Custom WCO Data Model integration
The WDO Datamodel, known internationally as the WCO Data Model of the World Customs Organization, is the common language for data on cross-border movements. It has been on the Forum Standaardisatie 'comply or explain' list since 2014, and in the Netherlands Dutch Customs leads on it. Appfront connects your ERP, TMS, WMS or customs software to that data model: we capture your data correctly once and convert it into the elements that customs messages expect.
What is an integration with the WCO Data Model?
An integration with the WCO Data Model ensures that the data in your own systems carries the same meaning as in the data model of the World Customs Organization. The WCO Data Model was set up in 1997 on the initiative of the G7 to make it simpler and more consistent for businesses to submit data to governments. It consists of information packages with data and process models and message specifications derived from them. The WCO calls it a universal language for cross-border data exchange, linked to the UN Trade Data Elements Directory and to UN/CEFACT standards. The model also incorporates the concepts of other border agencies, such as the NVWA (the Dutch food and consumer product safety authority) and port authorities.
Forum Standaardisatie placed the WCO Data Model on the 'comply or explain' list on 15 April 2014. The obligation applies to government bodies and the (semi-)public sector when investing in ICT for import and export administration, and the scope covers the exchange between businesses and government bodies for the storage, arrival, import, transit, export, departure and release of goods, means of transport and persons. The list specifies version 3.3; the WCO names version 4 as the latest. Since 1 January 2017, Dutch Customs has been responsible for communication and coordination around the model. An evaluation in 2023 confirmed its added value and support. For businesses, this means that the data the government requests is increasingly structured according to this model.
We build custom integrations because your systems have their own fields, codes and units. A product description, a commodity code, a package count or a role in the supply chain is stored differently in your ERP than the data model describes it. The integration captures that translation once, checks the data for each shipment and delivers it in the form the next system expects. For declarations in DMS, Dutch Customs publishes Message Implementation Guidelines with the dataset specifications; which information packages and messages apply to you, we establish with you in the first step.
One meaning
Your fields mapped to the data model.
Record once
Data reusable across messages.
Checked
Discrepancies caught before sending.
How we build your integration with the WCO Data Model
We start with your data: which systems hold information on shipments, goods and parties, which customs messages and notifications you currently submit, and where data is copied by hand. We then map your fields and codes to the elements of the WCO Data Model and record this in an overview that you and your customs broker can review. We first build the flow that costs the most retyping, for example the data for an import or export declaration, and test it with real shipments. Other flows follow once that runs well. After that, we keep the mapping up to date as the data model, Customs' message specifications or your own systems change.
Systems, messages, manual work.
Fields and codes mapped to the model.
Tested with real shipments.
Go-live, monitoring, and maintenance when things change.
What an integration with the WCO Data Model actually does
The components below appear in almost every integration with the WCO Data Model. Which ones you need depends on your role in the supply chain and the messages you submit.
Mapping
Your fields mapped to the data model.
Code lists
Your own codes translated.
Validation
Missing data flagged.
Messages
Connection to customs messages.
Access
Permissions per role.
Log
Every shipment traceable.
Who we build an integration with the WCO Data Model for
The integration is intended for companies and organisations that hold data on cross-border goods movements in their own systems and need to supply that data to customs and chain partners more than once. The more shipments and systems you have, the more it delivers.
Importers
Input data from the ERP.
Exporters
Output without retyping.
Freight forwarders
Customer data kept consistent.
Software builders
Your package mapped to the model.
Technology and integrations
This page is about mapping your data to the WCO Data Model. If you want custom software for declarations in the customs system, see our page on building DMS software; for automating the entire customs process, see our page on automating customs handling. For messaging with chain partners, read more about Edifact integrations, and for the port, about the Portbase integration. You can read about our approach on building software.
Why Appfront for your WCO Data Model integration?
The same data retyped for every message, a commodity code that differs between two systems, or a declaration that is rejected because a field is missing: all of it costs time and causes delays at the border. That is what we build against: a mapping you can review, checks before sending, and an integration that shows you when something is wrong.
Reviewable
Mapping documented per field.
Checked in advance
Errors caught before the border.
Visible
Deviations in the log.
Security and privacy for a WCO Data Model integration
The integration processes data on shipments, goods, values and trading partners, all of which is commercially sensitive. It uses only the data needed for the message, with a dedicated account that has exactly the permissions required, and records every exchange with time and result. If personal data is involved, such as a contact person or driver, the GDPR applies and we do not send on more than necessary.
The integration runs in a European data centre, with encrypted connections and storage. Keys and certificates are kept shielded and are not visible to staff. We agree with you in advance who in your organisation or at your customs broker may see which data.
Frequently asked questions about a WCO Data Model integration
Questions that importers, exporters, freight forwarders and software suppliers ask before they get started.
The WCO Data Model, known in Dutch as the WDO Datamodel, is the World Customs Organization's set of harmonised data definitions, information packages and message specifications for exchanging data on cross-border trade between businesses and governments. The WCO maintains the model.
Since 15 April 2014 it has been on the Forum Standaardisatie 'comply or explain' list. That obligation applies to government bodies and the (semi-)public sector when investing in ICT for import and export. It is not a legal requirement for businesses, but the data the government asks for is increasingly based on this model.
The standard itself is managed by the World Customs Organization. Since 1 January 2017, Dutch Customs has been responsible for communication and coordination, and it submits requests for changes to the WCO on behalf of the other government bodies. Before that, this role lay with Logius.
The Forum Standaardisatie list specifies version 3.3. The WCO lists version 4 as the latest. Which version and which information packages apply to your messages depends on the message specifications you connect to, and we establish that with you in the first step.
DMS is the Customs declaration system, and DMS software is software you use to submit declarations in it. An integration with the WCO Data Model comes one step earlier: it makes sure the data in your own systems is recorded and mapped correctly, so it can be used for declarations and other messages.
The integration checks every shipment against the mapping and puts any shipment with missing or deviating data on an error list, together with the reason. You can see which shipment and which field is affected, and reprocess it once it has been corrected. That way, errors don't first come to light at the border.
For companies with many shipments, several systems that hold goods data, or data that goes to more than one party in the chain. If you only occasionally submit a declaration via a customs broker, you usually don't need your own integration.
Want to align your data with the WCO Data Model?
Tell us which systems you work with and which customs messages you submit. We'll show you how an integration records your data correctly, once.