Customs4trade

You can be “modern” on paper and still feel manual every day.
If that sounds familiar, this quiz is for you.

We built a short Modernising Customs Operations quiz so you can see where you really stand across five key areas.

What you will do:
5️⃣ Answer five quick questions about how you work today
🔍 Look at your customs setup through five lenses
– People
– Process
– Data
– Technology
– Governance and compliance

See if you are mostly manual, partly modern, or close to automated and insight-led.

Good if you:
👍 Spend too much time firefighting and rely on spreadsheets and emails to hold everything together
👍 Feel pressure to “modernise” but struggle to explain where to start
👍 Want a neutral way to benchmark your operation with your team

⏲️ It takes less than 1 minute

Take the quiz and see where your customs operation stands today.

Link to the quiz is here: https://hubs.li/Q03-lm2D0

Most customs teams are not failing to modernise. They are stuck.

Our poll results make that clear. They tell a clear story. The challenges were:

• 43% are held back by legacy systems and weak IT integration.
• 39% struggle with poor or inconsistent data.
• 38% still depend heavily on brokers and external partners.
• 30% lack the time or resources to move faster.
• Only 26% have real visibility and performance reporting.
• Just 16% struggle with management buy-in.
*attendees could select more than one option

This is not a motivation problem.
It is an operating model problem.

Customs teams want to modernise, but they are held back by disconnected systems, fragmented data, and manual processes.

In our on-demand webinar, we break this down across people, process, data, technology, and governance/compliance.

You will also hear practical insights from Danone on how they approach automation, control, and efficiency in customs.

Watch now! https://hubs.li/Q03YJbk70

Modernising customs operations...let's discuss. One hour to go! There is still time to register: https://hubs.li/Q03XB1WC0

Can you explain, in one or two sentences, where your customs operation really stands today?

If that feels hard, this session is for you.

On Wednesday, 10 December, we will walk through how customs work is changing across five areas:
• People
• Process
• Data
• Technology
• Governance and compliance

You will:
• Answer a short set of questions about your current setup
• See where you land on our customs modernisation matrix
• Get a one-pager after the webinar with your score and ideas you can explore with your team

You will also hear from Jens Vandaele, Danone's EU Customs and Trade Compliance Manager, who will share what Danone is doing in practice to modernise and automate its customs operations.

Whether you are just starting to digitalise or already exploring automation, this session will give you a clearer view of how customs operations are evolving, and where you might focus next.

Link to register is in the comments.

You might be paying duties you never needed to pay. Our recent Customs Warehousing webinar made that clear.

Half of the companies that joined told us their top goal is simple.
Cut duty and customs costs.
The pressure on cash flow is real, and teams are looking for fast wins they can control.

Then the poll results came in.
43 percent already use Customs Warehousing.
36 percent do not.
20 percent are considering it.
The numbers look close, but the financial impact is not.

Customs Warehousing lets you store goods with duty and VAT suspended.
You pay only when you release goods into free circulation.
If you re-export the goods, you often pay nothing.

The impact speaks for itself:

• Lower duty bills when volumes rise.
• Better cash flow for high value or slow moving goods.
• Duty relief on re-exports.
• Stronger audit control over stock.
• Less pressure on customs and finance teams.

Our new blog covers the following:

• How the procedure works in practice.
• Public vs private warehouses.
• Which goods benefit.
• What customs expects from your audit trail.
• How automation removes manual work.

If you hold stock, this is worth reading.
The numbers change quickly once you run the procedure well.

Read the blog by clicking here: https://hubs.li/Q03WB-VX0

Customs modernisation is no longer optional.
New regulations, digitalisation, and speed expectations are changing how customs teams work. If customs stays manual and reactive, it quickly becomes a risk, not an asset. 👇

On Wednesday, 10 December, we’re hosting a webinar to look at what modernisation really means in practice and help you see where your own operation stands today.

We will explore five key dimensions:
People, Process, Data, Technology, Governance/Compliance, and we will help you benchmark where your current operation sits across these five areas.

After the webinar, we will share a one-pager you can use to capture your score and possible next steps for your organisation.

You will also hear from Jens Vandaele, Danone’s EU Customs and Trade Compliance Manager, who will talk about the steps Danone has taken to modernise its customs operations.

Whether you are just starting to structure your customs processes or already working on it, this session will give you a clearer view of how customs work is changing and where you may want to focus next.

Register now! https://hubs.li/Q03W5JLr0

Counting down to The Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade next week!

Come visit us at stand #11 to talk all things customs automation with the C4T team, Ludovic Demeyere and Will Greenwood will be there.

Ludo will also be taking part in an open discussion on “Reforming Customs: Digitalisation and the Move Towards Trusted Trade.” Sponsored by Netcompany: EU customs reform is on the horizon. Learn how to stay ahead of this and digital initiatives, such as the Customs Hub. Plus get the latest on HMRC’s digital transformation programme - including what it means for your customs processes.

We hope to see you there! 🙌

What a great start to the Nielson Smith Customs Compliance Europe event in Düsseldorf yesterday! A huge thanks to Siobhan Kingsbury from Pernod Ricard for an inspiring presentation on the road to digital transformation in customs, and to Raf Schroons for adding his expert perspective from the software provider side.

Customs operations are changing fast.

With EU Customs Reform, sustainability reporting, and increasing digitalisation, customs teams are working very differently than just a few years ago.

So what does modernisation really mean and where does your organisation stand?

Join our webinar:
Modernising customs operations: Where do you stand on the journey to automation?

We’ll explore what modern customs operations could look like across People, Process, Data, Technology, and Governance/Compliance, and help you benchmark where you are in your modernisation journey through a series of live polls.

You’ll also hear from Jens Vandaele, Danone's EU Customs and Trade Compliance Manager, who will share how Danone is advancing its customs transformation and using automation to improve efficiency, streamline processes, and strengthen visibility and compliance.

🗓 Tuesday, 25 November 2025
🕓 14:00 GMT / 15:00 CET

👉 Save your seat: Registration link is in the comments

Yesterday, the C4T team was in the Netherlands at the beautiful Kasteel Steenenburg in Nieuwkijk, for the final stop of our customs seminars in 2025.

What a fantastic day it was.
A big thank you to everyone who took the time out of their busy schedules to join us. A special thank you to Jens Vandaele from Danone for sharing an inspiring look into Danone's customs automation journey.

We also want to thank our panelists for bringing their insights and experience to the discussion:

👉Jens Vandaele, Danone
👉Tom De Ridder, KPMG Nederland
👉Danielle Van Es, Nutreco
👉Ludovic Demeyere, Customs4trade

The panel explored some of the questions we're hearing most from the industry:

🔹The growing importance of data availability.
🔹Where should customs sit within the organisation?
🔹How to get attention and budget to drive change internally.
🔹When talking about customs, should it be about risk or business opportunity?

These are the conversations shaping the future of customs management, and we’re proud to be bringing them to life with our community.

Until next time.

What’s the current state of digitalisation in customs?
Earlier this year, we brought together a panel of industry experts to explore that very question.

From automation and data integration to shifting team roles and compliance pressures, the customs function is changing fast. That’s why we have captured the key insights, challenges, and opportunities shared during the session in a new white paper, giving you a clear view of where the industry stands today.

Some of the key topics:
🔹How customs teams are evolving and adapting to new skill requirements
🔹The trends driving digital transformation across industries
🔹Common challenges in customs operations
🔹How compliance can be turned into a strategic advantage

And there is more...

Thank you to:

Anna Doherty - The Chartered Institute of Export and Trade
Sam Blakeman - Barbourne Brook
Marcie REYNO-DALLE - Fiscal Lead
Ludovic Demeyere - Customs4trade

For their valuable insight.

👉 Download the white paper and see how digitalisation is reshaping customs operations. https://hubs.li/Q03PrmrH0