KCS continues overseas biz projects despite pandemic

Korea Customs Service (KCS) officials attend an online meeting with their counterparts in Tunisa at the KCS headquarters in Daejeon, June 12. Courtesy of KCS

By Lee Kyung-min

The Korea Customs Service (KCS) said Wednesday that it is continuing cooperation with developing countries to help them improve their customs service despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

The KCS said high-level meetings and remote operation of online platforms were ongoing with countries in Africa, North America and Southeast Europe including Cameroon, Gabon, Jamaica and Tunisia.

The latest success was launching the Cameroon Customs Information System (CAMCIS), an electronic clearance system modeled after UNI-PASS, a KCS-developed one designed to enhance swift customs clearance and logistics service convenience.

“Cameroon's Finance Minister Moataze Louis Paul expressed gratitude for the modernization of the country's customs management. We are happy to help other countries seeking to advance their customs service,” a KCS official said.

The e-clearance system highly regarded by the KCS's global peers increases work efficiency by minimizing manual errors and improving input accuracy by auto-generating trade records. It also simplifies work processes via automatic acceptance of declarations which reduces document review time.

The KCS first helped overseas countries set up e-clearance systems similar to UNI-PASS in 2005 and has since earned $410 million (492 billion won) in contracts.