• April 2024 update: Belgian customs authorities have published an updated timeframe for the MASP projects, which again involves changes to the migration dates of AES Export and NCTS5.

• February 2024 update: Further delay of migrations: Belgian customs authorities have confirmed that AES Export and IDMS will be further postponed. According to the official announcement, AES Export will go live on April 17, 2024, with a subsequent transition period. All operators must have switched to the new AES Export system by August 30, 2024.  A new date for the go-live of IDMS has not yet been announced and depends on the availability of the customs test system for functional testing.

• February 2024 update: Delay requested for go-live of PoUS system to replace paper procedure of T2L/T2LF: According to their announcement, BE customs authorities have officially requested to delay the introduction of the new PoUS system due to technical problems. Therefore, T2L/T2LF documents will be lodged via the PLDA system until further notice. Read the complete article for further details.

General information on MASP timeframes

The MASP (Multi-Annual Strategic Plan) projects include the new systems for import, export, and transit (NCTS5) declarations. The latest timeframe published by Belgian customs authorities can be found here:

MASP timeframe Belgium (updated March 2024)

Following input from different stakeholders of the authorities and the software association CRSNP (Customs Related Software and Network Providers in Belgium), AEB understands not all published dates are reflecting a realistic timing and we expect further updates in the coming weeks as soon as all systems are delivered in a stable test and production environment.

Given the timeframes imposed by the EU Commission (DGTAXUD), we expect that AES Export and NCTS5 will need to be migrated by the end of this year. Migrations for operators could start from June/July, hence, we recommend preparing for a possible migration in Q3/Q4 this year. A timeframe for the go-live of IDMS (Import) is not available yet.

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Change in the submission of T2L and T2LF declarations (PoUS)

The European Commission plans to introduce a centralized Proof of Union Status (PoUS) system to prove Union status of goods with electronic means and replace paper-based T2L/T2LF documents.

Paper-based T2L/T2LF documents will no longer be in use after the go-live of the PoUS system. Instead, the new system issues a Movement Reference Number (MRN) when requesting proof. This proof is stored in the PoUS database. Upon entry of the goods into the respective country, the MRN needs to be presented to the customs authorities to consult the evidence and decide whether to grant Union status, or not.

T2L/T2LF requests through the PoUS system will have to be submitted manually via the user interface of the EU Customs Trader Portal. The European Commission currently does not provide an interface (API) for operators.

• For more information regarding the PoUS in general, refer to the official European Commission website.

To be able to issue T2L/T2LF documents via the PoUS system, your company will need to have access to the EU Customs Trader Portal. Further details on the registration process are available on the Belgian customs website.

The PoUS system was scheduled to go-live on March 1, 2024.  However, Belgium customs have formally requested a delay due to technical problems. Therefore, T2L/T2LF documents will be lodged via the PLDA system until further notice.

Changes affecting transit procedures

Read all details regarding the transfer to NCTS Phase 5 in Belgium in this article:

Transfer to NCTS Phase 5 in Belgium.

Changes affecting export and import procedures

The current PLDA system for filing export and import declarations will be replaced by AES Export and IDMS. AES Export and IDMS are completely new declaration systems that will harmonize the processes to the regulations of the UCC and meet the requirements of the EU Customs Data Model.

• AES Export will replace the export section of PLDA and will go live on April 15, 2024 (previously April 17) with a subsequent transition period. All operators must have switched to the new AES Export system by June 30, 2024 (previously August 30, 2024).
• The Import Declaration Management System (IDMS) will replace the import section of PLDA. There have been several delays of the final change-over date, a new date is not yet confirmed and depends on the availability of the customs test system for functional testing.

AEB is currently preparing for the changes and developing the new declaration systems. We will inform all affected customers about the changes via the application and other channels in a timely manner.

What will change with the migration from PLDA (Export) to AES Export?

The changes mainly affect the declaration data that needs to be submitted to customs.
Some of the major changes involve, for instance:

• several new document types
• additional information on delivery terms and transport means
• a change in declaration and procedure types in accordance with UCC regulations

Furthermore, new fields will be available in a declaration, for example:

• an EXS checkbox
• a field for the presentation time
• new fields for commodity codes and document types (at item level)

These new fields need to be filled in the declaration and therefore, the implementation of a few API changes is required, too. This concerns the new information on delivery terms and country as well as the new document types.

Further information

Useful information can be found on the Belgian customs website.