The Digital Import service reduced the time for releasing goods by half, generating savings in storage costs and improving the competitiveness of more than 39,000 companies, the National Superintendency of Customs and Tax Administration (Sunat) reported on Monday (13.09.2021).
The Peruvian specialized technical body explained that with this electronic commerce process, which optimizes procedures by eliminating physical documents, the average time for merchandise release was reduced from 72.8 hours, prior to its implementation in mid-2020, to only 36.1 hours on average, currently.
He also stressed that the new service reduced the time taken to remove goods from warehouses from 9 days to less than 2 days, which means an average saving of 250 dollars per container per day.
Business Agility
He explained that since the implementation of this service, commercial operations worth more than 35,000 billion dollars in merchandise entering the country have been generated.
In this way, Sunat's Digital Import service speeds up the entry of goods, allowing companies to plan the disposition of their goods in the market with greater predictability and take better advantage of commercial opportunities.
Since its implementation, more than 645,000 numbered declarations have been transmitted through the Digital Import service and advance clearance has increased from 68% in August 2020 to 82% in June 2021.
He also said that during this period, the number of registered importers increased from 36,000 to 39,000.
Best Practices
The Digital Import model was implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, following recommendations from the World Customs Organization (WCO) and recently won the Best Practices in Public Management Award, in the Digital Government subcategory, from the NGO Ciudadanos al Día.
According to Sunat, the entry of imported products represents 23% of the gross domestic product (GDP), many of which are consumer goods, raw materials, intermediate products, capital goods and construction materials, the commercialization of which contributes to the reactivation of the different sectors of the national economy.
Before the start of the pandemic, the import process for these goods involved the use of physical documents - almost 10 pages per sheet of paper - which had to be submitted in person. Now the procedure has been simplified by virtual support that speeds up the entire process, without having to leave home.
Aduana News is the first Argentine customs newspaper to launch its digital version. With 20 years of experience, its publications and initiatives aim to provide the most relevant knowledge on customs issues in order to contribute to safe trade in the region.
