III. Match the words in column A with the appropriate words in column B.

IV. Use the collocations in the assignment above and make short but extensive slogans advertising e-Customs.

V. Are the following statements true or false? Provide the necessary information for them.

1. The European Union is the largest Customs union in the world, with a market of some 50 million citizens and nearly 10% of world imports.

2. The purpose of e-Customs is to guard against smuggling, fraud, environmental contamination and counterfeiting.

3. The European e-Customs protect endangered species and goods only.

4. E-Customs means using digital systems to perform several functions.

5. E-Customs operations in Europe are challenging.

6. Many EU member states have not used electronic declarations yet.

7. There are pressures towards e-Customs from the EU itself.

8. EMCS is a computerized system for monitoring the area’s cultural heritage, and intellectual capital rights.

9. The EMCS asset enables tax and customs administrations to process excise declarations electronically.

10. There are some examples of e-Customs systems.

VI. Act out a dialogue between the IBM specialist and a Customs officer on the topic of e-Customs. Use the vocabulary and information from the article.

TEXT B. CUSTOMS AUTOMATION SYSTEM

I. Read the text and translate all the marked words and phrases.

Prior to the introduction of an automated system, trade-related documents were manually processed by Customs officers. Given the constraints faced by Customs because of the increasing volume of international trade and limited number of officers, Customs implemented Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) to control all Customs commercial operations by introducing computer clearance system for exports in 1998. The system has been expanded to cover imports and fully implemented at seaports and airports nationwide in 2000.

Key Application Areas

Customs uses ICT to support its administration and business needs in two major areas: service delivery to importers and exporters; and office automation. The automation of Customs service delivery to importers/exporters and related operators includes the following main application areas: goods declaration processing; cargo clearance processing; revenue collection; tax and duty drawback; collection of trade statistics;andrisk management profiles.

An office automation system, on the other hand, is designed to increase the productivity of Customs administration by supporting the coordinating and communicating activities of Customs offices. The main application areas of office automation system include, for example, the Legislation System, the Finance System (GFMIS) and the Human Resources System.

E-Customs

In recent years, Customs shifted its focus from EDI to an open system philosophy that would enable it to electronically exchange information by different means with all of its clients (commercial and non-commercial), partners (other government departments/agencies, both national and international) and employees. This project required the redesign of all existing client server applications to shift the existing service delivery to a Web based application, applying ebXML (electronic business using eXtensible Markup Language) as a standard message.

To build on earlier success, Customs implemented a new generation of Customs computer automation system known as “e-Customs”. e-Customs utilizes Internet services, and is consistent with the standards and guidelines expressed in the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC). The principal Customs process and procedures redesigned as part of the e-Customs system included various main application areas, like cargo control, goods declaration processing,andrevenue accounting. Furthermore, the new Customs computer automation system was also integrated with the systems of other government agencies and clients, including transport operators, banks, free zone and warehouse operators. The new system is able to handle various types of Customs services and clients, provide high security, high availability and quick response times. Apart from integration at the national level, there is also a project under the framework of ASEAN Strategic Plan for Customs Development (SPCD) to integrate automation systems among ASEAN members. Ultimately, a “Single Window” system will make the regulatory process seamless for both import and export both at the national and regional levels.

The “e-Customs” was implemented on 1 January 2007, comprising of e-Import, e-Export, e-Manifest, e-Payment, and e-Warehouse. It provides clients such as exporters, importers, Customs brokers and shipping companies with a paperless environment and a one stop service. Clients no longer submit hard copies of the Customs declaration as well as the air waybill, bill of lading, invoice, packing list and other supporting documents with some exceptional cases such as licenses with other government agencies. Under the EDI scheme, several steps such as verification of classification and valuation were processed by Customs officers; however e-Customs eliminates any intervention of Customs officers, that is, all the procedures from submission of Customs declaration to decision of screening under selectivity are processed automatically.

Date: 2016-01-14; view: 858