Nafeza will be rolled out to the nation’s airports in October
Authorities will begin trials of the ACI digital customs tracker for air freight in mid-May ahead of a full rollout in October, the Finance Ministry said in a statement Friday.
Time to register, importers: FinMin called on all those who import goods via air freight to register on the Nafeza platform before it becomes mandatory, adding that some 800 companies working in air freight had already been trained on how to use the system.
What is all this again? ACI is a World Customs Organization (WCO) protocol that provides real-time information on shipments of incoming goods to shipping lines, port operators and governments. It’s a key part of the Finance Ministry’s digital customs system known as Nafeza, which went live in October. All maritime importers must be registered with Nafeza, through which they file shipping paperwork and cargo data.
Nafeza update: More than 30k importers have so far joined the ACI system and some 80k foreign exporters have registered with blockchain document platform CargoX since it went live at the nation’s seaports in October, according to the statement.
For more on ACI and Nafeza, head to our in-depth explainer here. The Customs Authority had previously planned to start the trial of the Advanced Cargo Information (ACI) system for air freight in January ahead of a full launch in April.