International Post Corporation (IPC) is enabling its members to meet the growing cross-border regulatory challenges through the provision of industry-leading technologies.

One of the major challenges facing postal operators is Import Control System 2 (ICS2) which is underpinned by a large-scale advance cargo information system.

The first ICS2 release occurred in March 2021 with further releases scheduled for March 2023 and March 2024. All require mandatory advance electronic data (AED).

IPC is supporting its members in meeting the requirements of ICS2 through partnerships with companies including Hurricane Commerce.

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Hurricane has established itself as the world’s leading cross-border data provider to posts with customers including Royal Mail, An Post, Australia Post and Emirates Post.

Hurricane’s Aura and Zephyr data solutions have been integrated by IPC into its Dynamic Merchant Platform (DMP).

Aura can support members with duty and tax calculation, prohibited and restricted goods screening and denied parties screening.

Zephyr is Hurricane’s data enhancement service and ensures that shipments have the right data – including HS6 codes, product descriptions and 8- and 10- digit import and export codes – to pass smoothly through customs.

“As posts are faced with increasing cross-border regulatory requirements, their success depends on being able to harness best-in-class technologies,” Holger Winklbauer, CEO of the IPC, said.

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“Through partnerships with the likes of Hurricane Commerce, IPC is enabling our members and other posts to meet the ICS2 requirement for mandatory AED, but also many other customs and security requirements, through a common system, resulting in a reduction in complexity, implementation costs, and time,” Winklbauer added.

“Submitting incomplete or incorrect data causes shipments to be held by customs until the appropriate data has been provided,” David Spottiswood, co-founder of Hurricane Commerce, said.

“This impacts hugely on transit times, operational efficiency, costs and customer experience. Hurricane is delighted to be a partner to the IPC whose forward-thinking, innovative approach is supporting its members in meeting the challenges of ICS2 and other regulatory events through the integration of cutting-edge data technologies,” he added.