I) INDIAN CUSTOMS EDI GATEWAY (ICEGATE)
ICE gateway which is a set of equipments comprising hardware, software and networking components which would act as a single point interface between the Customs Computer Network and the partners in the Customs community system.

Features:
1. Enable filing of import / export declarations, manifests over internet as also through Value Added Networks (VAN).
2. Enable Customs response to importers / exporters etc. by way of assessed Bills of Entry, Shipping Bills etc.
3. Ensure security for the Customs computer Network.
4. Enable exchange of EDI messages with the Customs community partners for clearance of cargo.
5. Enable centralized management of all IT resources of the Customs and Excise department.
6. Make available updated directories (rates of duties, exchange rates, duty drawback rates, DEPB rates etc. ) to all the Customs community partners.
7. Facility of accepting messages from the community partners in flat files or in UNEDIFACT or other international standards.
8. Enable filing of the declarations in any form i.e. either as email or through web forms or through file transfer or through VANs.
9. Provide for non repudiation of the declarations filed by a system of digital signatures allocated by Customs acting as a Certification Authority under the IT Act, 2000.
10. Provide multiple security layers in the form of firewalls, intrusion detection system, proxy servers etc.

Objectives:
1. Single point access to Customs / Excise.
2. Enable secure transactions over VAN / Internet.
3. Centralised Security Monitoring .
4. Network of Customs nodes
5. Provide regulated Internet access

II) ACCELERATED CUSTOMS CLEARANCE PROCEDURE (ACCP)
The most important challenge presented by the rapidly growing complexity and volumes of international trade to Customs administrations all over the world is how to strike an appropriate balance between the competing and equally important considerations of trade facilitation and effective enforcement of prohibitions/restrictions and collection of Customs revenues. To meet this challenge, most modern Customs administrations have moved away from the traditional pattern of examining all consignments and assessing and collecting duty thereon prior to allowing Customs clearance. The mechanisms of control applied by them involve risk management based solutions comprising combination of self-assessment, selective examination of goods and post-clearance audits for identified categories of importers. These mechanisms ensure that there is no hold up of goods in the course of Customs processing while protecting the revenue from risk.
The ACCP would be in addition to the System Appraisal currently available. Importers who meet certain pre-defined criteria would be eligible for the procedure and it would apply to all imports effected by such importers. The criteria for selection of importers would primarily be the following:
1) Established importers. The scheme should apply to imports who are already established and have been importing for a reasonable period.
2) A proven record of compliance. For being eligible for ACCP, the importer must have clean track record. In considering this, note will be taken not only of the record of compliance with the Customs and Excise laws but also with other fiscal statutes.
3) A minimum volume of business. This could be measured in terms of annual turnover payment of Customs duties and a certain minimum number of bills of entry filed in a given period.
4) A reliable system of internal control and accountability. This would call for an assessment of the reliability of the internal accounting mechanisms of the concerned firms. Firms with systems which conform to recognized accounting standards should be good candidates for ACCP. So should those who have implemented ERP solutions.

III) CUSTOMS DATA WAREHOUSING:
The Indian Customs - India's Central Organisation has initiated the process of an Assessment Study to examine the issues related to the implementation of a Central Data Warehouse System (CDW) - a data warehouse solution dEDIcated to provide users with instant access to a Central Warehouse containing integrated information from wide-ranging sources available within the Organisation. The proposed integrated data warehouse system should provide the top management, executives at both the operational and policymaking level, analysts and researchers access to a repository of clean and consistent data - both historical and current.

INDIAN CUSTOMS has initiated an assessment study to evaluate the highly challenging task of implementing a Data Warehouse solution to source data from heterogeneous sources, clean, filter and transform the same and store in a structure that is easy to access, understand and used by the business users in the terminology they are comfortable with. The proposed project aims to get all the data available in different parts of the organization to work together and be stored in a central repository for decision-making purposes at all levels.

Data warehousing is currently being used as a strategic tool across thousands of organization to aid them in their decision making process. The data warehouse serves as a consolidated source of information, which facilitates easier, faster, timely and integrated decision making within the organization.

The Indian Customs EDI System (ICES), which is a comprehensive, paperless, fully automated customs clearance system has been operational at 23 major customs stations. The system was developed by NIC and has been operational since 1995.

This OLTP (On Line Transaction Processing) system helps in improving the operational efficiency, but doesn't provide enough support to aid the decision-makers. The reports generated are mostly periodic status reports and are static.

The proposed Central Data warehouse on the other hand, will enable the user to analyse the data as well as design and generate the reports as per his/ her requirements and that also within a short time. This data warehouse will also assist the Customs in curbing the frauds through real-time and efficient use of Risk Profiling.

The Key Benefits of the proposed data warehouse to the Indian Customs can be described as:-
1) Valuation - The proposed data warehouse will be able to consolidate the information needed valuation of commodities in a central data store and through the use of internet enabled application will assist the officers across field formation in quick and online access to data for the past 3 months.
2) Risk Profiling - The proposed CDW, envisages setting up of a Risk Profiler so that on the basis of key parameters, the system can assign the risk associated with the clearance of that particular consignment on without any need of examination. Not only will this assist the officers in catching the defaulters, but also assist in faster clearance of consignments, which do not need any checking.
3) Policy Making - Since the proposed data warehouse will present a consolidated, historical view of the data in real time (next day) and online manner (internet enabled application), this will help the policy makers in arriving at more informed decisions. Currently, most of the statistics collected take huge lead times to arrive.
4) Statistical / trend analysis - Proposed system through the use of historical information as well as statistical capabilities of the tool, provide the statistical / trend information on the click of a button in a real time environment.
5) Trade Analysis - Proposed CDW, through the use of OLAP tools will also be able to provide multi-dimensional analysis across various dimensions such as Items, Countries, Importer / Exporter, Ports as well as suppliers, CHAs etc.
6) Ad-hoc Querying and reporting - The proposed CDW will include applications which will provide the business user interface to the data helping the user in querying data or creating / customizing reports according to his or her own needs.

In this context inputs have been taken from various field formations as well as external and internal agencies about their information needs. These inputs have been taken into consideration for determining the structure of the proposed decision support system.

IV) National Import Data Base(NIDB)
Introduction : The National Import Data Base (NIDB) Project was conceived in a meeting taken by
Secretary (Revenue) at New Delhi on 22nd August, 2001. The Chairman (CBE&C), Member (Customs), Member (L&J), JS (Customs) and Commissioner (Valuation) were present. It was agreed in the said meeting that import data from all Customs Stations in the country should be captured and transmitted to a Central Server in the Directorate of Valuation on a daily basis and the same should be consolidated, analysed and a feed back should be generated and sent to the Commissioners / Customs Stations indicating import values accepted at all customs stations along with averages, outliers and international prices. It was also agreed to use the existing EDI systems and V-SATs at several locations to extract and transmit import data taking the help of the Systems Directorate and NIC. The time limit for execution of the project was specified as 60 days. It was further decided to use e-mail facility for obtaining and sending data to customs stations which are not linked by V-SAT.

Objectives :
The objectives of the NIDB project are :-

1. To collect essential details of import data from all Customs Stations whether the same is available in a computerized or manual format at the 6 digit ITC (HS) code level and to forward the import data to the Directorate of Valuation.

2. Transmit the consolidated daily import data of each customs station to a Central Server at the Directorate of Valuation through available means of communication including V-SAT dEDIcated lines and e-mail, where such import data would be combined and merged into a National Import Database.

3. Analysis of the all India import data using the Expert Systems Software under development by NCST and sending an electronic feedback to the Commissioners / Customs Stations. The feedback will contain the assessed value accepted at other customs stations, averages, outliers as well as international prices available from sources such as Reuters, international publications and sources abroad.

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