The “New Computerised Transit System” (NCTS) is a pan-European IT system used for the electronic processing of the Common Transit Procedure in international goods transport. It ensures secure and efficient monitoring of goods in transit between customs territories – particularly within the EU and associated countries. The aim is to reduce administrative burden, speed up processes, and prevent customs fraud.
Transit declarations are created, transmitted, monitored, and closed electronically via NCTS. Companies such as freight forwarders, logistics providers, customs agents, or exporting manufacturers use specialized software to digitally interact with national customs authorities.
Creation of Transit Accompanying Documents (T1/T2): Automated generation of transit documents according to legal requirements.
Electronic transmission to customs authorities: Direct communication with the customs system (e.g., ATLAS in Germany) for submitting transit data.
Management of MRNs (Movement Reference Numbers): Generation, storage, and tracking of unique reference numbers for transit procedures.
Tracking of shipment status: Live monitoring and status queries of the transit process (dispatch, en route, arrival, closure).
Management of involved parties (consignor, consignee, representative): Capture and reuse of master data for recurring processes.
Validation and control mechanisms: Verification of data entries for plausibility and compliance with customs regulations prior to submission.
Archiving and documentation: Legally compliant storage of all relevant transit data and documents for audit purposes.
Multilingual user interface: Support for international users through customizable language settings.
Integration into ERP or logistics systems: Interfaces for the automated transfer of shipping data to the NCTS module.
An exporter uses NCTS-enabled software to create a T1 document for goods being transported through several countries to Norway.
A freight forwarder tracks in real time the status of customs transit processes for its truckloads across different EU countries.
A customs agent uses the software to automatically record and transmit transit data to the national customs system.
A company stores all MRNs and associated documents centrally for future customs audits.
A logistics software automatically passes transport data to an NCTS module to simplify transit processing.
