Postal operators braced for parcel delays in US, EU

 Postal operators are bracing themselves for potential disruption to parcel deliveries with the coming ino force from today (15 March) of the US' STOP Act and the European union  ’s Import Control System 2 (ICS2), an international trade expert has warned.

The STOP Act had originally been due to come into full effect on 1 January  until it was moved to March to give US Customs and Border Protection more time to prepare for the regulations.

The Act requires postal operators to provide a higher level of advance electronic data (AED) than had previously been necessary.

ICS2 is also aimed at postal operators and requires entry summary declarations to be submitted on parcels coming into and through the EU.

Martyn Noble, CEO of UK-based company, Hurricane Commerce,  which specialises in software support services to the cross-border e-commerce sector, said: “15 March is the biggest date in the diary for postal operators this year and the level of preparedness varies from one authority to the next.

“But the stark reality is that, as of next Monday (today), postal operators and their customers will need to produce complete and valid data on their eCommerce shipments.”

He continued: “We have already seen the impact of a lack of quality data on parcels since Brexit on 1 January . The STOP Act and ICS2 are the next major challenges and then we have the introduction of the EU VAT reforms in July.

“With the Coronavirus pandemic continuing to place huge pressures on air freight capacity, the supply chain industry cannot afford delays, returns and additional storage, not to mention the associated extra costs.

“In December, we predicted that a lack of readiness for the STOP Act could result in several hundred million shipments being held up and we believe this remains the case. This is without adding in the impact of ICS2 with the onset of much greater scrutiny.

“The cross-border eCommerce landscape has changed for good, but those postal operators which get their data right will be able to meet these challenges and achieve scale.”

Hurricane’s solutions have been specifically developed to enable customers to meet the challenges of the new regulations.

Hurricane’s Zephyr data enhancement API allows bulk clearance facilities to check, find and populate additional or missing data including product descriptions and HS6 codes.

Meanwhile, its Aura API covers three other critical cross-border functions – duty and tax calculation, prohibited and restricted goods screening and denied parties screening.

Hurricane was established in 2016 and clients include Australia Post, An Post, SEKO Logistics and Lenton Group. Postal operators can access Hurricane’s solutions direct or via the IPC’s Dynamic Merchant Platform (DMP) and UPU.