Category: Foreign Trade
Dual Use Regulation - Current changes
At the end of the year, the annexes to the Dual Use Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2021/821) were adapted to current technical developments. The amendments are expected to come into force at the end of 2024/beginning of 2025. The EU Commission has already published a draft on this. The BAFA (Federal Office of Economics and Export Control) provides a comparison of the changes, which can be used to check whether there are any changes for your own group of goods (please note that there are some minor changes in the parameters of the technical equipment). Dual-use goods are goods with a dual purpose - i.e. goods that can be used for both civilian and military purposes or manufactured for the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. In terms of export control, these are not only goods, but also software and the transfer of knowledge that enables the production of these goods.
May we introduce? M.SmartLogistics Multi Carrier Sphere.
More and more companies are preparing for the migration to SAP S/4HANA and are planning their roadmap until 2027 - because from then on, SAP ERP will only be maintained to a limited extent. The focus is also shifting to outbound logistics, as support for the LE-TRA module (Logistics Execution - Transportation) has been discontinued. The logical successor: SAP Transportation Management (TM). SAP TM under S/4HANA impresses with its seamless integration and comprehensive range of functions, which offers companies with their own fleets in particular new opportunities to organise their transport processes more efficiently.
Mercoline is now an official member of the BVZH
We are pleased to announce that we have been an official member of the Federal Association of Customs Software Manufacturers (BVZH) since 1 August 2024. The Federal Association of Customs Software Manufacturers acts as a central interface and driving force in the planning and introduction of electronic customs systems in Germany. The association represents the common interests of software providers in this area in Germany. To this end, the BVZH works closely with the German Customs Administration on future processes and interfaces.
The CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism)
Now that the EU has established emissions trading for climate-damaging gases at plant operators (the German Emissions Trading Authority DEHSt at the Federal Environment Agency is responsible), importers are now obliged to report and price the import of product groups produced with a high CO2 input. In order to prevent companies with CO2-heavy production (and similar climate-damaging emissions) from relocating their production to third countries due to the costs of the EU ETS (emissions trading), the European Commission has created a compensation mechanism to prevent carbon leakage - the relocation to countries with less stringent climate protection laws.
New Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and Kenya: A milestone for trade and development
The European Union and Kenya have agreed on the content of a new Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), which is seen as a significant step forward in trade relations between the two partners. This agreement emphasises the EU's role as the most important export market for the East African country and is intended to intensify economic exchange and promote development.
Secure export controls in 2024: more important than ever
The importance of export controls has steadily increased in recent years and will reach new heights in 2024. Global trade flows, geopolitical tensions and technological advances make careful and comprehensive monitoring of exports very important. In this article, we explain why export control is so important in 2024 and what challenges and opportunities this presents for companies - especially through automation.
M.SecureTrade News Report - Foreign trade updates March 2024
M.Line News Report - Foreign trade updates March 2024 The latest updates to Mercoline's SAP add-ons for transport logistics and foreign trade ensure that our customers are regularly provided with important updates and additions to keep them up to date and take account of relevant process updates. In this article, we show what we have already delivered for our customers in recent months and which topics we will continue with. Foreign trade updates Since the beginning of December, customers of M.SecureTrade ATLAS have been able to rely on the current release 2311 to take into account the changes resulting from the IHB update of customs to AES 3.0.7 in their export processes. Improvements in reporting and improved monitoring in the event of failed code list updates have also been provided as part of this process. Under S/4HANA, it is now also possible to take into account default values for the commodity code that differ from the material master in the ATLAS document system.
A new EU-New Zealand free trade agreement will soon come into force
The free trade agreement between the European Union and New Zealand, the content of which was agreed on 30 June 2023, is entering the final legal stages. Ratification by the EU was recently completed and final approval by New Zealand is expected by the second quarter of 2024 at the latest.
Save costs with collective customs clearance
Ukraine became a war zone on NATO's eastern border within hours of Russia's attack. This has resulted in a series of sanctions against Russia, affecting European companies. Read here what you need to know now.
M.SecureTrade ATLAS customers benefit from early recertification
Mercoline was one of the first companies in Germany whose solution M.SecureTrade ATLAS was certified by German customs for ATLAS customs processing. Over 15 years later, in the fall of 2022, Mercoline was again one of the first customs software providers to be recertified for the ATLAS AES 3.0 release.