Saint Albans, UK, Sept. 21, 2022 — Hongkong Post has chosen Hurricane Commerce as the data partner to support its global ecommerce operations, accessing Hurricane’s Zephyr and Aura solutions.
Hurricane’s Zephyr solution ensures that shipments have the right data – including HS6 codes, product descriptions and 8- and 10- digit import and export codes – to pass smoothly through customs and on to the end consumer.
Meanwhile, Hurricane’s Aura product covers the three critical cross-border areas of duty and tax calculation, prohibited and restricted goods screening and denied parties screening.
The need for complete, accurate and compliant data in cross-border ecommerce trade has been driven by a series of regulatory events. They include the introduction of the European Union’s Import One-Stop Shop [IOSS] in July 2021 and the implementation of the EU’s Import Control System 2 [ICS2].
The second release of ICS2 comes into effect in March 2023 and affects all parties involved in handling, shipping and transporting cargo, express or postal consignments to or via the EU by air with the requirement for minimum data sets.
Hongkong Post plans to make Hurricane’s enquiry functions available for all destinations to customers, enabling them to check all the customs related information to assist their shipments. This includes HS Code checking and tax and VAT calculation. Customers will also be able to check if an item is prohibited or if the sending or receiving party is banned.
The service will be provided in Hongkong Post locations via computers in each branch and online via the website and Hongkong Post app.
“We are delighted to be the chosen data partner to Hongkong Post,” said Martyn Noble, CEO of Hurricane Commerce. “Our solutions are now the preferred option of postal operators and postal networks across the globe as our customers rise to the challenges and opportunities presented by increasing cross-border regulations and geopolitical tensions.”