Export Declarations by LSPs (Automatic Customs Handling)

You use this process to create export declarations on behalf of shippers for customs-relevant items in forwarding orders.

To communicate with the customs authorities, you can use an integrated customs management application, for example, SAP Global Trade Services. When you request an export declaration from the forwarding order, the customs management application automatically creates the export declaration and handles the customs processes.

Prerequisites

You have integrated SAP TM with SAP Global Trade Services or a similar customs management application. For more information, see Integration with SAP Global Trade Services.

Note the following:
- The process below describes the integration of SAP TM with SAP Global Trade Services.
- To use your own enterprise service to request an export declaration, you must implement the Business Add-In (BAdI)BAdI: Creation of Export Declarations on Freight Unit. For more information, see Customizing for Transportation Management under Business Add-Ins (BAdIs) for Transportation Management Basic Functions Global Trade Declarations BAdI: Creation of Export Declarations on Freight Unit .
You have defined a customs activity that controls customs handling for export declarations and assigned the customs activity to a customs profile. You have assigned the customs profile to the relevant freight unit types.
You make these settings in Customizing for Transportation Management as follows:
- You define activities and profiles under Basic Functions Global Trade Define Customs Activities and Profiles .
  For this process, you can use standard customs activity EXP_EU_FU, which is assigned to standard customs profile GT_OUTBOUND_FU.
  
  Note that you also have to define customs statuses and cumulated customs statuses. You assign the customs statuses to the customs activity. You can also assign block reasons to cumulated customs statuses.
  
  For more information, see Configuration of Customs Processing.
- You define freight unit types under Planning Freight Unit Define Freight Unit Types .
You have specified that customs handling is automatic for the relevant FWO types. For more information, see Customizing forTransportation Management under Forwarding Order Management Forwarding Order Define Forwarding Order Types .

Note that to create an export declaration, the FWO must contain one or more freight units (FUs). In the following process, it is assumed that automatic FU creation has been set up in Customizing for Transportation Management.

Process

You create an FWO with the required items.
You specify that the LSP is responsible for the export declaration by selecting the Export Declaration by LSP checkbox on the General Data tab page in the FWO. Note that the system selects this checkbox automatically if you have selected the LSP Export Declaration checkbox in the master data of the shipper.
You save the FWO and the system automatically creates freight units.
You trigger the creation of an export declaration from the forwarding order and SAP TM sends the request to SAP Global Trade Services.
You trigger the creation of an export declaration from the forwarding order by choosing Customs Create Export Declaration and then saving the FWO. When you save the forwarding order, the system does the following:
1. Checks whether a customs profile is assigned to the freight unit type (for example, standard customs profile GT_OUTBOUND_FU)
2. Determines which customs activities are assigned to the customs profile (for example, standard customs activity EXP_EU_FU)
3. Runs the customs relevance check that is assigned to the customs activity (for example, standard customs relevance check EXP_EU_FU)
4. Creates custom groups
  The system groups the items in the forwarding order according to the grouping strategy assigned to the customs activity (for example, standard grouping strategy EXP_LSP).
  
  For more information about the standard grouping strategies, see Customs Groups.
  
  On the Customs tab page in the freight unit, you display the customs groups by selecting the customs activity in the Customs Activity group box. The system displays the customs groups in the Item Groups table. You display the items assigned to each customs group by selecting the customs group and choosing the Show Assigned Items pushbutton.
5. Requests an export declaration for each customs group and sets the customs status of the customs groups (for example, “Export Declaration Requested”)
  The system triggers the Request Export Declaration (ExportDeclarationSUITERequest_Out) enterprise service. SAP TM sends the request to SAP Global Trade Services.
  
  The system sets the relevant cumulated customs status at header level and item level in the forwarding order, and at header level in the freight unit. If you have assigned a block reason to the cumulated status, the system sets an execution block in the forwarding order and the freight units.
SAP Global Trade Services creates the export declarations and submits them to the customs authorities.
When SAP Global Trade Services receives an export confirmation from the customs authorities, it sends a confirmation to SAP TM that contains the following information:
- Customs management document number
  This is the document ID provided by the customs management application that you use to communicate with the customs authorities.
- Customs reference number
  In the European Union, for example, this is the movement reference number (MRN).
- Indicator that shows the status of customs processing
  The following values are possible:
  - Released: Customs clearance has been obtained for a customs group.
  - Canceled: An export declaration has been successfully canceled.
  - Fallback: A fallback procedure is in use (for example, if the customs authorities' IT systems or processes have failed and communication has to be carried out using printouts instead of electronic messages). The status of the customs groups and forwarding order does not change.
SAP TM receives the confirmation from SAP Global Trade Services.
The Change Transportation Order Based on Export Declaration Confirmation (ExportDeclarationSUITEConfirmation_In) enterprise service receives the confirmation from SAP Global Trade Services.

If customs has approved an export declaration for a particular customs group, the system sets the corresponding customs status (for example, “Export Declaration Approved”). The system displays the relevant cumulated customs status at header and item level. If you have not assigned a block reason to the new cumulated customs status, the system resets any existing blocks.

Result

When you create a freight document for the forwarding order, the freight document inherits the customs status from the forwarding order. You can view the customs status on the Customs tab page in the freight document. The freight document also inherits the customs information at item level. You can display this information on the Customs tab page in the item details.

To cancel an export declaration in the forwarding order, choose Customs Cancel Customs Declaration . SAP TM sends a cancellation request to SAP Global Trade Services using the Request Export Declaration Cancellation (ExportDeclarationSUITECancellationRequest_Out) enterprise service. SAP TM sets the corresponding customs status (for example, “Export Declaration Cancellation Requested”). If you have assigned a block reason to the relevant cumulated customs status, the system sets an execution block in the forwarding order and the freight units. As soon as SAP Global Trade Services has confirmed the cancellation, SAP TM updates the customs statuses accordingly.

Note that export declaration documents are stored in the SAP Global Trade Services system. SAP Global Trade Services can send an export declaration document by e-mail to an SAP TM user.