EMCS is a computerised system for monitoring movements of excise goods between Member States under duty suspension. It will replace the paper document that currently must accompany such movements (the Administrative Accompanying Document or “AAD”). EMCS will mean simplification of procedures, paperless administration, and effective use of modern IT tools and amounts to an important evolution for those who trade in alcohol, tobacco or oil products.
The European Commission and EU Member States are developing a trader-to-trader link called EMCS to follow the movement of excise goods between Member States for which no excise duties have yet been paid. The objective is to replace the paper AAD document that currently has to accompany these movements with electronic messages from the consignor to the consignee via the administrations of the Member States.
The system will monitor the movements of excise goods which have not yet been released for consumption by:
Tracking movements of goods under duty-suspension by an electronic transmission of the accompanying document instead of the paper document;
Securing movements of goods by checking the traders’ data before the goods are dispatched and aims to have a faster return of evidence that the goods arrived at their destination; and
Monitoring the movement of excisable goods through real time information and checks during movements.
The EMCS Computerisation Project (“ECP”)
The task of bringing EMCS to life is a matter for the ECP. ECP will specify, develop, deploy, and support the operation of EMCS across all the Member States. EMCS is introduced in phases from 2002 to 2011.
Phase 0 (2002 – ongoing) encompasses the operational support, maintenance and improvement of existing systems used in the excise field, pending the operational phase of EMCS; Phase 0 ensures that these systems are aligned with the overall objective of EMCS.
Phase 1 (2002 – ongoing), prepares and encompasses the launching of ECP, and the production of the EMCS System Specifications (ESS).
Amongst the various specifications produced during Phase 1, the most important ones are:
The functionality covered by EMCS; and
The phased implementation of EMCS.
Phases 2 (2006-2009) and 3 (2007-2011) are development and implementation phases, covering the detailed design of the national excise applications, the development of the central and national applications, as well as their phased implementation.
Phase 2 will focus on the essential functionality necessary to ensure the successful introduction of EMCS.
Phase 3 will add the link with customs procedures (such as the movement under suspension of excise goods between the place of importation and an excise warehouse) and extend the range of possibilities offered to administrations.
NB. All planned dates are indicative only, and are subject to project progress.
Please see latest EMCS Newsletter published by the European Commission attached. EMCS Newsletter – click here