Diffusion Of Digitalization In The Customs Sphere
Through Electronic Document Management
2021 Intelligent Technologies and Electronic Devices in Vehicle and Road Transport Complex (TIRVED) | 978-1-6654-0075-6/21/$31.00 ©2021 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/TIRVED53476.2021.9639101
V. I. Prusova
Department of Finance
Moscow Automobile and Road Construction State
Technical University (MADI)
Moscow, Russia
archive@madi.ru
M. A. Zhidkova
Department of Finance
Moscow Automobile and Road Construction State
Technical University (MADI)
Moscow, Russia
zhidkova_m_a@mail.ru
Abstract— The article adresses on the topic of the transition
of all spheres of activity to electronic document management. In
particular, the statistics of positive results on the transition to
electronic customs declarations in the customs sphere is given.
The article illustrates the problem of organizing electronic
commerce and presents the problems that almost all
organizations face when introduction of paper document
management. The authors give a practical example as an
argument of the further development of electronic document
management. The introduction of electronic document
management will have a faster application and use in conditions
of a pandemic.
Keywords— electronic document management; federal customs
service; electronic customs declarations; international economic
activity; electronic shipping manifest.
I. INTRODUCTION
The Digital Economy program approved by the
government is a modern stimulator of entrepreneurship
development in the Russian Federation. Digitalization
penetrates into all spheres and, first of all, through the
introduction of electronic document management (EDM) [3].
The use of EDM is defined by Federal Law No. 63-FZ of
06.04.2011 «On Electronic Signature», Article 169 of the Tax
Code of the Russian Federation, Order of the Ministry of
Finance No. 174n of 10.11.2015. The use of an electronic
signature, the translation of paper documents into electronic
form both in commercial activities and in the public sector is
practically equivalent to the state standard in the field of
document management.
Nevertheless, in practice, the introduction of electronic
document management requires changes to existing processes
and updating the technical base. The Federal Customs Service
(hereinafter referred to as the FCS) is no exception, since it
acts in the economic interests of the state, as well as ensures
978-1-6654-0075-6/21/$31.00 ©2021 IEEE
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E. Yu. Kolokolova
Moscow Automobile and Road Construction State
Technical University (MADI)
Moscow, Russia
archive@madi.ru
A. V. Kargina
Moscow Automobile and Road Construction State
Technical University (MADI)
Moscow, Russia
archive@madi.ru
the national and economic security of the country at the same
time interacting with external and internal participants in
economic activity [2].
The implemented Strategy for the development of the
customs service of the Russian Federation until 2020
expanded the practice of electronic declaration, which greatly
simplifies the process of customs operations and customs
control. This strategy led to a reduction in paper document
management. Therefore, it served as the basis for the
development of Electronic Declaration Centers (hereinafter-
CED).
II. DEVELOPMENT OF EDM IN THE CUSTOMS SPHERE
Currently, the volume of cargo turnover of almost all types
of transport is constantly growing. Therefore, the role of the
development of electronic document management is
increasing in order to significantly reduce time costs and other
possible difficulties when implementing international
economic activity (IEA). In addition, according to customs
statistics for 2020, a large-scale reform of the system of
customs authorities of the Russian Federation was completed.
Today there is a single network of 8 electronic customs offices
and 16 customs posts (CED). The Central, North-Western, Far
Eastern and Southern electronic customs offices were created
in 2020. The Central, North-Western, Far Eastern and
Southern customs posts, which are subordinate to them, began
to function [10]. In order to emphasize the importance of the
activities of the CED, let us consider some data on customs
statistics. It showed that 97,5% of all electronic declarations
for goods were concentrated in the CED by the end of 2020
(in 2019 – 67,9%). Moreover, more than 270 thousand
electronic customs declarations (ECD) were automatically
registered in 2020, which is more than 6 times higher than the
same indicator in 2019 (43,9 thousand ECD) and accounted
for 26% of the total number of issued ECD. The technology of
automated release was used in relation to 57,9 thousand ECD, • unwillingness of some participants of international
which is more than 10 times higher than in 2019 (5,3 thousand economic activity to enter digital markets;
ECD) and amounted to more than 45% of the total number of
ECD that meet the conditions for automatic registration and • uncertainty in maintaining the secrecy of personal
automated release of ECD [7]. It can be concluded that data of consumers of the digital market.
electronic document management has a positive impact on However, the introduction of innovative digital
international economic activity. It allows to reduce the time technologies is the most promising direction for the
required for performing customs operations and placing goods development of the national economy at a time of increasing
under customs procedures, reduce the time and financial costs global competition, where the spread of coronavirus is
of conscientious participants in the international economic accompanied by tougher sanctions against the Russian
activity. Electronic document management has a positive Federation. They will allow solving the strategic issue of
impact on increase of the efficiency of customs authorities, as adapting the national macroeconomic system in the new
well as the effectiveness of customs control. conditions, ensuring the national and economic security of the
Russian Federation [4].
According to the data provided by the Federal Customs
Service, work on improving electronic information services The development and implementation of the Digital
Economy program is provided for by the decree of the
continued in 2020. These services are designed for
Government of the Russian Federation within the framework
personalized information interaction between customs of the execution of the Decree of the President of the Russian
authorities and a participant of international economic activity Federation No. 203 dated 09.05.2017 «On the Strategy for the
based on WEB-technologies within the Personal Account [8]. Development of the Information Society in the Russian
The current functionality of the electronic services of the Federation for 2017-2030» [6].
Personal Account significantly simplifies the process of
declaring goods, reduces time costs and allows to refuse Paper document management is becoming a thing of the past.
intermediary services. In addition, the information service
"Permits" of the Personal Account provides an opportunity for
Russian exporters and importers in a mode close to real time
to see the documents received in the information system of
customs authorities issued to them by various state bodies for
customs purposes. Therefore, there is an opportunity to
receive the necessary information about the remaining
quantities of goods under licenses of the Ministry of Industry
and Trade of Russia and certificates on the execution of such
licenses. In addition, Personal Account provides possibility for
foreign trade participants to receive information about the
classification of imported goods as controlled objects, in
respect of which prohibitions and restrictions are established
and applied [9].
Today, Digital Customs is of priority importance in the
Strategic direction of the development of the Eurasian
Economic Integration until 2025. It confirms the need to
Fig. 2. Number of printed documents in organizations
introduce electronic commerce and will encourage doing
business in a digital format. Companies need constant optimization and acceleration of
business processes. Organizations will get the result they need
faster with the help of electronic document management.
Therefore, an increasing number of companies is switching to
EDM.

Fig. 1. Advantages of electronic document management, % of time spent

In addition, there is currently a number of problems caused

by electronic commerce: Fig. 3. The speed of transition to working with documents in electronic
format

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 The main problems when using paper
management include the following:
1. Document storage. The human factor in an
unorganized business process allows for the loss of paper
documentation.
2. Document control. There may be a problem with
tracking the status of the document, as well as the availability
of additional documents related to it.
3. Preparation of documents. Generally, companies use
internal regulations that are accompanied by established
document templates. There are problems caused by searching
for an up-to-date template and manually filling out the
document. All this also leads to additional costs.
4. Automatization of processes. The lack of a unified
system leads to the fact that it is difficult for managers to
control all the business processes of the company [1].
These are only the main, but not all the existing problems
that occur in the paper document management.
The transition to digital exchange and storage of
documents can be presented in the following form.
Fig. 4. The main objectives of the transition to digital exchange and storage
of documents
A pilot project on the use of electronic waybills which
started in October 2020 is an example of optimization and
implementation of automatization systems.
Electronic shipping manifest is a document that allows to
monitor the work of drivers. The indicators used in electronic
shipping manifest will be used for calculating drivers’ salaries.
About 3 billion shipping manifests are issued for road
transport in Russia every year, which is 40 thousand tons of
paper.
As part of the pilot project, road transport participants
form the necessary documents in electronic form and transmit
them to each other and to the Ministry of Transport using the
information system «Paperless transportation of passengers
and cargo».
The Ministry of Transport expects that the transformation
of transport documents to a digital format will make the
document management transparent for senders and recipients
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document of goods, carrier companies and regulatory authorities,
including the Federal Tax Service and the Ministry of Internal
Affairs.
In addition, as part of the project, the carrier's personal
account should appear on the public services website. It will
organize a working space for processing electronic shipping
manifest and other documents, including permits for the
transportation of bulky and dangerous goods, reserving time
for crossing the state border, etc.
The digital format of document management will allow to
minimize the number of paper documents being processed,
and, as a result, to reduce the costs of the industry. The official
introduction of electronic shipping manifest into practice is
planned for July 2022.
Data received and processed by the system:
• calculation of drivers ' working hours;
• continuous vehicle tracking;
• fixing the location;
• passing the control points of the route;
• accrual of depreciation;
• fuel consumption;
• decommission of fuel, spare parts, consumables.
Therefore, the implementation of the electronic shipping
manifest system will reduce the burden on carriers associated
with document management, reduce costs, eliminate
accounting errors, exchange data in real time 24/7 and make
decisions promptly at any stage of road transportation.
The result of the implementation of this project should be a
complete rejection of paper documents. Drivers on the line will
present an abstract set of characters to traffic police inspectors
on their phone, and inspectors will use their smartphone to go
online and find the necessary document by code.
III. PROSPECTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTRONIC
DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT
The Concept of the development of electronic document
management in economic activity was approved on December
25, 2020. It has been ratified by the decision of the Presidium of
the Government commission on digital development, the use of
information technologies to improve the quality of life and
business conditions. It is assumed that this Concept will apply to
all sectors of activity of economic entities. The adoption of the
Concept requires a long preparation. The main points of the
Concept are:
– expanding the state intervention in the development of
EDM. It applies not only to EDM within the state, but also
international (cross-border) EDM;
– creation of the requirements base for electronic document
formats, types of signatures applied, signing technologies;
– development of a risk-based approach in the
implementation of the functions of control and supervision by
the state.
 The main directions of EDM development approved by the
Concept should include:
1. Increase in the number of approved electronic
document formats.
2. Expanding the possibilities of using an electronic
signature.
3. Creation of uniform technological principles for the
exchange of documents.
4. Creation of requirements for the storage and
presentation of electronic documents.
5. Establishment of requirements for the exchange of
electronic documents of a specific type and for the exchange of
documents between businesses and authorities.
6. Conversion of internal documents of companies into
electronic format.
7. Organization of international EDM.
The listed directions demonstrate how deeply EDM will
penetrate into the activities of each enterprise. Statistics are
assumed:
– increase in the total number of electronic documents by at
least 20% per year, starting from 2022;
– reduction of the number of destroyed paper documents in
tax control measures by at least 10% per year, starting from
2023;
– reducing the cost of processing and storing paper
documents. Currently, the time cost on processing paper
documentation is about 6 billion person-hours per year,
financial costs are 3.5 trillion rubles per year.
IV. CONCLUSION
Consequently, electronic document management is a
universal system that serves to ensure the transparency of the
company's business processes, increase the efficiency of
employees, reduce the time costs associated with paper
document management, and in some cases increase the
company's profit. According to the head of the Ministry of
Digital Development Maksut Shadayev, the transformation of
business document management with clients, contractors and
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government agencies exclusively to digital form should result
in cost savings of 1-3%.
Currently, all States are faced with a global problem of
humanity – a pandemic. The epidemic has left its mark on all
spheres of life. In business, due to the self-isolation regime,
many people have faced non-return and loss of bills,
documents, acts. It can be assumed that there may be a risk of
infection through couriers who make this delivery or contact
with the paper. Therefore, it can be concluded that EDM is the
future [5]. According to the Economic Development Program,
90% of all interdepartmental operations should be performed
by a virtual network by 2025.
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