Conceptual model customs transpactions

For efficient and effective law enforcement, customs depends on data from business administrations. Businesses experiences retrieval of data as an administrative burden. From a customs perspective, the many differences in business administrations have an adverse impact on efficient and effective supervision. Standardization and harmonization of data exchange solve this problem (OECD, 2010a; OECD, 2010b; Bharosa, Wijk, Winne, & Janssen, 2015; Grainger. 2008). Dutch Customs (Customs Administration of the Netherlands, 2017). As well as companies (Customs Administration of the Netherlands, 2013; Hof, Kondrashova, Palacios Miras, & Speelman, 2016) confirm the benefits of an audit file as implementation for standardization and harmonization. Standardization and harmonization imply more than “data exchange”. Reference data or a classification scheme is a key to data integration and interoperability. It also facilitates the sharing and reporting of information. It can be used for further development of customs supervision, for example by (sharing) standard data analysis. This report is about a classification scheme, a conceptual model of the transaction codes for activities related to (the movements of) goods. This as part of the audit file, to reduce the administrative burden (OECD, 2013) for companies, to improve efficiency and effectiveness of customs supervision and to build a foundation for further innovation of customs supervision. This research is design-oriented (Hevner, 2004). The environment consists of the application domain. Theories of standardization, auditing, and customs supervision are the considered knowledge areas. This knowledge is obtained through literature study, internal documents of Dutch Customs, desk research, experience and knowledge of the author, observation of the author during presentations at the Nederlands Normalisatie Instituut, and an interview with an expert. Analyses of the audit file used in the Netherlands, customs legislation for customs warehouses and the inventory process provide a proposal of the conceptual model for the transaction codes. Validation of the proposal takes place by comparing the customs warehouse concept with the terms used by the World Customs Organization, by testing the completeness of the codes with two audit files, by questionnaires to experts in the fields of auditing, customs supervision and standardizing. The validation process ends with an interview with an expert who is involved in the development of the Audit Data Collection Standard of the International Organization for Standardization. The first conclusion of this research is that an audit file has added value for customs warehouses. The second conclusion is that the conceptual model for customs transaction codes for a customs warehouse is validated. The concepts/terms used are compatible with the terms used by the World Customs Organization. The test leads to the conclusion that all transactions in the two audit files match with a transaction code from the conceptual model. From the questionnaire and the interview the conceptual model for transaction codes is complete and useful. Further, the proposed model is easily extensible, not only for customs but also for other supervisors. This research has some limitations. Firstly, the research focuses only on the customs procedure ‘customs warehousing’. Secondly, only employees of the Dutch Tax and Customs Authorities validated the model. It is recommended to present the model to other stakeholders: businesses, audit firms, advisory firms, software vendors, other supervisors for further development of the model and for adding codes for their purposes. A second recommendation is to announce/present the model at the Nederlands Normalisatie Instituut Audit Data Collection for further development of the Audit Data Collection Standard of the International Organization for Standardization. In the latter group Dutch Tax and Customs authorities, software vendors and audit firms are present. This is the means/way for standardization, harmonization, and development of the conceptual model worldwide.