Aquasoft upgraded customs-declaration system of Turkey

The experts of the Czech software company Aquasoft developed an integrated tariff management system for the Customs Administration of Turkey and implemented the same into the existing customs-declaration system of Turkey. The project formed a part of upgrading activities which the Customs Administration of Turkey is systematically undergoing. The upgrading of the customs system is necessary for Turkey - as a member of the Customs Union and a candidate country it must ensure compatibility of its system with the EU.

The Integrated Tariff Management System (ITMS) is the "heart" of the customs-declaration system of each country. The main task of the tariff system is protection of the economic area of the country through categorisation of the goods and tariff measures. In the case of the EU, the term "economic area" is understood as the territory of all the Member States – all of them therefore apply a single protection of the entire area, just through their national implementation of the common ITMS system.

The Customs Administration of Turkey selected a consortium under the leadership of Aquasoft for the upgrade of the tariff part of the system. Not only did the consortium meet the demanding qualification criteria of the tender proceedings, but in the very strong competition it offered a solution which was assessed as the best one by the Selection Committee. "The main criterion of ITMS was that the system should comply with the requirements given by the European Union, at the same time it should correspond, as much as possible, to specific requirements of the Customs Administration of Turkey and it should be capable of an autonomous operation even in the period before the accession to the EU of Turkey," says Václav Červený, Project Manager of Aquasoft. "Since we have already implemented, in cooperation with our partners, a similar system in the Czech Republic, we together could offer our long-term experience acquired just during the development of a similar system for the Customs Administration of the Czech Republic to the Customs Administration of Turkey. A significant factor of our success was the fact that the Czech customs duty process feature one of the most extensive electronisation and one of the lowest error frequency in the entire EU," stresses Mr. Červený.

The aim of the project is to foster the customs protection of the territory of Turkey and therefore also to increase customs protection of the territory of the entire European Union. The mutual harmonisation of customs procedures and in particular of tariff measures will significantly help the firms carrying on business activities between Turkey and the European Union – for example through allocation of the goods according to the common customs tariff, through the common logics of tariff procedures and measures, tariff quotas, etc.

The project was financed by the European Commission within the framework of its assistance to candidate countries with introduction of the systems compatible with the systems of the Union. The ITMS development and implementation lasted for 16 months.