World Bank
TTFSE Programme
(Trade and Transport facilitation in South and Eastern Europe)
COMPUTERISATION
OF THE
MOLDAVIAN CUSTOMS ADMINISTRATION
Final Report
Elaborated by
Nicolae Popa
KPMG Consulting / Barents Group
Ver.1.0
December 2001
Content
1.introduction
- background information
2.1General Remarks
2.2Legislation
2.3Customs Procedures
2.4Organisational Structure
2.5Human Resources
2.6IT Environment
2.6.1Hardware
2.6.2Telecommunications
2.6.3System software
2.6.4Application software
2.7Training
2.7.1Customs training
2.7.2IT training
2.8Previous Technical Assistance Programmes
3.World Bank project – General Approach
4.World Bank project / Component B – Modernisation of the customs system
4.1Overall Objectives and Content
4.2Proposed Approach to the Design and/or implementation of the Component B
4.3Architecture of the Moldavian ICIS (Integrated Customs Information System)
4.4Architecture of the Moldavian NCCN (National Customs Communication Network)
5.Component 1 - UNCTAD
5.1Activities
5.2Experts
5.3Duration and Timeschedule
5.4Budget
5.5Hardware and Software Requirements
6.Component 2 – Computerisation of MCA
6.1Activities
6.1.1Delivery of IT hardware
6.1.1.1Indicative Procurement List
6.1.1.2Technical specifications
6.1.1.3Special requirements
6.1.1.4Indicative budget
6.1.2Delivery of system software
6.1.2.1Operating Systems (OS)
6.1.2.2Connectivity solution
6.1.2.3Relational Data Base Management System (RDBMS)
6.1.2.4Additional software
6.1.2.5Indicative Procurement List and Budget
6.1.2.6Special requirements
6.1.3Services associated with delivery of IT hardware and system software
6.1.3.1Installation, configuration and testing
6.1.3.2Training
6.1.4Delivery of telecommunication hardware and software
6.1.4.1Indicative Procurement List and Budget
6.1.4.2Technical specifications
6.1.4.3Local Area Networks (LANs)
6.1.4.4Special requirements
6.1.5Services associated with delivery of telecomm hardware and software
6.1.5.1Installation, configuration and testing
6.1.5.2Training
6.1.6Implementation of Asycuda nation-wide
6.1.6.1Installation/configuration of Asycuda prototype in IT and telecomm environment
6.1.6.2Piloting of the system and roll-out of the accepted system
6.1.6.3Training of customs and IT end-users and administrators
6.1.7Integration of the “Frontiera” system into the Asycuda
6.1.7.1Amendment of “Frontiera” system and integration into Asycuda
6.1.7.2Testing, piloting and roll-out of the system and training of end-users
6.1.8Preparation of customs sites infrastructure for computerisation
6.1.10Integration of additional customs applications
6.2Duration and timeschedule
6.3Budget
6.4Profile of the Contractor
7.Interfaces with external systems
7.1SGS
7.2VAT System
7.3Tracking Vehicle System
8.Institutional/Procedural aspects
9.Organisation of the Project
10.Indicators of achievement
11.Conclusions
11.Recommendations
Annexes
Map of the Moldavian Customs Administration
Appendix 1-Organisational chart of the Moldavian Customs Department
Appendix 2-List of Customs Offices and subordinated Customs Posts
Appendix 3-Indicative List of the Customs Offices and Customs Posts to be computerised in Stage 1
Appendix 4-Indicative List of the Customs Posts to be computerised in Stage 2
Appendix 5-Structure of the personnel in the Moldavian Customs Department
Appendix 6-Structure of the personnel in the Customs Offices and the subordinated Customs Posts (Stage 1)
Appendix 7-Structure of the personnel in the Customs Posts (Stage 2)
Appendix 8-Technical solution for the MCD Network and NCCN
Appendix 9-Indicative Plan for the deployment of IT hardware in the MCD, the Customs Offices and the subordinated Customs Posts (Stage 1)
Appendix 10-Indicative Plan for the deployment of IT hardware in the Customs Posts (Stage 2)
Appendix 11-Technical specifications of IT hardware
Appendix 12-Indicative List of the Moldtelecom available infrastructure
Appendix 13-Technical specifications of telecommunication hardware and software
Appendix 14-List of the Moldavian Customs available infrastructure
LIst of abreviations
Asycuda / Automated System for Customs Data – Automated declaration-processing system developed by UNCTADCIS / Community of Independent States (group of ex-USSR countries)
EU / European Union
ICIS / Integrated Customs Information System
IRU / International Road-Transport Union
IT / Information technology
LAN / Local Area Network
MCA / Moldavian Customs Administration
MCD / Moldavian Customs Department (Customs Headquarters)
OS / Operating Software
PC / Personal Computer
RDBMS / Relational Data Base Management System
TACIS / Technical assistance programme of the European Commission for the CIS countries
TTFSE / Trade and Transport Facilitation in South and Eastern Europe (World Bank Programme)
UPS / Un-interruptible Power Supply
UNCTAD / United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
US / United States of America (USA)
1Introduction
This document was elaborated at the request of the World Bank, TTFSE Programme Team (Trade and Transport Facilitation in South and Eastern Europe), through a contract with KPMG Consulting/ Barents Group funded by the USAID.
The technical proposals, solutions and recommendations included in this document represent the technical opinions of the author of this document, after more than 20 years of IT and 10 years of customs experience in senior management positions, and of design and implementation of customs computerisation projects/programmes.
2Background information
2.1General remarks
The Moldavian Customs Administration (MCA) is one of the two pillars of the state revenue in Moldavia: the customs duties and taxes collected in 2001 have represented 65% of the state budget. MCA subordinated directly to the Government and the Director General is reporting directly to the Prime Minister.
2.2Customs Legislation
The MCA operates under a streamlined, EU-compatible Customs Code, together with the Customs Service Law, which provides the MCA with wide and autonomous powers of control and enforcement throughout the territory.
From the view point of the TTFSE project, it must be underlined that all provisions of the existing customs legislation allow for the implementation of a computerised customs system, fully compatible with the EU customs legislation and standards.
2.3Customs Procedures
Following-on from the above, the provisions of the current legislation with respect to the customs procedures is aligned to a great extend to the EU procedures and best practice. However, their practical implementation in the customs operational environment is slightly different, in most cases due to the immediate need to solve practical aspects of the operational work (e.g. in order to fight effectively against various types of commercial fraud – under-estimated invoices, false origin of goods etc – additional checking points have been introduced in the declaration-processing path).
However, the introduction of the Asycuda system will implement a new declaration path, compatible with the EU standards and best practice. Consequently, some of the existing control positions in the declaration-processing path will have to be revised. Due to the fact that these control positions are only the front-desk part of normal functions of any Customs Administration (control of customs value, origin, post-audit etc) the personnel that operates currently in these positions must not be made redundant, but trained in the respective customs subject and function in accordance with the EU standards and best practice, with the view to continue its work in a professional manner in the back-office.
In this respect, the co-ordination of and the complementarity between the Customs computerisation component of the TTFSE project and the US component – ‘Strengthening of MDC Institutional Capacity’ – is crucial for the successful implementation of the TTFSE project.
2.4Organisational Structure
The MCA comprises:
- The Headquarters, called “Moldavian Customs Department” – MCD (“Departamentul Vamal al Republicii Moldova”);
- 17 Customs Offices (border and inland)
- 64 Customs Posts (border and inland, dealing with goods and/or private persons)
At the headquarters (MCD) the organisational structure (attached at Appendix 1) is based on management units, which report directly to the director general, and technical and operational units, which report through vice- and deputy directors general.
Field operations are managed by the 17 Customs Offices (equivalent of regional/district Customs Houses), which have in their subordination a number of Customs Posts. A complete list of Customs Offices and their subordinated Customs Posts is at Appendix 2.
At the border with Transnistria, there are also “Fiscal Posts”, where duties and taxes are collected by the “Fiscal Officers”.
The TTFSE project is focussed on facilitation of legitimate trade and transport of merchandises and therefore the components of project related to the computerisation of MCA should primarily be implemented in MCD, in all Customs Offices and in the Customs Posts opened for traffic of goods. I a second stage, the project could be rolled-out to the remaining Customs Posts (dealing with the traffic of tourists/private persons) through the TTFSE project and/or by MCA, within the limit of the remaining resources (budget, re-distributed equipment etc).
An indicative list of the Customs Posts to be included in the 1st stage of the project is attached at Appendix 3 and the corresponding indicative list for the 2nd stage is at Appendix 4.
2.5Human resources
The total number of personnel within MCA is now around 1,700: around 120 in the headquarters (see also Appendix 5) and more than 1,500 in the operational Customs Offices and Customs Posts (see also Appendix 6 – 1st stage, and Appendix 7 – 2nd stage). The majority of the personnel are university graduated, which results in a significant over-qualification of the staff.
It is obvious from the information concerning the MCA personnel that the MCD is seriously under-staffed, while the operational positions are reportedly to be over-staffed, particularly in the sections dealing with physical control of merchandises and passengers (tourists). However, in terms of performance (e.g. number of declarations vs. number of operational staff, number of vehicles vs. number of operational staff etc) MCA has a relatively lower level of productivity than other countries in the region.
With direct reference to the TTFSE project, it must be underlined that the staff of the Customs Computing Centre “Vama”, who will be in charge with the management and implementation of the ‘Customs Computerisation’ component of the project, is small but very dedicated to produce results and to implement new IT technologies in the customs operational environment.
2.6IT Environment
2.6.1Hardware
The IT equipment available within MCA (PCs, matrix printers, UPSs) is mostly obsolete (e.g. PCs 386, 486, Pentium I, Pentium II etc) and very heterogeneous (from brand names to computers assembled by local companies), but there are also some PCs Pentium III and Laser printers.
It was decided by MCA that for the implementation of the TTFSE project only the PCs P III and the Laser Printers will be considered (and re-distributed at the local level); the additional hardware will be procured through the TTFSE project, in compliance with the technical and functional requirements of the future ICIS.
2.6.2Telecommunications
As far as the transfer of data between the Customs Offices and Customs Posts, and with the MDC is based on the existing Moldtelecom infrastructure, which is low-quality (up to 64 kbps, but mostly 2 kbps) and is not reliable. This is, potentially, the main problem of the computerisation of the MCA. In addition, the Moldtelecom tariffs for leased lines (voice and data) represent a significant amount in the annual operational budget of MCA.
In this context, MCA envisages the creation of a National Customs Communication Network – NCCN (voice and data) built, in principle, on dedicated lines with the main Customs Offices level and on leased lines with the remaining Customs Offices and Customs Posts. NCCN will use existing Moldtelecom infrastructure (which supports the 256 kbps) and MCA telecom equipment installed in all computerised customs sites.
The technical solution envisaged has the advantage that (1) is feasible and reliable whithin the existing telecomm conditions, (2) is a modular solution, which could be realised in several steps and (3) is the most economically advantageous in the given conditions.
As far as the Local Area Networks (LANs) are concerned, there are only few LANs existing in the newly built or refurbished Customs Offices (Sculeni, Chisinau), but there is no written evidence that the cabling was made at Level 5 standard (active and passive components compliant with EIA/TIA 568/569 standard), which would ensure 100 kbps.
MCA envisages therefore the cabling of the customs sites to be computerised, through the TTFSE project, in modular approach (structured cabling, EIA/TIA 568/569) and with the initial installation limited to the requirements of the TTFSE project.
This approach is the only viable solution in the given conditions and it has the major advantage that the technical solution is scaleable (the LANs could be built step-by step, according to the needs) and it gives a technical perspective of min.10-15 years.
2.6.3System software
The existing computers work in MS-DOS and Windows environment, and support applications developed in Clipper, Foxpro, and Visual Foxpro. There is no experience with Unix OS in the MCA Computing Centre. However, there is experience with Oracle RDBMS: two programmers have been trained in Oracle, an Oracle based application was developed and is in current use.
MCA decided to choose Oracle as RDBMS for their future ICIS, including Asycuda declaration-processing system.
The MCA decision is based on the good in-house experience with this RDBMS, which is crucial for an efficient and professional implementation of ICIS/Asycuda and its subsequent sustainability. In addition, there are complementary modules/applications developed around Asycuda by other CEEC Customs Administrations in Asycuda/Oracle environment that could be, potentially, implemented/ integrated in the Moldavian ICIS. In the perspective of an increased exchange of information between MCA and Romanian Customs operational services (Customs Offices, enforcement units, valuation services etc), the fact that the Romanian ICIS is also based on Oracle would be an advantage.
2.6.4Application software
There are several applications running currently within MCA. The most relevant from the TTFSE viewpoint are:
-Declaration Processing System: Broker Module (“Postul declarantului”), Customs Module (“Postul inspectorului”) and Accounting Module (“Postul economistului”);
-Statistical system;
-Customs valuation;
-Accounting system;
-Personnel system;
-Inventory system;
-“Frontiera” system;
-Traseca.
Broker Module (“Postul declarantului”) – is an application designed to assist the customs brokers to fulfil the customs declarations. There were initially (1994) two versions of this application, developed by two outsourcers (‘Valah’ and ‘Inform Business-C’) with outdated IT technologies (Clipper, Foxpro) in accordance with the technical MDC requirements. During the implementation and operation of the two versions of the application, one of the outsourcers (‘Valah’) proved to be a professional, prompt and reliable partner of the MDC and, therefore, its updated version (in Visual Foxpro) is currently used in all Customs Offices. Until nowadays, this application answered to all ad-hoc MDC requirements and contributed in a determinant way to the development of operational habits of the brokers’ staff. However, from the functional viewpoint this application is lacking important components of a normal customs broker module and, especially, the mandatory cross-validations of data elements in a customs declaration. As result of the implementation of the Asycuda system, this application will be practically replaced by the Asycuda/MODBRK module.
Customs Module (“Postul inspectorului”) – is an application designed to assist the customs officers to check the information in the customs declaration, as introduced by the customs brokers. Similar to the above, there were initially two versions of this application, developed by the same two outsourcers (‘Valah’ and ‘Inform Business-C’) with the same technologies (Clipper, Foxpro) in accordance with the technical MDC requirements. The ‘Valah’ version of the application is currently in use in all Customs Offices, but it is lacking important validation functions of a normal declaration-processing system. Therefore, despite the fact this application answered to all ad-hoc MDC requirements and contributed in a determinant way to the development of an IT culture and operational habits of the MDC staff, the implementation of the Asycuda system will completely replaced it with the Asycuda/MODCBR module.
Accounting Module (“Postul economistului”) – in order to make customs transactions, the importers must have an account opened with the MDC for the payment of all customs and duties. In this context, this an application was designed to assist the customs officers to check that the amount due be paid by a particular importer for a customs declaration is available in its account, and to transfer the itemised amount due into the customs account. The version in use in the Customs Offices was developed (Visual Foxpro) and is permanently updated by ‘Valah’ company. The current version is lacking important validation functions of a normal declaration-processing system, but it comprises functions requested by the national accounting system and procedures. Therefore, the implementation of the Asycuda system will replace only partially this application with the Asycuda/MODACC module. The functions related to the national accounting system will have to be integrated into/interfaced with the Asycuda/MODACC, prior to the roll-out of the system nation-wide.
Statistical system – is a simple application designed 6-8 years ago and developed with outdated IT technologies. The methodology implemented in MCA for production of customs and foreign trade statistics (flow of documents, processing etc) is long – around 45 days – and does not ensure the reliability and accuracy of customs data. The implementation of Asycuda system will significantly ameliorate the methodology for elaborating customs and foreign trade statistics, and will replace the existing application.
The other applications functioning within MCA - Customs valuation, Accounting, Personnel, Inventory etc – despite the fact that they are currently used and solve some of the operational/ administrative problems of MCA, have been developed in the same period with the statistical system and are having serious functional and technical shortfalls. It is strongly recommended to re-design and re-develop them as sub-systems of the Moldavian ICIS.
“Frontiera” system – is an application developed by the Customs Computing Centre with the aim of implementing the ‘single window payment’ scheme within MCA. The system is in testing phase in Sculeni customs office. There is a decision of the Government for its rollout in all Customs Offices at the border). The application is modern from IT viewpoint, but it has serious shortfalls from customs viewpoint, partially in contradiction with normal customs operations. The implementation of Asycuda system will imply the organisation of operations within Customs Offices in a similar way with the other Customs Administrations in Europe, and will complement the missing functions and components of the ‘Frontiera’ application. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to amend the existing application with the view to integrate/interface the existing ‘single window payment’ mechanisms into/with the Asycuda clearance (MODCBR) and accounting (MODACC) functions, prior to any initiative to start effectively its roll-out nation-wide.