With the accession to the Convention on a Common Transit Procedure (CTC), the Republic of North Macedonia started using the NCTS phase 4 system - a modern tool for implementing the transit procedure.

According to the terms of the Convention on a Common Transit Procedure, all its members should upgrade the system to NCTS phase 5, a new version with improved functionalities.

This is the first update of the NCTS system with changes foreseen in terms of bringing the system in line with the legal requirements set with the Union Customs Code (UCC) and the Convention on a Common Transit Procedure.

One of the major changes is the harmonization of IE messages exchange with the necessary data defined in the Annexes to the EU Regulations and the Convention, taking into account the EU customs data model.

The upgrades of the NCTS 5 system, will ensure easier registration of "En route" events during the transit procedure and the introduction of new processes and the role of the customs office, a transit declaration with reduced set of data will be implemented and submission of a declaration before placing the goods for inspection will be introduced, as well as electronic exchange of messages between different declaration systems at EU level. Data migration from NCTS 4 to NCTS 5 will follow as well.

The Customs Administration, in cooperation with an external contractor has already started the development and implementation of the new NCTS 5 system, which should be put into production at the end of the first quarter of 2024.*

The Customs Administration will regularly inform its partners, the economic operators, about all planned activities that will follow.

All necessary information regarding all phases of the implementation of this project can be found here.

Functional and Technical requirement specification - NCTS5

European Specification - Main Document

* An update of the National Project Plan for the implementation of NCTS 5 is in process of preparation and the extension of the date for putting the new system into production, on which further information will follow.