Cross‑border trade is a maze of rules—classification, valuation, origin, licenses, security filings, and restricted parties—multiplied by every jurisdiction. Modern SaaS platforms turn that maze into governed workflows: maintain product master data (HS/ECCN, origin, value), screen parties and countries in real time, generate and file declarations (AES/EEI, ISF/ICS2/ACI, entries), manage FTAs and preference claims, orchestrate brokers and carriers, and keep complete audit trails with recordkeeping SLAs. The outcomes are faster clearances, fewer penalties, optimized duties/taxes, and “trade receipts” that prove savings and compliance.
- Control plane for trade compliance (what a modern platform should run)
- Product and party master data
- Centralized catalog for items/SKUs with HS/HTS and ECCN, COO, preferences, valuation methods, and flags (dual‑use, hazmat); supplier attestations and documentation vault.
- Screening and embargo checks
- Real‑time denied/restricted parties, debarred entities, and embargoed/sanctioned country programs with fuzzy/transliteration, list versioning, and audit logs.
- Declarations and security filings
- Automated creation/validation of EEI/AES, ISF (U.S.), ICS2 (EU), ACI (CA), eManifest and advance cargo, with data extraction from orders/invoices/packing lists.
- Import entry and PGA orchestration
- Build entries with HTS, value, COO, and partner government agency (PGA) requirements; broker connectivity, status events, and discrepancy handling.
- Export controls
- ECCN determination, license checks (dual‑use/munitions), license management, exemptions, destination/consignee checks, and proviso monitoring.
- FTAs and preference programs
- Rules‑of‑origin engines, supplier BOM solicitation and tracing, eligibility scoring, certificate generation (e.g., USMCA, EU FTAs), and claim evidence retention.
- Valuation and special programs
- Incoterms, assists, related‑party pricing, royalties, first‑sale logic; special regimes (bonded/FTZ/IOR/EOR, drawback, reconciliation) with inventory and audit support.
- Evidence and audit
- Immutable logs, versions of HS/ECCN and rulings, filing receipts, message archives, ACE/ICS2 acknowledgements, and retention policies by country.
- Data model and integrations (avoid rekeying and errors)
- Canonical entities
- Item/SKU, BOM/assembly, supplier/consignee, shipment, package, line, invoice, packing list, license, FTA certificate, declaration/entry, broker, PGA, audit record.
- Connectors
- ERP/OMS/WMS/TMS, carriers and brokers, PLM for specs and materials, e‑commerce carts/marketplaces; EDI/API for customs nodes; content services for tariff schedules and rulings.
- Event spine
- Events like order.confirmed, shipment.created, EEI.filed, entry.accepted, PGA.hold, broker.query; drive automations and alerts.
- Classification at scale (accuracy without the drag)
- Assisted HS/HTS and ECCN
- NLP + rules on descriptions/specs, image/doc hints, and historical rulings; human review queues with confidence scores; per‑jurisdiction nuances and versioning.
- Governance
- Maker–checker approvals, change logs, effective dates, and country‑specific overrides; link to binding rulings and notes.
- BOM and materials
- Roll‑up origin/value for assemblies; track tariff engineering and processing that changes origin; support multi‑source items with split origin.
- Pre‑departure to final delivery: automated filings
- Export side
- EEI/AES with ITN capture, license checks, routed export indicators; commercial docs (invoice/PL), certificates of origin, packing labels with tariff and COO.
- Security filings
- ISF/ICS2/ACI data extraction and validation; data quality checks (10+2, HS present, party addresses, conveyance); SLA monitors to avoid late penalties.
- Import and PGAs
- Build entries with HTS, value/assists, COO, and PGA flags (FDA, CPSC, USDA, etc.); attach docs (MSDS, test certs); broker workflows and message tracking.
- Duty optimization and cash control
- FTAs and preferences
- Eligibility scoring per shipment, certificate collection from suppliers, trace back to materials; automate claim and maintain evidence.
- Special programs
- FTZ/bonded warehouse inventory, IPR/OPR, first‑sale, drawback (manufacturing/unused, substitution) with matching and claim packs.
- Forecast and simulate
- Landed cost simulator by lane/Incoterms; “what‑if” for tariff changes, de minimis thresholds, currency, and supplier moves; cash impact of payment terms and duties.
- Risk, investigations, and exceptions
- Real‑time controls
- Country/party risk thresholds, embargo blocks, license counter tracking; alerts for mismatched HS vs. ECCN, high‑risk commodities, valuation anomalies.
- Case management
- Broker holds, PGA exams, documentation gaps, and reroutes; playbooks, SLAs, and evidence packs; communication logs with brokers/carriers and authorities.
- Analytics
- Hit rates by list, false positives, exam frequency, penalty exposure, over/under‑payment flags; trend duties/taxes/fees and claim recoveries.
- AI and automation that actually help (with guardrails)
- Copilots
- Draft HS/ECCN rationales with citations to notes/rulings; summarize license requirements; generate FTA eligibility explanations; draft responses to broker queries.
- Extraction
- OCR and structure invoices/PL/BOMs; map lines to SKUs; detect missing fields; consistency checks across docs.
- Policy‑aware agents
- Auto‑file routine EEI/ISF within limits; hold and escalate high‑risk items; schedule supplier certificate renewals; propose drawback matches—always with approvals for consequential actions.
- Guardrails
- Versioned rules, explainability and reason codes, audit on every action, and no training on proprietary data without explicit opt‑in.
- Security, privacy, and sovereignty
- Identity and access
- SSO/MFA/passkeys, least‑privilege RBAC/ABAC, just‑in‑time elevation for filings and master data edits; session recording on sensitive actions.
- Data protection
- Encryption at rest/in transit, field‑level controls for commercial terms, region pinning for jurisdictions, BYOK/HYOK; private networking to brokers and carriers.
- Recordkeeping
- Country‑specific retention (often 5–7+ years), legal holds, eDiscovery exports; transparent subprocessor maps and lawful‑access posture.
- Operational reliability and scalability
- SRE and SLAs
- Filing cut‑off monitors, retry and backoff, multi‑region HA, broker/carrier failover; sandbox for testing with seeded scenarios.
- Content freshness
- Automatic tariff updates, embargo list refreshes with provenance; change alerts and reclassification queues.
- Business continuity
- Immutable backups, incident runbooks, tabletop drills for customs/broker outages; offline packs for critical shipments.
- Pricing and packaging patterns
- SKUs
- Master Data & Classification, Screening & Sanctions, Export Filings (EEI/AES), Security Filings (ISF/ICS2/ACI), Import Entry & PGA Orchestration, Export Controls & Licensing, FTAs & Origin, Duty Optimization (FTZ/Drawback), Analytics & Audit, Enterprise Controls (BYOK/residency, private networking, premium SLA).
- Meters
- Shipments/lines filed, screenings, certificates managed, entries/origin claims, pages extracted, API calls/webhooks, storage/retention; pooled credits with budgets and soft caps.
- Services
- Classification setup and rulings support, broker/carrier onboarding, supplier outreach for origin, FTZ/drawback program design, internal controls and audit readiness.
- KPIs and “trade receipts”
- Speed and predictability
- Filing lead time, entry acceptance time, exam/hold rates, clearance time p50/p95.
- Cost and cash
- Duty/tax spend vs. baseline, preference savings realized, drawback recovered, fines/penalties avoided, landed cost variance.
- Quality and risk
- Classification accuracy, screening false‑positive rate, late/failed filings, license breach incidents, audit findings closed.
- Operations
- Manual touches per shipment, broker queries per 100 shipments, document completeness rate, rework cycles; SLA adherence.
- Reliability
- Filing success rate, system uptime, content (tariff/sanctions) refresh latency.
- 30–60–90 day rollout blueprint
- Days 0–30: Centralize item master with HS/ECCN and COO; switch on denied‑party screening; connect ERP/OMS and a pilot broker; automate EEI for one export lane and ISF/ICS2 for one import lane; enforce SSO/MFA and audit logs; define “trade receipts.”
- Days 31–60: Add origin/FTA engine with supplier certificate collection; enable import entry orchestration with PGA flags; turn on OCR for invoices/PL; publish tariff/sanction change alerts; instrument KPIs and tune screening thresholds.
- Days 61–90: Expand to two more corridors; pilot duty optimization (first‑sale or drawback/FTZ); introduce license management for controlled items; run a broker outage drill; publish receipts (clearance time↓, preference savings↑, manual touches↓, penalties=0) and finalize BYOK/residency where required.
- Common pitfalls (and fixes)
- One‑time classification, forever errors
- Fix: versioned master data with maker–checker, reclass queues on tariff updates, and links to rulings.
- Screening theater (too many false positives)
- Fix: tuned fuzzy/transliteration, whitelist governance, reason‑code analytics, and QA samples.
- Late or bad security filings
- Fix: source data quality checks, cut‑off monitors, fallback playbooks, and accountability dashboards.
- Leaving money on the table
- Fix: automate FTA eligibility and drawback; simulate tariff/route options; track realized vs. potential savings with evidence.
- Vendor lock‑in and poor exports
- Fix: open APIs, data export SLAs, schema docs, and periodic “exit drills”; prefer standards‑aligned brokers and carriers.
Executive takeaways
- Global trade compliance can be simplified when a SaaS control plane governs product data, screening, filings, origin/FTA, and duty optimization—backed by auditable evidence.
- Start with clean masters, real‑time screening, and automated EEI/ISF/ICS2; then add FTA/origin and duty programs, broker orchestration, and analytics.
- In 90 days, organizations can reduce clearance time and penalty risk, realize preference savings, and cut manual touches—proving value with “trade receipts” that tie speed, cost, and compliance outcomes together.