A pharma shipment heading from Southeast Asia to Canada declared Titanium Dioxide chemicals on board.

A number of pharma shipments heading from India to the US were carrying Kamagra, a Viagra alternative that is not approved by the FDA and illegal to sell in the US.

It’s a major evolving problem. Counterfeits currently represent 3.3% of all global trade (USD 509 billion), and they threaten a large number of industries.

Every year, customs around the world lose almost $900 billion to revenue leakages. In 2020 alone, the EU lost €93 billion, Malaysia reported RM1.5 billion missing, and Nigeria found itself last year in a N20 trillion revenue hole.

For customs authorities, data is absolutely integral for inspecting shipments and the insight drawn from customs declarations is what they effectively lean on to identify goods and assess the possible risks involved in a shipment.

From adulteration to misbranding, mislabeling, and substituting products, food fraud is the intentional deception of consumers through a range of illicit activities that falsify the true nature of food items—and every year it drains $49 billion from global trade.

Customs agencies globally face staggering revenue losses, with nearly $900 billion annually slipping through the cracks

With more decisions to be made, and huge amounts of information to consider in rapidly-growing areas like e-commerce, customs operations are already stretched and it’s only expected to grow.

Weak legislation and poor healthcare has increasingly encouraged the growth of a dangerous counterfeit market.

A pharma shipment heading from Southeast Asia to Western Africa was carrying Promethazine on board, an oral cough syrup medication.

A medical shipment travelling between two Southeast Asian countries was carrying Dactinomycin, a form of cancer chemotherapy medication.

A shipment heading from Western to Eastern Europe declared an “Audi” on board with a valuation of $48,665.

A shipment heading from the gulf to north Africa containing flavored molasses was classified under sugar and sweets (HS-217), which importers enjoy at a tariff rate of 0%.

A shipment from the Far East going to South Asia declared various sewing machines valued at a total CIF of $23,958 declared.

A shipment heading from the Iberian Peninsula of Europe to South America declared a large number of pears on board.

Findings: Publican Detected a High Risk of Integrity Concern

A shipment from East Asia to North America transporting respiratory devices—a medical item that relies heavily on quality assurance to ensure public safety—declared a price of $0.95 per unit.

A Pulsar motorcycle shipment heading from South Asia to Central America declared a price of $1272.60 per unit.

The exporter’s declared price of $0.40 per unit was abnormally low compared to similar Corona products, which are listed at a minimum of $1.33 per unit. (Undervalued alcohol could indicate a possibility of using fake ingredients and poses a real danger to public health and safety.)

A shipment heading from Europe to Africa that contained almonds was classified as hazelnuts.

A shipment, heading from Italy declared that the conveyor belts being shipped had originated in Italy, which has a 0% tax rate

Publican discovered that a shipment going from Western Europe to Africa was smuggling drugs by attempting to conceal the illegal substance within marble slabs.

With online shopping becoming the new norm, the latest products and innovations are more accessible than ever before. Consumers can buy designer clothing, limited edition sneakers and the trendiest new toys for kids to obsess over in a matter of one click and no second thought.

New regulatory frameworks are constantly being introduced by governments with the aim of ensuring that the trading of goods remains compliant with their goals.

A rising concern is that salvage vehicles now have their own market; bought by specialized salvage companies who restore them to their original condition,

With the international trading of goods constantly evolving, so too are the deceptive tactics of illicit traders who continuously find new ways of evading detection to keep the authorities oblivious.

While speaking about the importance of data in regulating trade might feel obvious at this point, the truth is that data takes on new impact and meaning as trade continues to become evermore complex.

From household goods to niche products, illicit shippers often capitalize on the blind spots of authorities who lack familiarity with the finer industry details, such as a product’s markings or its standard weight, to evade suspicion.

From Latin America to the Asian Peninsula, every country in the world today has its own specific characteristics; laws, cultures, and idiosyncrasies, which are all distinctly part of national identity and are reflected in the customs law.

Brimming with the spirit of buying and “once-in-a-year” deals, the holiday season is the most wonderful time of the year for retailers and consumers, and a busy time for every entity involved in the supply chain.

With the modernization and harmonization of trading processes emerging as a central priority for the customs ecosystem, Publican streamlines, simplifies, and sharpens the process of clearing legitimate goods.

From geopolitics to the modern digital world, things have changed quite a bit since the US Tariff Act of 1930 prohibited importing overseas goods that involved forced labor.

Not every country has the same labour protections, which means product supply chains can sometimes include practices that exploit vulnerable people to work, including forced and child labour, with the import country often oblivious to its role in the production journey.

Facilitating trade means facilitating legitimate trade. Yet the current chaos the world finds itself in has served as music to the ears of illicit traders, who operate most effectively when life is unstable, demand is persistent, and the attention of authorities is prioritized elsewhere.

Under the law, enforced by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, goods from the Xinjiang region in northwestern China are assumed to have been made with the forced labor of Uyghurs, unless a company can prove otherwise, according to a CBP explainer.

The shipping of hazardous materials is a particularly challenging process to contend with.

It seems many authorities today are still finding their feet as to how customs strategies can be best harnessed to address a world in a state of flux.

The founders of Ultra were in the cyber business until they understood that both in terms of business and value they would prefer to do something else with the technology that they developed.

World Customs Organization endorses the Publican System for Digital Shipment Vetting by Ultra as a unique, transformative, and valuable technology, and chooses Ultra to support the Regional Office for Capacity Building in East and Southern Africa

For decades, traders have been able to operate under-the-radar by manipulating internationally recognized HS codes, wrongly declaring one type of item as another to cut costs and avoid paying the required duty rate.

Fraudulent shippers often utilize their longstanding core business as an effective front to conceal the actual goods being shipped.

Global digitalization is leading to an exponential increase in the volume and production of data, which, in turn, is matched by a growing demand for data from all parts of society.

The client, a Custom administration from West Africa, approached Publican to help accelerate their digital transformation efforts

Like many other countries, the administration was dealing with the illegal import of unroadworthy vehicles, repaired and sold as new

The client, a West African Customs administration, reached out to Publican after noticing an increase in counterfeit shipments

At the end of 2020, Publican started working with one of Latin America’s customs administrations. Like