An NCTS transit declaration can be started from an export declaration, a commercial invoice (with packing list) or a CMR. In Modaltrans, click Start with AI, upload the document, review what was read, then complete the rest, such as the guarantee, yourself. Fields it cannot read with confidence stay empty.
Starting a transit declaration usually means the export declaration, invoice or CMR open in one window and an empty form in the other. The header comes first: parties, countries, customs offices, vehicle, container and seals, invoice value, gross weight and the export MRN. Then every goods line: commodity code, description, packages, weights, value and country of origin. A shipment with twenty lines means twenty rounds of the same typing, and every typo in a party, an MRN or a commodity code has to be found before the declaration can be sent.
AI document reading removes that retyping, as long as it leaves a field empty rather than guessing. This guide covers the documents you can start from, what to expect from AI reading, and how it works in Modaltrans.
What is an NCTS transit declaration?
NCTS (New Computerized Transit System) is the electronic system that lets goods move under customs control between customs offices without paying duties along the way. For the full process, see our guide to NCTS, ENS and T1 declarations from China to the EU.
What is an MRN?
The MRN is the customs reference number issued once a declaration is accepted. It has 18 characters: two digits for the year, two letters for the country code, and 14 characters generated automatically. In the EU the abbreviation now stands for Master Reference Number, while older material says Movement Reference Number.
Two MRNs matter here. The transit declaration gets its own MRN, and it also references the MRN of the export declaration.
Which documents can you start from?
- Export declaration, with its MRN: parties, goods lines, commodity codes, weights, and the MRN the transit declaration will reference.
- Commercial invoice with packing list: invoice value and currency, descriptions, packages and weights.
- CMR: parties, the carrier and, often, vehicle details.
Start from whichever of these you have and complete the rest in the form. An export declaration usually has no carrier box, so if you start from one, you pick the carrier yourself.
What should AI document reading do?
Reading a document is the easy part. Trusting the result is harder. Five things separate a tool you can rely on from one that creates new errors:
- It matches parties to companies you already have. The EORI or tax number should decide first. The company name is the fallback when the document carries no identifier, or when several companies share the same EORI. If no single company fits, the field should stay open for you to choose.
- It leaves a field empty when it is unsure. An EORI, tax number or MRN that was not read with high confidence should be dropped, not filled with a guess. A customs office should be filled only when its code matches the office list exactly. Words like NONE or N/A in a seal or container box should count as empty.
- It reads the carrier from the carrier box only, never from the declarant or representative box.
- It shows you what it read before anything is created, and lets you correct every value.
- It never rewrites your address book. Existing company records stay as they are.
How does it work in Modaltrans?
On the NCTS declarations list, click Start with AI and upload the document. An export declaration, a commercial invoice with packing list, or a CMR all work. The system reads it in the background and opens a review panel.
In the panel you see what was read: the consignor, consignee and carrier, each already matched to a company in your own address book, plus the countries, customs offices, vehicle, container, seals, invoice value, gross weight and export MRN. Customs offices are picked from the office list, and every value can be corrected before you go on. If the document has no carrier box, you pick the carrier in the panel. A carrier that cannot be found is added as a new company.
After Continue, the new declaration form opens already filled in. You complete the rest, such as the guarantee, and save. On save, the goods lines are created from the document with their packages, shipping marks, weights, value, country of origin, container number and export MRN. The commercial invoice is added to each line as a supporting document, and the uploaded PDF is saved to the declaration’s documents.
NCTS and ENS declarations are part of Modaltrans’s Customs Management, where you can manage declarations, companies and documents in one place.
Does the same work for ENS declarations?
Yes. ENS declarations have a Start with AI menu too. You upload the transit accompanying document (TAD/T1), the commercial invoice or the CMR, and a review panel opens. The header and one row per goods line are shown side by side, and only the fields the ENS form actually has appear.
An entry summary groups goods into house consignments by the parties of each line, so in ENS each goods line carries its own consignor and consignee. A consolidated movement with several shippers comes through as several house consignments, without you splitting anything by hand. If a party does not match a company in your address book, the panel offers to save it as a new company. Leaving the box unticked still writes the name and address onto the declaration, so you are never forced to create a record just to file it. For the ENS rules themselves, see our guide to the UK ENS.
What do you still do yourself?
- The guarantee and anything else the document does not print.
- Scanned copies. They are read with lower confidence, so identifiers on them are more often left empty for you to fill.
- Document bundles that list the same goods twice, such as an export declaration together with its invoice, and consolidated NCTS shipments made of several export declarations, are not handled yet. Check these more closely before saving.
