Blockchain + Double Customs Clearance: Can it put an end to the repetitive work of “one bill, multiple declarations”?

Introduction
In international trade, the problem of “one bill, multiple declarations” has long plagued import and export companies. The same batch of goods needs to repeatedly declare the same information in multiple departments such as customs, inspection and quarantine, and taxation, which not only increases the burden on enterprises, but also reduces customs clearance efficiency. The emergence of blockchain technology provides a new idea for solving this stubborn problem.

Analysis of the current pain points of “one bill, multiple declarations”
Data island phenomenon: The information systems of various departments are not interoperable, and enterprises need to submit materials to each department separately

Repeated entry work: The same information is entered multiple times, and each bill needs to be repeated 5-8 times on average

High labor costs: Large foreign trade companies spend hundreds of thousands of yuan in additional labor costs each year

Increased risk of errors: Manual repeated entry is prone to inconsistencies, resulting in customs clearance delays

Blockchain technology solution
Technical architecture
Distributed ledger: All participating departments share the same data source

Smart contracts: Automatically execute rules and verification in the customs clearance process

Encryption technology: Ensure Data is secure and cannot be tampered with

Authorization management: different departments obtain relevant information on demand

Implementation path
Establish an alliance chain: customs, commodity inspection, taxation and other departments join as nodes

Data on the chain: enterprises submit complete customs declaration information at one time

Intelligent verification: various departments process in parallel through smart contracts

Status synchronization: all participants view the processing progress in real time

Double customs clearance mechanism design
Pre-clearance stage:

Complete document review before goods are shipped

Blockchain records pre-clearance results

Physical customs clearance stage:

Quick inspection and release of goods after arrival

Automatically compare pre-clearance information with actual goods

Exception handling:

Deviation Exceeding the threshold triggers manual review

Processing results are updated to all relevant parties in real time

Expected benefits
Efficiency improvement: customs clearance time is expected to be shortened by more than 60%

Cost reduction: enterprise document processing costs are reduced by 40-50%

Error reduction: data inconsistency issues are reduced by 80%

Increased transparency: full process traceability, reducing disputes

Implementation challenges and countermeasures
Department coordination difficulties:

Countermeasures: coordinated and promoted by the State Council’s inter-ministerial joint meeting on port work

Technical standard unification:

Countermeasures: formulate national standards for blockchain customs clearance data

Enterprise adaptation costs:

Countermeasures: pilot in stages, provide transition period training Training support

Legal compliance issues:

Countermeasures: Revise the Customs Law to recognize the legal effect of blockchain electronic data

Domestic and foreign practice cases
Singapore TradeTrust platform: Blockchainization of ocean bills of lading has been realized, and customs clearance efficiency has increased by 65%

China’s Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area: Pilot “blockchain + cross-border trade” platform, average customs clearance time shortened to 2 hours

Netherlands Customs: Apply blockchain to track flower imports and exports, and reduce document processing costs by 30%

Conclusion
The combination of blockchain technology and dual customs clearance mechanism can fundamentally solve the problem of “one bill, multiple declarations” by establishing a trusted shared data environment. Although there are challenges such as difficulty in coordination and inconsistent standards during implementation, with the in-depth promotion of digital government construction and the growth of demand for cross-border trade facilitation, this innovative model is expected to become the mainstream solution for international trade customs clearance in the next 3-5 years. It is recommended to select key ports for pilot projects first, and promote them nationwide after accumulating experience, and finally realize the new paradigm of smart customs clearance of “one declaration, full sharing”.