UNI-PASS, an advanced electronic customs clearance system developed by the Korea Customs Service, stands as the world’s first platform enabling entirely online customs clearance. This digital innovation ensures expedient customs procedures, leading to significant cost reductions in the logistics sector. Among the World Customs Organization (WCO)’s 177 member countries, this system offers unmatched efficiency, providing a 24-hour customs clearance environment without delays.

For instance, after the introduction of UNI-PASS, export customs procedures, which previously took more than a day, are now completed in just 1.5 minutes. Import customs processes that used to span two days are completed within 1.5 hours, customs refunds that previously took over three days are processed in 5.2 hours, and customary payments that extended beyond four days are now settled in 10 hours. The benefits of UNI-PASS include time-saving efficiency, accessibility through online and mobile platforms, instantaneous declarations and verifications, and adherence to international standards, all emphasizing its capability to deliver swift and reliable services.

AIRCIS serves as a pivotal aviation logistics information infrastructure, built on a foundation of standardized processes. It enables collaboration among diverse civil aviation logistics stakeholders, including airlines, forwarders, handling agents, and customs transportation firms. In addition, AIRCIS delivers B2G services, such as hazardous material declarations, within the cargo sector overseen by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport.

Developed through the synergistic collaboration of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, Incheon International Airport Corporation, and national airlines, AIRCIS supports standardized workflows and seamless real-time logistics information connectivity. AIRCIS significantly enhances the competitive stance of the aviation logistics industry by reducing logistics lead time.

AIRCIS offers a diverse range of services, such as schedule consultations, cargo booking and tracking, terminal operation inquiries, and D/O checks. These are readily accessible across various platforms, including EDI, web, and open APIs.

Since April 2021, AIRCIS launched an EDI-based service for the release of imported goods. This evolution marks a notable shift toward a paperless paradigm in aviation logistics. By replacing traditional paper documents, which customs transporters previously submitted to cargo terminals, with electronic versions, several procedural steps, including document printing and manual submission, have been eliminated. This transformation accelerates the cargo release lead time and boosts operational efficiency. The long-term vision is to expand this paperless approach, aiming for a wholly paper-free process across all phases of imported cargo management.

The e-NOTOC service offers a web-based NOTOC drafting tool and platform for the electronic declaration of hazardous materials by airlines. This system is available via both web and EDI interfaces, facilitating airlines in fulfilling their legal reporting obligations in a more organized and secure manner.

Information on hazardous materials aboard aircraft, collated by AIRCIS, reinforces the regulatory functions of the national aviation security control tower. Furthermore, AIRCIS’s statistical services supply the government with pertinent logistics-related policy insights.

In a joint venture with Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, an agreement has been formalized to establish a pioneering testbed at the Incheon International Airport cargo terminal, named the ‘Future Smart Cargo Terminal Construction Business Agreement’. This initiative seeks to formulate a forward-looking operational model through collaborative research and discussions with on-site operations experts. The ambitious project envisions the integration of Fourth Industrial Revolution innovations, such as unmanned robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and big data analytics, into the entire span of air cargo operations, targeting the full establishment of this testbed by 2027.

Through the establishment and operation of a testbed, the financial viability and IT technical suitability of the cargo terminal operation will be assessed. With an extensive repository of operational insights at their disposal, the objective is to initiate the operations of the futuristic smart cargo terminal and reallocate airlines by 2030.