Project

A. General Information

1. Title

Information exchange of customs records-INDIRA system

2. Status of the project
Operating
3. Implementation period of the project/service:
From
2005
To
Present
5. Geographical coverage
Regional: Latin America
6. Participating agencies/entities of the project/service:
a. Development stage
Lead agencies/entities
Customs administrations of MERCOSUR Member states
Other participating agencies/entities
Customs administrations of MERCOSUR Member states
b. Operational stage
Lead agencies/entities (op)
Customs administrations of MERCOSUR Member states
Other participating agencies/entities (op)
Customs administrations of MERCOSUR Member states
7. Main stakeholders/beneficiaries of the project
Customs brokers
Customs
8. Business process category of the project
Regulatory/official control

B. Lessons Learned

9. Summary description of the project/service
a. Objective(s)

Mercosur countries made a decision to create platform to exchange information on customs records. The system accomplish certain requirements.

- It must not function as a periodic sending of records from one Customs Administration to the others, because it implied great data volumes that in most of the cases were not used by anybody

- To solve the previous problem, data should be interchanged when the requiring Customs Administration need them.

- Queries should run on operating databases.

-There should be full access to the last 5 years records, because this is the time the law permits to take legal actions in Mercosur countries

The system  was called INDIRA (Information exchange of customs record in Spainish).

b. Business need for the project (background)

To preventing illicit actions by obtaining information that supports the control of foreign trade operations.

c. Business process covered*

Confidential data, protected by IT and for customs use only

Information exchange on exports and imports

Different methods of consultation for one customs declaration.

The interchanged data can be used by each of the State Members of MERCOSUR. With the information, each Member can generate transport documents and customs declarations.

d. Overall architecture and functionalities*

For more detail refer to the link: http://www.wcoomd.org/-/media/wco/public/global/pdf/topics/facilitation/activities-and-programmes/gnc/gnc-repository/gnc-utility-block-_-indira-system-_-v7_0.pdf

Communication model is the following:

 

 

2

e. Relevant document/figure
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10. Documents and data exchanged via the project

Import/Export declarations between customs administrations

11. Data models/databases, proprietary solutions, hybrid approaches
--
12. Main challenges faced during the project
--
13. Lessons learned from the project
--
14. Main benefit(s) of the project
Enhanced regulatory compliance*
Simplified process
14A. Elaborations/detailed description on benefits gained

The simplicity to obtain data from another countries customs administration

Improvement in control routines

Improvement in enforcement tasks

Simpler and faster customs investigations

Improvement of transparency  of customs actions

15. Technical/financial/capacity building/other assistance
--
16. Future plan for expansion of the project

INDIRA system  is an open system, there are  no restrictions in its use, it can be adopted by other administrations other than Mercosur members (like Chile and Bolivia).

17. Other information or relevant references on the project
--
18. Relevant document regarding the project
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C. Relevant Standards

20. Electronic message standard
20A. Electronic message standard supporting the project
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20B. Type of standard for electronic message applied for the project
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21. Technical communication standard
21A. Technical communication standard supporting the project
--
21B. Type of technical communication standard applied for the project
--
22. Security-related standards*
22A. Security-related standard supporting the project
VPN (Virtual Private Network)
22B. Type of security-related standard applied for the project
--
23. Other Technical Information
23A. Interface developed for data exchange with an internal system
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23B. Other technical implementation information
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