Although its modernization began in 2002, with the arrival of Ricardo Echegaray in 2008, all management processes have been placed on the Internet. In this context and considering the recognition of the World Customs Organization (OMA), to the management deployed by AFIP, through the General Directorate of Customs, it is important to highlight the emergence of officials whom we call high impact with whom ADUANA NEWS held the following dialogue.
1. What is the role of technology in combating fraud and promoting legitimate trade?
The AFIP, through the General Subdirectorate of Systems and Telecommunications, has been promoting for several years a great push in everything related to technology, communications and new developments. The great progress achieved has allowed customs, tax and social security systems to expand their functionality, making it possible for the vast majority of procedures to be carried out electronically. This has considerably increased the quality and volume of available data, thus allowing complex information cross-checking processes to be carried out. The results obtained become an invaluable source of consultation for the areas of inspection, which are fed with information for the purposes of analyzing the behavior of taxpayers and operators, thus managing to detect possible fraudulent situations in advance, which lead to the execution of actions accordingly. These capacities for predicting, preventing and detecting fraudulent behavior surely have a deterrent effect and therefore promote trade within the corresponding legal framework.
Within the processes of technological research and innovation carried out by the technicians in the area, a series of tools have been developed that make use of Databases and non-conventional Systems, especially designed to graphically show the relationship between a certain Operator, with other Operators and Taxpayers in general, which are linked through different types of links, whether commercial, contractual, corporate, family, economic, geographic, etc. This tool called "Fiscal Network" allows obtaining in a few seconds, the entire map of relationships of a certain Operator or Taxpayer, a task that, for moderately complex cases, demanded no less than 48 hours of manual work.
Tools widely used in large organizations with a high volume of transactions are also being used for complex event handling (Complex Event Processing) for the real-time detection of patterns of evasive behavior and for the immediate prevention of fraud.
An important aspect for Customs is the fight against trademark fraud, and to this end mechanisms have been implemented that increase the control capacity of the General Directorate of Customs and, in turn, facilitate the coordination of tasks with trademark holders. To this end, a computer tool called Alert Seat System, which enables the systematic treatment of the technical and operational aspects of customs control tasks related to trademark fraud. This automation of operational procedures designed for the protection of trademarks, contemplates both the functional interaction between the Customs Service and trademark holders, as well as within said Service, guaranteeing the uniform execution of the various technical and operational tasks in charge of the Control Body.
2. The María system is being replaced by the MALVINA system. What are the outstanding advantages of this new system?
The MALVINA system is gradually replacing the old MARIA system in a continuous process of change, based on the conversion, reengineering, and/or rewriting of its components. Fundamentally, it is a technological change towards a totally web-based architecture, in line with the rest of the computer developments of the rest of the Organization. This replacement will make it possible, in the medium term, to make customs declarations through electronic documents that will be sent, in the case of large foreign trade operators, by interconnecting their computers with AFIP's central servers through Web Services. Declarants with smaller volumes of declarations will also have their systemic solution on a web platform, which will allow them to send electronic documents.
In general, all the new functionalities planned in the MALVINA Computer System tend to consolidate the processes of: paper disposal either by creating electronic documents and/or by applying a digital signature; advance information This will allow for a reduction in customs clearance times, including the acceleration of border crossings; cross-referencing and consolidation of different sources of information to improve ex ante and ex post controls; increase the treatment of images. In this last aspect, we are working on what we have called the Digital Customs Platform This will allow other Customs Administrations to access and consult the files of detailed digitalised declarations within the framework of the Faithful Depositary figure (9 million digital files); the scanned images associated with a declaration; and the Digital Certificates of Origin generated and digitally signed by the authorised Entities.
Another important advantage that will be incorporated in a short period of time is the declaration through the Product Code, which will allow to quickly obtain a detail of the product with respect to its technical, physical, operational, packaging, etc. characteristics. For this, we already have a signed agreement with GS1 for the cataloging of products with bar codes that will uniquely represent the merchandise with its characteristics and also with the tariff classification, value suffixes, etc. that correspond to it according to the SIM. This new tool will facilitate and expedite declarations, improve foreign trade statistics with greater precision and allow the traceability of products both in the domestic market and with other countries with which Argentina has information exchange agreements. It is estimated that at the beginning it will be optional and voluntary, and the first tests will be done with automotive companies and those in the wine sector.
3. The MALVINA system recently incorporated the information regime on containers affected by international traffic. What does this regime enable? Will it be possible to have information on containers in real time?
In order to comply with RG No. 3615 (AFIP), the module was implemented CONTAINER REGISTER operations affecting the international transit of goods, which allows information to be available about them and those responsible for them, in order to increase efficiency in control processes, contributing to greater security and transparency in the foreign trade logistics chain.
In this first stage, the registration of containers by the Operators was contemplated, declaring acquisitions, deregistrations, transfers, etc. Later, as the registration grows, the different processes will be adjusted in such a way as to avoid inconsistencies in the declarations. In a following stage, the events that affect the containers will be incorporated, thus allowing for complete traceability of the container. Various online queries are already available for both AFIP personnel and for transport agents/container operators so that they can verify their movements. To date, just over 80.000 containers have been registered.
4. The WCO considers customs-customs work to be essential to streamline and make foreign trade transparent. Are the AFIP systems, through the General Directorate of Customs, geared towards meeting this global requirement?
Indeed, our customs system is already interconnected with the customs systems of MERCOSUR, Chile, Bolivia and Ecuador, through a mechanism called INDIRA, (Customs Records Information Exchange); through this system, the real-time consultation of import and export declarations between our country and the rest is allowed. Soon, the incorporation of the customs offices of Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia and the Dominican Republic is planned, which have already requested assistance to be guided in the implementation. In the last year, globally, more than 600.000 queries have been received to the data of our customs declarations from the different interconnected Customs Offices. On the other hand, AFIP/CUSTOMS personnel have carried out more than 170.000 queries to the data of the interconnected States in the last year.
WCO Research Paper No. 11, “Case Studies on the Systematic Exchange of Trade Information between Customs Authorities in the Framework of Bilateral and Regional Agreements”, prepared by Tadashi Yasui of the WCO Research and Strategy Unit and dated February 2011, highlights the importance of this topic for the World Customs Organization. The INDIRA system used by MERCOSUR and other countries is one of the four cases addressed and its evolution was followed by the WCO during the implementation of the exchange of information between Argentina and Ecuador.
Furthermore, the SINTIA system (International Customs Transit Computer System) is in operation with the customs of Paraguay, Chile and Uruguay, exchanging information corresponding to the MIC/DTA documents for the monitoring of cargo in transit. Currently, the Bolivian Customs is being assisted by Argentina to complete its developments and thus join the system.
5. The intensive use of technology is a hallmark of your management at AFIP. In the near future, do you think a “paperless customs office” – that is, a “digital customs office” – will be possible?
With the MALVINA system we are making progress in transforming processes in such a way that we can eliminate the need for paper in the different procedures. As I mentioned before, we already took a big step when in 2009 we started the Depositario Fiel program, which establishes a mechanism for digitizing customs declarations.
Without a doubt, the great change that MALVINA promises and that will have a great impact on Foreign Trade will be during the application of the digital signature to customs declarations: in this way, the use of paper will be significantly reduced, it will force a reengineering of customs procedures simplifying some interventions, and it will allow the greater dedication of customs agents to physical controls and the evaluation of risk analysis. We believe that with the use of digitally signed electronic documents, the objective of having a "digital customs" will be fully achieved.
Aduana News is the first Argentine customs newspaper to launch its digital version. With 20 years of experience, its publications and initiatives aim to provide the most relevant knowledge on customs issues in order to contribute to safe trade in the region.
