An industrial client asks its freight forwarder to take charge of its imports from Asia: three hundred items, including electronic components, mechanical parts and a few chemical products. Each item must be classified under the customs nomenclature, and that classification determines the duties, controls and formalities that apply.
The branch has only one customs declarant who really masters classification. Three hundred items represent several weeks of their time. The forwarder either turns the job down or accepts it knowing it is taking a risk.
Why classification is a rare skill
The nomenclature contains thousands of headings. Classifying goods means reading the technical data sheet, knowing the general rules of interpretation, and consulting the explanatory notes and the rulings already issued on similar products. Two declarants may hesitate between two headings carrying different duties.
An error is not immediately visible. It may be picked up during an audit several years later, with a demand for back duties.
What customs makes available
The administration allows a classification to be secured through a binding tariff information (BTI) decision: a written ruling on the heading of a given product, valid for three years throughout the Union (douane.gouv.fr). Valid rulings issued in all member states can be consulted in the European EBTI database.
These published rulings are the best material for classifying a new product: they show how the administration has decided on comparable goods.
What the system does
The system receives the description of the goods, their technical data sheet and, where one exists, the heading already used by the supplier. It:
- proposes a tariff heading, with the reasoning that leads to it;
- cites the explanatory notes and the tariff rulings published on comparable products;
- presents the headings it ruled out, and why;
- flags missing information that prevents a decision, such as the exact composition or the main use.
The check: no heading without published support
A second system, separate from the one that proposed the heading, checks it before it reaches the declarant:
- each proposal cites at least one published text or ruling that supports it;
- the cited references exist and are currently valid;
- a proposal without published support is never applied: it is escalated to the declarant as a case to investigate;
- two plausible headings are presented together, with what distinguishes them.
The authorised declarant validates each classification.
What remains the declarant’s responsibility
Responsibility for the classification remains with the declarant and their company. For an uncertain heading and a significant flow, applying for a binding tariff information decision remains the safest route, and the file prepared by the system forms its basis.
Where to start
You will need:
- the history of classifications already adopted by the branch, with the corresponding product sheets;
- the technical data sheets of the items to be classified;
- an experienced declarant, to assess the proposals on a first batch.
The system works alongside the customs clearance software, without modifying it. The result is measured in revenue earned on international flows that the branch used to turn down for lack of available expertise.
Other uses of AI in transport and logistics, and a detailed scenario, are described on the page AI applied to logistics and transport.