Excise Movement and Control System (EMCS) - an introduction
Why is EMCS being introduced?
In 1998, an EU High Level Working Group was set up to analyse the nature of excise fraud and identify weaknesses in excise procedures. The groups report identified weaknesses in the paper based Administrative Accompanying Document (AAD) system. One of the recommendations was to introduce an electronic system to capture and monitor the movement of excise goods under duty suspension. This recommendation was commonly agreed by all Member States in June 2003.
What will EMCS do?
EMCS will capture and process AAD information in respect of all movements of excise goods in duty suspension within the EU. It will provide validation of data and real time notification of dispatch and receipt of goods. Registered warehouse keepers will exchange electronic messages containing specific consignment and movement information with their trading counterparts throughout the EU.
EMCS will link over 150,000 traders in 27 national administrations across the EU. Each Member State will develop their own national EMCS application and these systems will be linked to all other Member States through a central domain, maintained by the European Commission.
Consideration is being given to include intra-UK movements in EMCS. A decision regarding inclusion of this process will be made following consultations with trade representative groups.
When will EMCS be delivered?
The EU Commission has announced that the original implementation date of April 2009, for the first phase of EMCS has been moved to April 2010. All Member States are committed to delivering the various elements of EMCS in functional stages within the specified timescales. The Phasing and Scope Specification (PSS) document released by the Commission provides additional information about the EMCS roll-out strategy. There will be a progressive entry into operation and to allow for this, the Functional Excise System Specification (FESS) has been broken down into three stages:
- Functional stage 0: at 1 April 2010, as a minimum, all Member States are required to handle the destination site of electronic movements, enabling the electronic discharge of the movement by report of receipt.
- Functional stage 1: no later than 31 December 2010, all Member States are required to provide a system to handle the submission and discharge of movements electronically.
- Functional stage 2: by 1 July 2011, all Member States are required to deliver all of the remaining functionality as detailed in the FESS.
HM Revenue & Customs have taken note of the EU Commission decision and will aim to implement both FS0 and FS1 in April 2010.
How will EMCS work?
The Commission has developed the EMCS Business Prototype (BPR). This is a useful tool that illustrates the functionality described in the Functional Excise System Specification (FESS), and is available from the Commission’s EMCS in Practice page.
Functional Stage 0-User experience 'Screen shots'
EMCS User Interface Specifications for Launch EMCS Service (PDF 3.7MB) and EMCS Submit Report of Receipt (PDF 1.2MB) ‘Screen Shots’ provide a visual demonstration of the UK EMCS online service.
EMCS overview (PDF 39K) - this explains the standard process expected to cover most EMCS movements.
