Case Studies The Government Agency

The Government Agency

Our client is a federal government department that is responsible for conducting timely and independent investigations into critical trade issues. This body operates within an influential nation’s trade remedies system, and Harmonized System Commodity Classification is fundamental to their activities.

As an influential decision-making body, their actions are always critical to the health of the economy and routinely impact relations with the country's foreign trading partners.

The client is routinely directed by the State’s Treasury Department to inquire into and report on the availability of domestically produced raw and semi-manufactured commodities. These analyses are designed to determine which imports should be afforded reduced or duty-free treatment, and which should continue to be subject to tariff protection. The final objective is always to assist importers without harming domestic manufacturers.

Prior to adoption of 3CE, the process of examining and classifying a broad array of commodities expressed in ambiguous and cryptic terms was time consuming and error-prone.

A typical classification project required the client’s research staff to manually sift through reams of product information, examining every paper submission closely to ensure that products were sufficiently described for HS classification purposes. Researchers would then have to translate product descriptions submitted by respondents into technical HS language in order to find an appropriate HS code. The fact that most domestic manufacturers are unfamiliar with HS Classification, and require expert assistance from our client’s staff compounded the problem.

Our client uses 3CE as a primary reference for classification information. Researchers use 3CE to automatically derive HS Codes from narrative commodity information - eliminating the need for intense scrutiny of technical manuals and official documents. They also use 3CE in the creation of commodity reporting surveys for domestic importers. Finally, they use 3CE to verify the accuracy of HS codes submitted by domestic manufacturers.

3CE has streamlined our client's research process by automatically identifying critical product attributes, automatically applying appropriate rules, and flagging errors. It has also increased the capacity of expert staff to analyze product data, and has ensured the accuracy and timeliness of results.

Each piece of data gathered has the power to impact the nation’s trade policies and overall economy. Consequently, accuracy and efficiency are essential to our client’s operations.

"3CE drives the classification process automatically, reducing the time it normally takes to classify by about 80%. More importantly, 3CE dramatically improves our ability to detect and resolve problems associated with missing or ambiguous product information," states a senior manager. “3CE has significantly enhanced our ability to analyze domestic commodity information, and has increased both the speed and accuracy of our HS classification process."