Press | 3 minuten leestijd
Two acquisitions and expanded operations in two further countries extend Gaston Schul's controlled European customs network to thirteen, reinforcing its position as Europe's leading independent customs & trade partner.
Article | 2.5 minuten leestijd
Article | 3 minuten leestijd
News | 3 minuten leestijd
Article | 1.5 minuten leestijd
Cross-border movements between the UK and France now include a mandatory digital border step: the Enveloppe Logistique Obligatoire, known as ELO. For businesses moving goods through the French Smart Border, ELO is no longer a future requirement. Since 20 April 2026, transport units using UK-France Smart Border routes must present an ELO at check-in. This applies to imports, exports and transit movements, and includes loaded and empty trucks.
Article | 4.5 minuten leestijd
VAT is often seen as a necessary obligation when operating across borders. But in practice, it directly impacts your cash flow, your operations, and your ability to scale. For international businesses, VAT is not optional. It is triggered by how your supply chain is structured, where goods move, and who owns them at each stage. With the right approach, VAT can move from a source of complexity to a lever for control and efficiency.
It is a phrase that comes up more often than most organisations would like to admit: “We’ll fix the paperwork after the shipment has moved.” On the surface, it sounds efficient. Keep the goods moving, deal with the details later, and avoid slowing down operations. In reality, this mindset is one of the most common causes of delays, unexpected costs, and compliance risks in international trade.
Article | 2 minuten leestijd
International trade has always involved a degree of complexity. But today, that complexity is no longer driven primarily by logistics or documentation. Increasingly, it is shaped by external forces that are difficult to predict and even harder to control.
Switzerland is not simply updating a customs system. It is redesigning how customs data is submitted, processed and monitored.
Trade complexity is no longer a background condition. It is a commercial variable. The debate is not whether trade has become more complex. It clearly has. The real question is whether your operating model converts that complexity into value, or absorbs it through margin, predictability, and market share.
Selecting a provider for a Customs Control Tower is one of the most consequential decisions a company can make in its customs and trade strategy.
Selecting a provider for a Customs Control Tower is not a routine procurement exercise. A Control Tower directly affects compliance, operational continuity, and data integrity across multiple countries. The RFQ process therefore needs to do more than compare service descriptions and prices. It must reveal whether a provider is capable of supporting long-term transformation. A structured RFQ is the foundation for that decision.
Customs outsourcing is undergoing a fundamental transformation. For many years, decisions were primarily driven by cost savings and capacity considerations. If declarations were processed efficiently and volumes could be absorbed, the model was considered successful. That logic is no longer sufficient.
