Cotecna has developed a Computerized Risk Management System (CRMS) to help its clients cope more effectively with managing and facilitating ever-increasing volumes of imports. The system is designed to assist Customs officials in determining the appropriate level of intervention of each trade transaction, based on the type of goods to be inspected, making the best use of available resources, whether physical, laboratory, scanning, post-entry audit and so on.
Risk Management thus helps with:

• enhancing security by focusing efforts on high risk imports and detecting dangerous, banned or restricted goods;
• facilitating international trade by reducing the need for physical inspections and allowing for "fast-track" clearance (green channel) of low-risk imports;
• protecting revenues through focused intervention;
• reducing port congestion by reducing the need for full physical inspection upon arrival; and
• contributing to a more effective and efficient allocation of Customs’ resources to accelerate clearance of "low risk" importers, allowing Customs to focus energies on high risk imports.

Used in conjunction with other services provided by Cotecna, such as Scanning, Destination Inspection and/or strategically applied PSI services, Cotecna's CRMS becomes a very powerful tool for revenue authorities.

About the CRMS® Computerized Risk Management System

The CRMS® is an automated Customs solution that uses econometrical modeling to identify the relevant criteria for assessing the risk associated with trade transactions.

The CRMS® applies criteria in a systematic manner to determine the level of risk for each transaction and assigns levels of Customs intervention according to level of risk and available resources.

CRMS® is a significant innovation serving Customs administrations by providing:

• an automated approach
  Consignments are assessed and risk levels designated automatically as part of the normal work process within the CRMS® without need for manual intervention.
• a focused approach
  Specific and appropriate levels of intervention are assigned to each consignment on the basis of risk, resulting in a more efficient and effective use of resources.
• a dynamic approach
  The CRMS® takes into account the results of interventions (including physical inspection, examination and/or scanning) to continually update the database, thus enabling the system to respond to changing patterns of non-compliance.

For a demonstration of how Cotecna combines CRMS® with scanning technology for better control and facilitation of trade, visit our case studies on Ghana and Tanzania.