DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN CUSTOMS…

Hüseyin Cahit SOYSAL
UGM BOARD MEMBER
When the BİLGE System came into effect, all documents required as preliminary permits or licenses for imports and exports were obtained in paper form from the relevant public institutions and attached to the declaration. Today, foreign trade transactions, which the young generation defines as "easy," have become less complicated for customs taxpayers, thanks to the widespread use of digitalization in customs administrations and process improvements.

At the turn of the twenty-first century, the global landscape was being reshaped by the winds of digital transformation. The Turkish Customs Administration, in a proactive move, embraced these winds, refusing to be left behind. The establishment of the Customs Union (CU) between Türkiye and the European Union (EU) in 1996 further propelled the Administration towards digitalization. The political and economic climate was ripe for the modernization of the Customs Administration, a testament to its forward-thinking approach.

NOT TRANSPORTING THE CLUMPY STRUCTURE TO THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT!

During those years when I served as Deputy Director General of Customs, I attended more than ten trainings and seminars on modernization abroad and in the country. The only fact that the presenters, each of whom are global experts in their fields, agreed on was this: "Transporting the current cumbersome structure to the digital environment does not provide any change. "Digitalization can create a real leap forward if it reduces the number of workstations."

MODERNIZATION PROJECT UNIT HEAD…

As stated in our book "A Wise Person," published in 2021, we were appointed as the "Modernization Project Unit Head" established within the Undersecretariat of Customs in 1997 and ensured the realization of the project. In the aforementioned book, we mention the details of the computer system and BİLGE (Computerized Customs Activities) software, which were established with the resources of the time.

DISABLED WORKSTATIONS, DOCUMENTS, SIGNATURES AND SEALS…

In this article, we will discuss the workstations excluded from the system and the documents, signatures, and seals removed from the application during the transfer of customs transactions to the computer environment with BİLGE software.

1. Customs employees whose functions have been eliminated by transferring transactions to the digital environment:

• Porch entrance gate custodian (digitalization of entry records)
• Manifesto acceptance officer
• Manifesto registrar
• Customs warehouse officer (preparation of warehouse entry lists that have not been transferred to digital media)
• declaration acceptance officer
• declaration registrar
• Deputy director of customs (in terms of declaration transfer)
• Deputy director of customs (in terms of detection, complete detection, partial inspection transfer)
• Customs inspection officer (for determining the scope of physical examination)
• Chemistry registrar (determination of the application order that has not been transferred to digital media)
• Cashier (when the opportunity to deposit taxes into bank accounts is provided)
• Customs Officer
• Porch exit door custodian (digitalization of exit records)

1.Documents removed by transferring transactions to digital media:

• Ordino: It is a document that is used to monitor all processes on paper and is filled with the manifest information by the transporter who is responsible for submitting the customs manifest and, given to the customs broker, and sent to the next officer by the officers working at every stage from the registration of the customs declaration to its closing, by signing and stamping it and sending it to the following official. It lost its function upon installation.
• Customs Manifesto: The document, which was prepared according to the original manifest and to which all sub-transportation bills were added, lost its function when it was ready digitally and sent to customs administrations.
• Introduction Manifesto Registry Book: It lost its function as the registry books were created digitally and in the background.
• Exit Manifesto Registry Book: It lost its function as the registration books prepared for export cargoes were created in the digital environment in the background.
• Shed Entry and Exit Logbook: It lost its function when Temporary Storage Places records were digitized and created in the background in the digital environment.
• Warehouse Entry and Exit Book: It lost its function as the warehouse records were transferred to the digital environment and created in the background in the digital environment.
• Sheet Declaration: The customs declaration form, called "sheet" by sector employees because it contained a lot of unnecessary information, was abolished when the single-page SAD (Uniform Customs Declaration) came into force. (Currently, both original copies of import declarations and export declarations are created digitally in the BİLGE System, and the submission of paper declarations for exports has been discontinued.)
• Entry Customs Declaration Registry Book: It lost its function in imports as the registration books were created in the digital environment and the background.
• Exit Customs Declaration Registry Book: It lost its function in exports as the registration books were created in the digital environment and the background.
• Cash Book: Registration books were created digitally and in the background; thus, keeping them at the cashier was abandoned.

1.Signatures and stamps are lost when transactions are transferred to digital media:

• Book seals: As soon as the books used in customs until that date were put into use, all pages were sealed with the seal of the customs administration, but this sealing process ended with the disappearance of the use of books.
• Wax seals: The wax seal image we encounter daily as the logo of ÜNSPED A.Ş. was an element in daily use in the customs community until 1998. After the customs declarations are completed, they are submitted to the "declaration acceptance officer" with their attachments. If the officer found the acceptance appropriate, the annexes and the declaration were attached with staples or string, and a melted red wax seal was poured on the annexes to prevent them from being separated from the declaration or changed later, and sealed with the registration stamp of the customs directorate. With digitalization, the use of wax seals was discontinued.
• Assistant Manager's transfer and inspection letter: Since the BİLGE System subjected the declaration to yellow-green-red-blue line guidance according to its risk criteria and assigned the duty inspection officer and surveillance officer, the signing and stamping process ended with the customs assistant manager's transfer on the declaration.
• Registration seal on declaration annexes: Before the BİLGE System came into effect, the registrar sealed all of the declaration annexes with a registration stamp. This practice has also been discontinued.
• Signatures and stamps of porch entrance door guard officer, manifest acceptance officer, customs warehouse officer, declaration acceptance officer, chemical shop registrar, cashier, customs guard, porch exit door guard officer: Signatures of the officers mentioned above on import or export documents with the process improvements listed above The use of the stamps they printed with was also discontinued.

WHEN DIGITALIZATION BECAME WIDESPREAD IN CUSTOMS ADMINISTRATIONS…

When the BİLGE System came into effect, all documents required as preliminary permits or licenses for imports and exports were obtained in paper form from the relevant public institutions and attached to the declaration. It would take another ten years for the documents above to be shared digitally, and the Single Window System (TPS) would come into effect gradually.

Today, foreign trade transactions, which the young generation defines as "easy," have become less complicated for customs taxpayers, thanks to the widespread use of digitalization in customs administrations and the process improvements mentioned above.