UNI-PASS: Korea's Customs Modernization Tool

DOSSIER

UNI-PASS: Korea’s Customs modernization tool

By Hoon-Goo Cho, years. It enables the KCS to electronically Real-time cargo tracking management DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE INFORMATION AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS BUREAU, process 430 million declarations and 50 through the Cargo Management System million travellers per year. UNI-PASS The system collects Bills of Lading from and Sung-Hoon Nam, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE INFORMATION PLANNING is composed of 77 modules and has five shipping companies, airlines and forwar- DIVISION, KOREA CUSTOMS SERVICE subordinate systems: a Single Window ders, and assigns a cargo tracking num- (SW) system; a clearance management ber to each consignment. The Cargo THE ENVIRONMENT SURROUNDING Customs system; a cargo management system; an Management System is connected to deli- administrations is changing rapidly. information management system; and an very companies, warehouses and other The conclusion by the World Trade administration system. private entities moving goods. It allows Organization (WTO) of its Trade Customs officers and traders to access Facilitation Agreement in December 2013 Main features of UNI-PASS information on the process, as well as the demands that governments make further One-stop service through the Single status of the cargo at each stage, stating efforts to simplify trade procedures and Window the time, the Customs officer in charge and ensure more transparency in trade regu- The system provides a one-stop service the location of the cargo, including access lations. This is further strengthened by for all Customs clearance procedures. to the manifest, the Customs declaration, the WCO’s decision It integrates 39 and other documents required during the to dedicate 2016 to the The KCS has made government agen- clearance procedure. Moreover, the time promotion of ‘Digital cies, enabling the it takes to deliver or clear goods is also Customs’ which great strides to share its sharing of infor- measured in order to avoid logistics issues, encourages Customs experience and know-how mation between such as bottlenecks. to go down the road regulatory agen- of modernization. on electronic clearance cies, Customs Effective Customs clearance of travellers’ systems globally. So and other stake- items through APIS The Korean economy holders (such as The Advance Passenger Information has developed at a far, it has been involved private organiza- System (APIS) uses various data, such as rapid pace since the in the establishment tion mandated by passenger lists, reservation data and the 1970s. For instance, its the government entry/exit history, to analyse risks prior to trade volume, which of electronic Customs to handle requi- the arrival of travellers so that high-risk stood at a meager 2.8 systems in 10 countries, rement verifica- travellers may be selected and controlled, billion US dollars tion tasks); not while ordinary travellers can swiftly clear (USD) at the time, has including Ecuador. just for regulatory their goods or personal items. Fifty million increased 316 times Tanzania and Uzbekistan. permits, but also travellers are screened every year through to reach 885.8 billion for statistics and APIS in order to prevent any harmful USD in 2015, and the information used goods, such as narcotics, guns and explo- number of Koreans for data analysis sives, from entering or exiting the country. travelling abroad has risen 117 times from and decision-making purposes. In addi- 460 thousand to 53.97 million. Confronted tion, it connects 430 thousand entities, Risk management through the IRM-PASS with this reality, the Korea Customs Service such as trading companies, Customs bro- The Integrated Risk Management system (KCS) decided to develop an electronic kers, shipping companies, airlines, deli- (IRM-PASS) analyses not only Customs Customs clearance system called UNI- very companies, and warehouses. data, but also data provided by other PASS, which computerizes Customs pro- entities for analytical/statistical purposes cedures and provides for the automation Reduction of the clearance time through or to create risk profiles and targeting of the clearance process, as a solution to the Clearance Management System criteria not only for goods, but on com- overcome the increase in trade volume The system provides a paperless working panies and travellers. The system creates and travellers, given the limited resources environment for all Customs clearance company profiles and travellers’ profiles available. procedures. Export clearances that used in order to control their behaviour and to take more than one day now take 1.5 analyse their risk patterns. This informa- This was not done overnight, but gra- minutes, and the time taken to process tion is made available to Customs officers dually, through numerous trials and import clearances has been reduced from during various stages of the audit and ins- errors. Today’s system is, therefore, the more than two days to 1.5 hours. It may pection procedures to aid them in their result of years of experience, and of the be mentioned that the system collects one decision-making. high level know-how that the Customs third of Korea’s national tax revenue. administration has accumulated over the

16 WCO news N° 79 February 2016

International cooperation to promote To assist in the establishment of an electro- conversations over the telephone, or ‘Digital Customs’ nic Customs system, a clear understanding through the exchange (sending) of letters The KCS has made great strides to share of the procedures, systems and practices and documentation. A delegation will later its experience and know-how on electronic in place in the recipient country is key. be dispatched. clearance systems globally. So far, it has Administrations requesting assistance been involved in the establishment of elec- must provide a specific and detailed des- The UNI-PASS system cannot be duplica- tronic Customs systems in 10 countries, cription of their environment, and of the ted without the authorization of the office including Ecuador, Tanzania and project they want to develop. They must of the KCS Commissioner which holds the Uzbekistan. The KCS also assists foreign also demonstrate a strong will, and high patent and trade mark rights of the sys- administrations in their modernization management capacities. tem. It can be deployed partially, that is projects. So far, it has delivered assis- by implementing only selected modules tance to 14 nations, including Cameroon, Experts from both countries must, and connecting them with the existing Tanzania and Uzbekistan. of course, find common ground. legacy systems of the Customs authority, Contacts will, at first, be made through or totally, by replacing the existing legacy system entirely.

When you purchase or receive operating system or application software, it is usually in the form of a compiled object code, without the inclusion of the source code. UNI-PASS is, in contrast, provided toge- ther with the source codes, for a bundled fee, to countries which have the capacity required to use the source codes to custo- mize or upgrade the system when needed.

When it comes to connecting the electronic system to other agencies’ systems, it all depends on whether those agencies have implemented a paperless working environment or not. As for a government agency with an existing operations system, it will have to be connected through the UNI- PASS SW module. When a user lodges an application for ‘requirement verification’ to the SW, it will be automatically sent to the agency for trade-related processing. The result will be returned to the applicant and the UNI-PASS system through the SW facility respectively.

The SW is also equipped with an Authorized Service Program functionality, a platform enabling government authori- ties without their own system to logon to the SW, and electronically process appli- cations, i.e. receive, review and approve requests, and issue and send documents.

Keen to continue sharing the know-how and experience it has accumulated over the years, the KCS invites all Customs administrations wishing to forge cooperation with them to get in contact with the UNI- PASS team.