Business continuity procedure (fallback procedure)

The holder of the procedure shall fill in the Single Administrative Document (SAD) or a copy of the accompanying document. The customs authorities will certify the copies 1, 4 and 5 of the Single Administrative Document and affix a red stamp in the top right corner. All transit declarations that are started on paper must be completed in accordance with the provisions for use of the Single Administrative Document. The transits operation shall not be submitted in the NCTS retrospectivly.  You can only use the business continuity procedure when a system error arises in the hardware or software of the customs authorities, an authorised consignor, declarant or network provider.

In the event of an operational interruption, as the declarant you must contact the customs authorities at the office of departure and justify the need to use a business continuity procedure. In addition, if the error lies with you as the declarant, an authorised consignor or at your network provider, you must provide information when you assume that your system will be available again.

The transit declaration

All parties involved in the transit must acknowledge the paper document that you use in a business continuity procedure to avoid problems at the customs office at transit and at destination.

You can use the following documents:

• Single Administrative Document (SAD), which will be given priority in the event of an operational interruption (business continuity procedure / fallback)
• SAD printed out on ordinary paper from the declarant’s system
• SAD can be replaced by an accompanying document layout where the needs of the business sector are regarded as justified by the customs authorities.

The following applies in a business continuity procedure:

• The holder of the procedure shall submit the declaration in triplicate.
• The customs office of departure shall register the declaration by means of a numbering system, different from the one that is used in NCTS, in box C.
• The guarantee certificate (TC31 or TC33) shall be submitted by the holder of the procedure.
• For cases where Individual guarantee vouchers (guarantee code 4) are used, the holder of the procedure must be able to submit a paper version of the Individual guarantee voucher (TC32) at the customs office of departure.
• When the transit accompanying document is used, no barcode or transit number (MRN) shall appear on the declaration.
• When the simplified procedure is used, the authorised consignor shall meet all the obligations and conditions for the use of the special stamp, i.e. use of boxes D and C, respectively.
• “NCTS business continuity procedure / fallback procedure” (routine for operational interruptions) shall appear on the copies of the transit declaration. You shall use one of the stamps illustrated below (size: 26 x 59 mm, red stamp colour). You shall affix the stamp in box A on the Single Administrative Document (SAD) or in the space for the MRN number and barcode on the accompanying document:

NCTS FALLBACK PROCEDURE
NO DATA AVAILABLE IN THE SYSTEM
INITIATED ON____________________
(Date/hour)

The document shall either be stamped by the customs office of departure in the normal transit procedure, or by an authorised consignor when the simplified transit procedure is used.

When the customs office of departure has granted permission for the use of the business continuity procedure, it is important to cancel any declarations that have already been registered in NCTS.

Border crossing

The transit advice note (TC10) must be submitted on paper to the customs office of transit, which in this way verifies that the consignment has crossed the border. The transit advice note shall contain references to all the transit declarations that cover the transport.

See Annex II to Appendix I of the Transit Convention.

Confirmation of goods received

When the business continuity procedure is used, copy 5 of the Single Administrative Document or a copy of the accompanying document, which is sent from the customs office of destination to the customs office of departure, will constitute the “confirmation of goods received”.