs sites could co-exist within the same ICIS; 1 Offering a multi-million dollar software at no cost is made possible by economy of scale. INFORMATION SHEET - AW-IS/GC 2

5 AsycudaWorld components are fully compatible with modules developed by the beneficiary Customs Administration complementary to ASYCUDA++ system, in accordance with national requirements. This approach allows the beneficiary countries to implement AsycudaWorld at their pace and according to each individual country technical decisions and available financial resources. Asycuda World is being developed with state-of-art IT technologies and this involves powerful computers to implement and operate the system. It is therefore each beneficiary country decision when to start implementation of the Asycuda World and in which area of the customs business. 2.2 Countries ownership The philosophy of implementing and enhancing ASYCUDA in a beneficiary country follows the paramount principle of country s ownership of the system. The implementation of AsycudaWorld is more than before based on this approach. The transfer of technical know-how to national Project Teams at earliest stage, through seminars and train-the-trainers sessions, is one of the major priorities of the programme. In addition, the source code of the AsycudaWorld components will be provided to the beneficiary Customs Administrations. This combined with the facilities offered by new IT technologies will allow national Technical Teams to adapt the system according to specific national requirements, complying however with all harmonized codes and international standards in the Customs sector. AsycudaWorld is offering the possibility to develop national extensions or components from already existing AsycudaWorld components. The national Project Teams will be trained to make the national developments by using all the facilities offered by the system and the technology. It is estimated that such a development reduces the programming and testing time by approx. 60%. 2.3 Full advantage of new technologies AsycudaWorld takes full advantage of new IT technologies to ensure the implementation of one/several AsycudaWorld component/s in the ICIS operational environment without any disruption of the operational system. INFORMATION SHEET - AW-IS/GC 3

6 AsycudaWorld also ensures the automatic deployment and maintenance of the system at local, regional and national levels, which: increases the coherence of the system and, implicitly, of the customs operations significantly reduces the workload of the national Project Team reduces costs associated to these activities. 3. FUNCTIONALITIES AsycudaWorld continues to promote and to support the application of modern operational principles that all Customs Administrations target: Effective management of the Customs clearance process; Selective examination practice; Trader compliance; Anticipated or guaranteed payment schemes to facilitate trade and secure duty collection; Control of trade routing to approved Customs clearance offices. The core functionalities of the system are designed to: facilitate and improve the calculation, collection and accounting of Customs duties and other charges related to Customs operations; speed-up the clearance of goods and prevent smuggling; provide the Customs management with timely and accurate information. This is accomplished by: Automatic verification, validation and accounting of Customs declarations; Uniform application of the law and of correct duty rates; Ability to monitor and trace payment of duties and taxes; Control of value and description of goods correctness through the use of on-line valuation and tariff databases; Selection of risk transaction for control purposes; INFORMATION SHEET - AW-IS/GC 4

7 Faster processing of documents and minimised manual document handling; Implementation of systematic working methods and optimal allocation of tasks and resources. 4. TECHNOLOGICAL ARCHITECTURE The AsycudaWorld platform complies with the following overall requirements: Internet based; Independent of RDBMS; Independent of hardware platforms; Resilience to telecom breakdowns; Scalability; Built-in security features; Product entry cost (programmers training); Availability of specific features: multilingual, document ownership management, audit facilities etc. The Programme selected the Java 2 technology and derived products. The key technical buzzwords are Java SDK 1.4, SWING GUI, JDBC, SSL, HTML, XML, PKI etc, and various off-the-shelve technical components and object libraries. The platform is based on a sophisticated technical architecture that does away with the need to maintain permanent connections with a national server something that is particularly important for countries with unreliable telecommunications 3. Where telecommunications are more reliable, the traditional Web approach can be used. The AsycudaWorld platform also exploits the potential of mobile Internet access devices. AsycudaWorld can work with all major RDBMS (including Oracle, Sybase, DB2, Informix, SQL Server etc) and most of the operating systems (such as Linux, Solaris, HP-UX, AIX and MS/Windows). The platform s use of XML (extensible mark-up language) allows the exchange of any document 2 3 Java is a trademark of SUN MICROSYSTEMS Traders uploading their documents through direct connections to servers or through the Internet get good response time using a plain GSM mobile phone modem working at 9600 baud. INFORMATION SHEET - AW-IS/GC 5

8 inside and outside the system, between Customs Administrations and traders and between Customs Administrations in different countries. It is Java-native, meaning that it was designed as an open standard to be used with Java and that countries can thus modify or extend the application without requesting assistance from UNCTAD. And it is fully compatible with ASYCUDA++, ensuring a smooth transition to e-customs for user countries. It implements the concept of e-documents that, once plugged into the AsycudaWorld platform, reflect in the IT world the paper documents 4 used currently and implement the required business processes. The great advantage of this approach is that since e-documents are ubiquitous and invisible, it opens a wealth of new functionality: AsycudaWorld platform is therefore ideal for promoting business process reform and e-government. The selected technology will be particularly useful to countries where poor fixed-line telecommunications are a major problem for e-government applications. It is however powerful enough to accommodate the operational and managerial needs of Customs operations in any industrialized country as well. 5. BENEFITS The implementation of ASYCUDA in general means greater tax revenue collection and lower transaction costs, making it a showcase for e- government. A secondary benefit is its effectiveness in combating fraud, corruption and illicit trafficking, as it gives customs authorities in different countries their first-ever tool for working together online. The system uses all international standards for trade data under the conventions and recommendations of such bodies as the World Customs Organisation (WCO) and the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). Normalisation and standardisation are essential keywords for a streamlined clearance process and the ASYCUDA programme is actively participating in the organisations that are maintaining these norms, such as the WCO Customs Data Model. Using world standards confers to countries using ASYCUDA a competitive advantage in terms of trade facilitation. In those countries where ASYCUDA has been installed over the last two decades, direct benefits have been observed: Direct benefits Faster processing of declarations and thus clearance of goods 4 When a full paperless environment is achieved, paper documents disappear. INFORMATION SHEET - AW-IS/GC 6

9 More efficient controls Accurate and detailed accounting Increased government revenue Accurate and timely statistical data results on external trade Indirect benefits Better and faster economic decision-making Optimisation of available personnel resources Simpler procedures and documentation for trade community Easy aggregation of data regionally and internationally Increased revenue from other sources, e.g. income and company taxation, as the Customs data can be cross-referred. INFORMATION SHEET - AW-IS/GC 7

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