FAQ – Entry summary declarations and ICS2

The main responsibility for submitting an entry summary declaration lies with the transport undertaking or their agent. For example, a forwarding agent may provide information that the transport undertaking needs to submit an entry summary declaration.

Your role is determined by what consignment information you manage and file.

• En maritime carrier files information at master consignment level. This includes vessel number, route, times of departure and arrival, custom office of first entry (COFE), container list etc.
  
  The carrier is usually the person introducing the goods or the person responsible for transporting the goods to the customs territory of the Union. According to the ICS2-HTI definitions, a carrier is defined as follows:
  
  “Carrier means in the context of entry, the person who brings the goods, or who assumes responsibility for the carriage of the goods, into the customs territory of the Union. However,
  
  1) in the case of combined transportation, ‘carrier’ means the person who operates the means of transport which, once brought into the customs territory of the Union, moves by itself as an active means of transport;
  
  2) in the case of maritime or air traffic under a vessel-sharing or contracting arrangement, "carrier" means the person who concludes a contract and issues a bill of lading or air waybill for the actual carriage of the goods into the customs territory of the Union.”
• A maritime house filer holds and files information about goods at house consignment level. They have more details about a consignment, such as information about the consignor and the consignee (e.g. name, e-mail address, telephone number) and information about the contents of the consignment (e.g. description of the goods).
  
  A house filer can be a haulage company, a ground handling agent, an importer, a ship broker or similar.

Documentation about ICS2 Release 3 and explanations about business roles can be found here (download the zip file ICS2-HTI for definations).

Your role is determined by what consignment information you manage and file.

• A Carrier is usually the person introducing the goods or the person responsible for transporting the goods to the customs territory of the Union.
• A Road carrier is usually the operator transporting the goods by road. Take, for example, a lorry transporting goods through the Channel Tunnel from the UK, via France, to Sweden. The Road carrier will provide a complete Entry Summary Declaration (ESD) with data at master and house consignment level.
• A Maritime house filer holds and files information about goods at house consignment level. They have more details about a consignment, such as information about the consignor and the consignee (e.g. name, e-mail address, telephone number) and information about the contents of the consignment (e.g. description of the goods). Examples of a House filer would include a carrier, a ground handling agent or an importer.
• A Road carrier may also be a Maritime house filer. This may be the case for combined transports, for example if a lorry transporting goods by sea from the UK to Sweden passes through France, and the goods are transported both by road and by sea. The carrier will have the Maritime house filer role and be required to file data that complements the data provided by the Maritime carrier. A Road carrier carrying out combined transport, thus holding several roles, can start filing data before 1 April 2025 as Maritime house filer.

An operator can also hold any of these roles if they act on behalf of the Carrier or House filer:

• Notify party - party to be notified A notify party is an entity who has an agreement with and represents an air carrier or person presenting the goods, e.g., freight forwarder, ground handling agent etc. The notify party tag field is indicated in the arrival notification and is part of the arrival notification process.
• Declarant The declarant in this context is the person lodging an ENS or particular ENS filings in their own name or the person in whose name an ENS or particular ENS filing is lodged.
• Representative Any person can appoint a representative to create and lodge the ENS or particular ENS filings in the name and on behalf of the declarant (direct representation) or in the representative’s name but on behalf of the declarant (indirect representation).
  
  

Documentation about ICS2 Release 3 and explanations about business roles can be found here (download the zip file ICS2-HTI for definitions).

Consignors and consignees are not directly involved in the entry summary declaration, unless they hold additional necessary data. This information can then be requested from them by the transport undertaking.

• Trailers without a tractor unit should be treated as containers. In this case, it is the operator of the vessel/ferry who must provide the information.
• Trailers that are connected to a tractor unit must be treated as a lorry. In this case, the lorry operator must provide the information.

In order to be able to submit data in ICS2, the company needs to complete successful tests. You need an EORI number, access to Swedish Customs' online services and a signature certificate. Then you can schedule a test with ICS2.helpdesk@tullverket.se. 

Learn more on How to submit information in the new import control system, ICS2..

Manuals, learning materials and test materials can be found on the website of the European Commission ICS2 EO Self-Conformance Documentation

You should contact the country where the company's EORI was issued, for example a company with a Swedish EORI should contact Swedish Customs.

If the company does not have an EORI number, it should apply for an EORI number in the country where the first customs procedure takes place. The company should subsequently schedule system tests.

As an economic operator, you have three options when filing data in ICS2. Use either of the following:

• Your own system that is compatible with the specifications for ICS2 R3. You should have successfully run the self-conformance tests. Follow the instructions in ‘How to submit information in the new import control system, ICS2’.
• An ITSP system that is compatible with the specifications for ICS2 R3. You should have successfully run the self-conformance tests for the ITSP. Follow the instructions in ‘How to submit information in the new import control system, ICS2’.
• The common STI-STP user interface (Shared Trader Interface/Shared Trader Portal). You need an EORI number and to signed in to EUCTP (STI-STP) via UUM&DS authentication and identification. Here you can enter all the necessary data in accordance with the Common Functional Technical Specification. Link to ‘Apply and declare/Online services for businesses/Entry Summary Declaration in STI/STP (in Swedish)’.

Complete the entry summary declaration according to the specifications and associated business rules. You can download the material from the European Commission's library.

• ICS2 Common Technical System Specifications These are the technical specifications and include, for example, IE message S2S. You can also see which information is mandatory an which is optional.
• ICS2 Common Functional System Specifications Contains the functional specifications, such as code lists, definitions, rules an values.

The extent to which you need to consult the different specifications depends on whether you are using a system-to-system (S2S) solution or the web interface to submit the information. Please consult both specifications to get the full picture.

Yes, log onto the used interface and select your profile icon in the top right corner. Here you can find the user guide.

ICS2 Training Material, EO STP

Choose the ENS filing that suits your mode of transport, your business role and your task level. Once you have selected this Fxx filing, the portal will display the tabs and data elements to be completed.

The ICS2 functional specifications indicate which data are mandatory and which are optional.

Functional specifications for ICS2, as well as related code lists, rules and exceptions

To know what the codes used mean, or the meaning of a concept, you can consult the ICS2 functional specifications. They also provide rules for the different data elements to be completed, as well as a description of the process for each part of an entry summary declaration.

Functional specifications for ICS2, as well as related code lists, rules and exceptions

You can set the email address to receive notifications of ICS2 disruptions and information about activated and deactivated BCP (Business continuity plan). This can be configured in

1. STP/EUCTP: EU Customs Trader Portal
2. Manage preferences: "Unavailability Mailing List".

If you do not have access to STP, the help desk can help you configure your e-mail address.

To know what happens and how you are affected by a disruption in the different components, consult the BCP on the European Commission's website:

BCP, Business Continuity Plan

Please note that the configuration mentioned above only applies to the sending of operational information in the production environment. When performing tests in the system test environment you should also subscribe to IT operational information for ICS2, where information for the test environment is communicated.

Subscribe to IT operational information).

Note: The helpdesk does not have any additional information on disruptions to share other than what is stated in the e-mails sent by ITSM.

An entry summary declaration can be submitted at the earliest 200 days prior to the arrival of the means of transport.

The submission deadline depends on the mode of transportation of your goods:

• For transport by air, an entry summary declaration should be submitted prior to loading in the third country.
• An entry summary declaration for consignments transported by road should be submitted at the latest one hour before the goods arrive at the border.
• An entry summary declaration for consignments transported by rail should be submitted at the latest two hours before the goods arrive at the border.
• The deadline for shipping depends on how the goods are loaded on the ship
• Containerised cargo: 24 hours prior to loading the goods in the port of departure
• Bulk or batch: four hours prior to the arrival of the goods to a port in the EU.
• There are som exceptions, which can be found here.

A common scenario for a combined transport operation is a lorry with express goods from the UK that boards a ferry and arrives in Norway for onward transport to Sweden:

An entry summary declaration and presentation notification must be submitted within specified time frames to Norway under the ICS2 regulations.

However, no new entry summary declaration or arrival notification is required before arrival in Sweden. However, remember that the lorry driver must stop and present the goods at the customs office and declare the goods for Swedish import or another customs procedure, before the border crossing.

A presentation notification must be submitted for goods arriving by road and rail. This presentation notification is for the arrival of the goods in the EU (incl. Norway and Switzerland) and is done via ‘Presentation Notification’ according to ICS2 regulations.

Even if the goods are not unloaded at the first EU customs office, the arrival of the goods must be registered in ICS2.

This form of presentation notification is submitted to the Custom Office of First Entry through that country's national arrival system, which causes the notification to be automatically registered in ICS2.

The purpose of the presentation notification is to ensure that entry summary declarations have been lodged for all goods on the means of transport. This is to increase security and prevent dangerous goods from entering the EU. In Sweden, only air and sea transport is affected, as our only border with a non-EU country is Norway. Norway is part of the security zone and neither entry summary declarations nor arrival notifications are required.

BCP stands for Business Continuity Plan and is a business continuity plan developed by TAXUD to describe the impact of the unavailability of ICS2 components on the process as a whole and presents the actions to be taken by industry and Member States in case of unavailability.

The BCP document describes the actions to be taken in case of unavailability of both central and national ICS2 components and economic operators/ITSP systems. Both measures to be taken when a breakdown is detected (BCP measures) and measures to be taken after a breakdown (Recovery measures) are described.

All actors should be familiar with the BCP document for economic operators, the interaction of the different IT components and the BCP measures to be followed.

BCP, Business Contiunity Plan

In the event of technical problems, such as login details to online services, error messages, registration in STI-STP, you can contact us via our contact form for Technical issues (in Swedish).

If you have functional questions about, for example, data filing, deadlines, process issues, online services, clarification on certificates, you can contact us via our contact form for trade and customs related questions.

If you have any questions regarding conformance testing: registration to conduct conformance tests and support during testing, please contact ICS2.helpdesk@tullverket.se