EU ICS2 advance cargo filing

The carrier is the party most people think of first, and it can file. But the obligation is on all economic operators bringing goods to or through the EU, and the Commission allows single or multiple filings depending on your contracts. In air cargo, operators can either hand their data to the airline to complete the filing, or send it to ICS2 directly. A forwarder who doesn't want to give its customer list to a carrier might file its house-level data itself.

Anyone connecting to the system needs an EORI number from an EU member state, including non-EU operators. If you're a shipper, you probably won't file anything. You will supply the data that someone else files, and that data has to be right.

After risk analysis, customs can issue what the Commission calls risk-mitigating referrals. Depending on the case, these can:

• ask the filer for more information,
• require high-risk cargo and mail screening, or
• tell the carrier not to load the cargo.

The Commission has also said that these referrals must be answered before the risk assessment can resume, so the consignment waits. A request for information on a Friday evening at a hub can cost you a flight.

This is where shippers feel ICS2. The filer's data comes from your waybill and your invoice, and the description has to be plain language, precise enough to identify the goods. The guidance says general terms can't be accepted, and names "consolidated", "general cargo", "parts" and "freight of all kinds". The Commission also told air operators that "unknown", "not available", and house-level aggregation aren't acceptable.

An updated list of stop words took effect on 3 August 2026, published in the Commission's CIRCABC library. Read it against your product master. See product descriptions for the method.

Here's what that looks like on a courier parcel of mixed goods:

To illustrate: if you're sending 400 parcels a week, an assumed 2% hit rate on referrals is 8 parcels a week off their planned flight. Your rate may be different, and the point is where you fix it: the description field in your system, once, rather than on each of those 8 parcels.

1. Ask your carrier or forwarder which data they want from you, and how they'll tell you about a referral.
2. Fix your descriptions at source, and add an HS code to your documents.
3. Get the real consignee and shipper names and addresses onto the waybill, and don't use a forwarder's address unless it's correct.
4. If you're a forwarder, decide whether you'll file house-level data yourself or share it with the carrier.
5. For road or rail, don't plan around a derogation. The Commission listed the end of temporary derogations linked to the transit system on 1 June 2026. If you think one still applies, check its list and confirm with your carrier.

ICS2 sits alongside the wider clearance process, and it doesn't replace any of it. Fixing an ENS doesn't fix a wrong import declaration, and the reverse is true too. The Commission's ICS2 documents are the place to check the time limits for your mode, since these vary by transport type.