FALSTAFF aims at implementing an information system for the fight against counterfeiting to step up prevention activities regarding the selection of goods to be controlled and support customs officers while performing a control. FALSTAFF has been implemented into Italian Customs Information System, called AIDA. The project involves the automation of over 400 Customs offices throughout Italy, involving 9.000 internal users and 15.000 external users: Italy is one of the few countries to have automated built in procedures in AIDA in order to manage customs and excise operations and also offers a property e-learning system and a knowledge base to train users. Italy is the only country which is able to manage by FALSTAFF data that are fed by the trader associations and by the companies to disseminate to Customs Officials and consumers information concerning the counterfeit goods and goods not compliant with quality and safety standards.Moreover, Italy is also the only country that has integrated by FALSTAFF this information in national customs control circuit for the automated selection of the goods. The most important results are the following: a) 20% of productivity gain in back office processes b) increase in customs control effectiveness c) national and EU rights evasion recovery d) right-holders and Consumer safeguard e) fight against organized criminality f) business protection
Main results, benefits and impacts
Before FALSTAFF, the national requests were managed manually. The requests were submitted by the intellectual property rights holders, in compliance with the templates in force prior to the amendments provided for in the Regulation (EC) No.1383/2003. The particulars of the requests were checked as to their accuracy and consistency by the Central Antifraud Office; after that the requests for protection were circulated throughout the local offices: it was a cumbersome and complicated mechanism, and moreover scarcely efficient. With the automation of the process the request sent by the Antifraud office with the new templates is stored in the system as a product form and can be immediately examined by the local offices. For us it could be a common strategy for customs administration. Rights holders data are registered into FALSTAFF's database along with all the information pertaining to the goods that usually are managed in customs operations. In particular they are asked to enter several data related to the legal course of the operations. In this way customs can reduce the level of control for those legal movements that are recognized as such. On the other hand, should the rights holder have either information about illegal movements of goods, or evidence of customs operations related to goods for which he has applied to FALSTAFF, he can inform Customs about illegal movements giving all the relevant details. Both cases are supported by specific FALSTAFF functionalities. The idea is the following: rights holders, after sending to the Central Antifraud Office the relevant information on the legal operation, is entitled to obtain from Customs operational safe access codes, each to be used for a single transaction. A simple software uses the pin stored in a smartcard of the operator to calculate the access code to use for the customs transaction. The same mechanism is like the security access called "one time password". Economic operators will then request the smart-card enabled for this system and obtain a sufficient number of codes that shall be indicated into the customs declaration. The matching of the right holder code along with this operational safe access code will improve considerably the security level allowing a reduction of controls on legal transactions. These mechanisms will allow an increase on control productivity. It is important underline that the Italian Customs Agency, adopting AIDA and then FALSTAFF, has improved the control productivity (20%) in 2004 and in the first quarter of 2005. FALSTAFF is operative in 400 Customs Offices. Internal users can to gain access to the system in public (9.000 users) and protected area (5.000 users with different user profiles). The current level of internal penetration is 100%. Trade associations and companies are external users. External users are 15.000 (15.000 in real enviroment but 5.000 in test enviroment),now we estimate that the level of external penetration is 30%.
Return on investment
Return on investment: Not applicable / Not availableLessons learnt
The ability for the transfer of new technologies and methods of working must be central to the design and applicability of an environmental management project. The transferability between similar organisations or end users of the systems and services developed has been a significant factor in FALSTAFF design. However, beside the issue of technology transferability, which has been well developed in FALSTAFF using a web approach, other valuable results are also achieved by the transferability process. They consist of: - the involvement of all actors by memorandum of understanding - the customs control circuit fed by the request of application of the right holders - the use of kb and e-learning to support and to train Customs Officers - the disseminate of information to Consumers Some external users are in opinion that the FALSTAFF should be the standard in order to combact the menace of counterfeiting and dangerous products at EU borders. The level of transferability of the project is relatively high, it could be replicated in other Customs Agency in EU, it is not country-specific.The nature and the characteristics of the methodology and the concept of the ideas used in the development of kb and e-learning platform could also be very easily used in other sectors. In the future our idea is to allow the FALSTAFF consultation to other Customs Agencies. FALSTAFF has been developed in line both with the national e-government plan and with the guidelines established in AIDA system (Customs-Excise Integrated Automation). Such a web system, recently implemented in all Italian Customs offices, enables customs formalities to be compliant with electronic means, without sending paper documents between traders and Customs offices. (All.6-FALSTAFF.pdf) A significant issue of AIDA designers has been the transferability issue between similar organisations or end users of the systems and services to be developed. As a consequence, the key aims of FALSTAFF (integrated in AIDA) are: user identification and authentication; security; privacy; centralised databases; standard interfaces. FALSTAFF system is built in a modular style within flexible frameworks to allow their use in similar applications with a minimum of redesign. Moreover FALSTAFF system provides a specific training on-line component, that is a knowledge base describing how to use the application along with the e-learning training module concerning FALSTAFF system. Web-based learning is a strategic choice of the AIDA system. Online courses can be taken in synchronous or real-time sessions. Self-study modules can be accessed in asynchronous sessions. In that way, users can study whenever they want to. It's possibile, therefore, use as soon as possible FALSTAFF also in other EU members. FALSTAFF e-learning training modules? and knowledge base will be soon available also in English and in French.
Scope: National