CUSTOMS AWARD NEW COMPUTERISED IMPORT AND EXPORT FREIGHT CONTRACT

1 Feb 2002 01:11 PM

H M Customs & Excise has awarded a new contract to provide the Customs Handling of Import & Export Freight (CHIEF) service. The new five-year contract has been awarded to Syntegra, BT''s consulting and systems integration business.

The contract signed by Customs and Excise Director of Logistics, Alex Fraser and Dave Musson for Syntegra, will take effect from the 1 February 2002 and takes full account of the Department''s direction on long-term freight policy.

CHIEF is a vital system to the operation of the Department and clearance of international trade at import and export. It currently processes over 16 million entries a year and for the calendar year 2001 calculated and reported a total of over £20.5 billion in duties and taxes for collection from traders.

Martin Rolfe of Logistics, who led the procurement exercise, said

''This deal builds on our successful relationship with BT in delivering freight systems and services, which goes back to the introduction of LACES at Heathrow Airport in 1971. Although the focus is on delivering CHIEF ''business as usual'' and maintaining the high levels of availability and reliability enjoyed by users, the new contract also provides some very significant commercial benefits to the Department.''

Notes to Editors

Syntegra has been providing CHIEF as a fully-managed service since 1994 and negotiation of the new contract was assessed, following a procurement exercise carried out by the Customs Information & Processing Requirements (CIPR) project, to provide the best value for money and the lowest risk to trade.

Issued by Customs and Excise Communications Division

HM Customs & Excise www.hmce.gov.uk

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