An electronic information system for customs clearance of road cargo will launch early next year at all land boundary checkpoints, the Commerce & Economic Development Bureau says.

A shipper or a freight forwarder will need to provide a pre-defined set of cargo information to the Customs & Excise Department electronically through the Road Cargo System before the cargo consignment enters or exits Hong Kong in trucks.

The shipper or freight forwarder will be given a reference number to pass to the truck driver. The driver will then do the "bundling" work by providing to the department through the system the reference number together with his vehicle's registration number. A driver will be required to bundle in at least 30 minutes before the truck is due to pass through a checkpoint.

The driver will be informed of whether his cargo needs to be inspected through a visual display unit at the checkpoint. A truck not selected for inspection can leave immediately after the trucker has completed immigration clearance.

Great convenience

With the implementation of the system, cross-boundary trucks using it, except those selected for inspection, will enjoy seamless customs clearance at the control points. The system will also enable Hong Kong to align early with international and regional developments on electronic customs clearance.

After the system is put to use there will be a transitional period of 18 months before industry players are required to make submissions through it for all imports and exports of road cargo.

The transitional period should allow sufficient time for the industry to adjust modes of operation, train staff and prepare information systems as necessary. Submissions will then be made mandatory in the third quarter of 2011.

Transitional period

To prescribe the roles of each party for mandatory submissions and set a transitional period, the Government will enact the subsidiary legislation under the Import & Export Ordinance. The Import & Export (Electronic Cargo Information) Regulation was gazetted today and will be tabled at the Legislative Council October 21.

The department has formed outreach teams to help companies migrate to the new system early. It hopes to first attract high- and medium-volume users, who account for 70% of the estimated submissions, to use the system within the first nine months of the transitional period.