Ecommerce low-value consignments (LVC) are now an integral part of any air cargo handling business. Thanks to the EU new VAT ecommerce legislation package adopted on 1 July 2021, customs clearance of ecommerce goods under 150 EUR value has been drastically simplified. To help the air cargo supply chain deal with the change, Qstep has introduced a new feature to its air cargo handling software platform allowing for ecommerce goods release on a parcel level already at the airport´s cargo handling facility.

As of today, cargo handlers´ software solutions across the globe are usually unable to release shipments directly from the cargo terminal against thousands of parcel-level customs declarations at once. This is the reason consolidated eCommerce import shipments, usually containing thousands of parcels, are most often released from the airport´s cargo terminal under transit procedure and taken to a designated warehouse for customs clearance and deconsolidation.

But now with the help of the new feature, the cargo handler using Qstep can upload and automatically log the customs cleared ecommerce goods with parcel level MRNs into its customs records and release it to the logistics provider without a need for these goods to be transferred on a transit procedure to a customs terminal nearby. Instead, goods can go directly to last mile provider´s sorting center which does not have to be any more a customs bonded facility.

As a result, this opens up new opportunities for logistics companies and last mile providers who do not have own or leased warehousing space near the airports with right for customs temporary storage and for cargo handlers it allows to offer the supply chain with new value-added services in handling imported ecommerce shipments.