DHL launches new automated US Customs system

Air and ocean freight specialist DHL Global Forwarding has announced that it has launched a new internal US Customs brokerage management system that will now be available through all of its US Customs brokerage offices. It is designed to work within the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s new Automated Commercial Environment (ACE).

It is ACE certified and is fully integrated with DHL Global Forwarding’s current Document Management System and Inland Transportation Management System, and will also feed information to DHL’s future Unified Reporting System and Client Portal that will be launched towards the end of this year. DHL built the system in collaboration with software provider Kewill and was able to create it to streamline and automate complex Customs processes.

“With all the Customs changes taking place in the U.S., we think this new system will be a big benefit to our customers, working flawlessly with ACE to provide them a more expedited service for all their Customs filings,” said Jim Miller, senior director for Customs Brokerage at DHL Global Forwarding, U.S.

“The Kewill developed system has a graphical user interface, enhanced electronic data interchange loading capability and an integrated work management feature to help increase productivity and ultimately allow DHL to better serve our customers.”

The IT system has a fully supported multi-layered internal and external Kewill team of IT experts who will be available to provide longer term support. Its critical data is also safely hosted in DHL’s secure data centre to ensure the highest levels of performance and reliability.

“We understand DHL’s need to have an internal system to manage connectivity to all Customs authorities while meeting all new requirements under ACE,” said Jim Hoefflin, president and chief operating officer for Kewill. “With our experience working for 7,500 companies in more than 100 countries, we were able to create a Customs brokerage system geared specifically to meet all of DHL’s requirements.”

The system is equipped with the required Lacey Act programming, as well as functionality to interface with Participating Government Agencies (PGAs), such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

“With our new DHL system in place, we are ready to handle the PGAs’ ACE roll-outs, scheduled to take place over the coming months,” said Miller. “We have been using the system on a trial basis since May 2015, and currently file close to 100 percent of the ACE entry summaries allowed at this time with minimal to no issues.”

DHL Global Forwarding is one of the first freight forwarding companies to launch a Customs brokerage system that is compatible and fully compliant with all ACE requirements.

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