American Airlines Selects Descartes ICS Solution

Descartes (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada) has announced that American Airlines Cargo, a division of American Airlines Inc., has selected its Global Filer solution to help it manage its import customs filings to the European Union’s (EU) Import Control System (ICS). The solution will assist with upcoming EU regulations regarding advanced entry declarations, which take effect on Jan. 1.

Global Filer, part of Descartes' Global Trade Compliance suite, enables collaboration between multiple parties to address customs security filing requirements across different modes of transport and for multiple countries.

“This new agreement with Descartes is a great milestone for American Airlines Cargo as it strengthens our 17-year relationship for electronic messaging and system automation,” said Richard Burkhardt, managing director of cargo operations at American Airlines Cargo. “Descartes has the in-depth understanding of the complex EU customs environment required to meet our standards for compliance with new customs security requirements.”

Global Filer offers multiple features that improve overall efficiency of customs requirements and operations including the following:

- Complete, real-time visibility into the customs status of cargo and the ability to provide this status information to logistic partners and clients, regardless of their location.

- Integration capabilities with back-office systems, optimizing data entry efforts, allowing for re-use of data and reducing the risk of error.

- One solution (as opposed to different applications) to cover multicountry requirements, allowing for a more efficient use of resources and time.

“We’re delighted that American Airlines Cargo chose Descartes to meet current and longer-term EU compliance mandates,” said Jonathan Wasserman, senior vice president, Global Trade Compliance Solutions at Descartes. “Global Filer can also increase the visibility of American’s customs operations and allow American’s users to efficiently manage data entry and monitor security to help provide even better service to American’s customers.”

Descartes’ Global Filer leverages the power of Descartes’ Global Logistics Network (GLN). The GLN enables organizations to connect to global trading partners and regulatory organizations and reliably exchange information to increase performance and drive high levels of customer satisfaction.