Import Compliance Software for Automation, Collaboration, and Cost Management
For leading importers, success goes beyond moving goods across borders. It requires precise, consistent control over import compliance. Descartes OCR Global EASE™ Import Operations provides end‑to‑end automation for classification, valuation, and global trade collaboration, helping organizations reduce risk, improve accuracy, control costs, and strengthen supply chain resilience.
The Cost of Operating With Limited Import Compliance Capabilities
Without integrated import compliance software, organizations quietly lose money and control every day—through duty overpayments, repeated product and tariff classification errors, delayed clearances, poor visibility into FTA eligibility and FTZ activities, missed corrective actions, and inconsistent data from brokers and carriers—turning import operations into a source of risk and unnecessary cost rather than resilience.
A Unified Platform Strengthening
Import Operations at Scale
Descartes OCR Global EASE is built to handle the true complexities of import compliance, providing a single source of truth as volumes and regulatory demands grow. From managing temporary imports and tracking shipments under special authorizations to collaborating with brokers and conducting post‑entry audits, the platform delivers the visibility and control needed to keep every shipment compliant and cost‑effective.
Modular Solutions Supporting End-to-End Import Compliance Management
Address the full scope of your import compliance requirements with Descartes OCR Global EASE. Modular capabilities can be deployed independently to match your specific challenges or combined into a fully integrated suite if needed.
Core Import Compliance Management
Support accurate Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) classification, customs valuation, assist management, temporary import tracking, and import controls across all transactions, with centralized oversight and consistent execution.
Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) Management
Manage your FTZ operations with our dedicated software to optimize inventory control, reduce duties, and ensure compliance with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations. Our FTZ solution provides the real-time inventory tracking and reporting needed to maximize the benefits of your zone.
Duty Drawback Automation
Maximize your returns without the hassle. Identify and claim duty refunds on imported goods that are subsequently exported. Our software automates the complex process of tracking and filing drawback claims to maximize your recovery and ensure you are capturing every dollar you are entitled to.
Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Qualification
Automate and streamline the qualification process for multiple FTAs to reduce duties and improve the competitiveness of your products. Our software helps you manage certificates of origin and meet all documentation requirements, turning FTA compliance from a burden into a competitive advantage.
Tariffs / Import Decision Support Backed by Global Regulatory Data
“In a dynamic period like we’re seeing today for tariffs, Descartes OCR Global EASE makes it easier to determine which products will be impacted and what the magnitude of the impact is. From a data-driven decision, you can have a better understanding of what the bottom line is.”
Patrick Matsumura, VP of Global Trade Management, Hexcel Corporation
Extend Your Import Management Capabilities
A flexible, scalable import compliance platform that provides control without rigidity—supporting accuracy, risk management, and cost control as global trade operations evolve.
Process Automation & Workflow
Replace manual handoffs with structured, end‑to‑end workflows that reduce effort, improve data quality, and standardize processes across teams and regions.
Controlled Collaboration with Trade Partners
Connect your ecosystem of brokers, suppliers, carriers, and importers on a single platform. Share data, instructions, and documentation in real-time to ensure everyone is working from the same system of record for compliance.
Proactive Post-Entry Audits & Corrective Action Tracking
Our import operations management system automatically identifies discrepancies between your data and broker filings, flags records for reconciliation, and tracks corrective actions through to resolution. This continuous improvement loop strengthens your compliance program.
Trade Program & Authorization Management
Manage temporary imports, track shipments under special authorizations, and maintain visibility into FTZ- and FTA‑related activities to ensure compliance and proper duty treatment.
Shape Your Global Trade Strategy with Expert Resources from Descartes
Overcoming Global Supply Chain Disruptions
Corporate Strategies and Lessons from Industry Leaders.
Guide to Surviving Tariff Volatility
Understanding Rapid Tariff Changes and How to Tackle Risk.
Top Three Challenges in Global Trade Compliance
Insights from the 2024 Descartes Benchmark Survey.
Your Import Compliance Questions, Answered
We have compiled answers to some of the most common questions our experts receive, from managing complex provisos to integrating with government systems.
Import compliance is the process of ensuring that all goods entering a country meet the applicable legal, regulatory, and trade policy requirements. This includes accurate HTS classification, proper customs valuation, management of special import authorizations, and adherence to import controls. Dedicated import compliance software like Descartes OCR Global EASE is necessary because the volume and complexity of these requirements make manual management error-prone and unsustainable. The software automates key workflows, centralizes data, and provides the audit trail needed to demonstrate import compliance.
Descartes OCR Global EASE provides a centralized database for managing all your HTS classifications. It supports a structured workflow for classifying products, documenting the rationale for each decision, and maintaining a complete audit trail. The system also helps you manage classification updates when tariff schedules change, ensuring your import compliance data is always current and consistent across your organization.
In import compliance, an “assist” refers to goods, materials, tools, or services that an importer provides to a foreign supplier free of charge or at a reduced cost to help produce the imported goods. The value of these assists must be included in the customs value of the goods. Our platform provides a dedicated workflow for tracking assists, calculating their value, and ensuring they are properly reported, which is a critical but often overlooked aspect of import compliance.
Descartes OCR Global EASE automates the post-entry audit process by systematically comparing your internal import data against the entries filed by your customs broker. The system automatically flags discrepancies for review, tracks the status of each reconciliation, and documents the corrective actions taken. This proactive approach helps you identify and correct errors before they become a pattern, strengthening your overall import compliance program.
Importers can significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties, taxes, and fees by leveraging multiple U.S. trade programs—including duty drawback, Foreign Trade Zones, and Free Trade Agreements—within a unified import operations management platform like Descartes OCR Global EASE.
- Duty drawback enables companies to recover up to 99% of duties, taxes, and certain fees paid on goods that are later exported or destroyed.
- FTZs allow duties to be deferred, reduced, or eliminated by managing inventory, manufacturing, and distribution activities within a designated U.S. zone.
- FTAs provide preferential or zero‑duty rates on qualifying goods based on rules of origin, tariff classifications, and participating countries.
By automating eligibility analysis, duty calculations, documentation, and customs filings across all three programs, Descartes import operations management software lowers landed costs, reduces manual effort, minimizes compliance risk, and improves supply chain efficiency at scale.
Descartes OCR Global EASE analyzes import transactions, duty payments, manufacturing records, and export or destruction activity to identify eligible drawback opportunities. By linking import entries with downstream manufacturing and distribution data, companies can uncover previously missed refunds and ensure accurate, compliant drawback claims without manual data gathering.
The FTZ module automates qualification documentation for admitting products into a Foreign Trade Zone without immediate payment of duties or fees. It securely captures and retains required records, supports U.S. Customs compliance, and maintains audit‑ready documentation—reducing risk while simplifying complex FTZ compliance processes.
The Descartes OCR Global EASE FTA solution evaluates product eligibility using advanced rules of origin analysis, including tariff shift rules, build‑up, build‑down, and combination methodologies. Products can be qualified using different Bills of Materials (BOMs), with automated rescreening when components, suppliers, or regulations change—ensuring continuous FTA compliance across import operations.
Yes. The Descartes OCR Global EASE solution supports automated weekly U.S. Customs entry filing and manages FTZ operational activities such as trans‑shipping, cross‑docking, and transfer of goods without duty payment. It also determines applicable tariffs on U.S. components and raw materials, helping importers optimize manufacturing and distribution decisions within the FTZ.
Descartes OCR Global EASE centralizes FTA qualification records, supplier certificates, drawback documentation, and customs data in a secure, auditable platform. It automates documentation management, audit trails, and regulatory record retention while ensuring access to up‑to‑date trade regulations and CBP requirements.
For duty drawback, the system streamlines claim preparation and reporting with automated workflows, dashboards, alerts, and management reports, providing full visibility into compliance status, recovery progress, and financial results. Together, these capabilities help importers reduce compliance risk, prepare confidently for customs audits, and maintain accurate, transparent reporting across all import programs.
Descartes’ automated vendor solicitation tool streamlines supplier outreach by managing requests, tracking responses, and collecting certificates through a secure web portal. Integrated with product repositories and ERP systems, it improves supplier collaboration, data accuracy, and FTA qualification rates—supporting more efficient and compliant import operations management.
The Import Operations solution is a core part of the Descartes OCR Global EASE platform and integrates seamlessly with both import and export compliance solutions to provide full trade compliance coverage. It works in concert with Export Operations, Export Licensing, and Export Classification for goods that are both imported and re-exported, as well as Product and Tariff Classification, Free Trade Agreement (FTA), Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ), and Duty Drawback modules. Data such as HTS and export classification codes, import and export transactions, and product information is shared automatically across modules, eliminating data silos and ensuring consistent compliance decisions.
Simplify the Way You Manage Import Compliance
Get a personalized walk through of how a unified, automated approach to import compliance can improve visibility, reduce risk, control cost, and support consistent execution across your global operations. Connect with our team today.