Descartes has acquired Customs Info, a leading US-based provider of trade data content to power Global Trade Management (GTM) systems and streamline global trade automation.  Customs Info provides comprehensive trade data for more than 160 countries, and related research tools, to help multi-national shippers reduce operating costs, improve customs compliance, and accelerate supply chain speed. This trade data populates GTM systems, including SAP GTS and Oracle GTM, and includes trade tariffs, duties, regulations, trade agreements, rules of origin and other trade-related content.

Descartes’ strategy is focused on growing and operating the most complete and interoperable global Logistics Technology Platform. Descartes’ Logistics Technology Platform uniquely combines the Global Logistics Network, a wide range of modular and interoperable logistics applications and the largest community of logistics-intensive companies in the world. The acquisition advances Descartes’ strategic objective to strengthen its global presence and leadership position by:

  • Increasing the scale of Descartes’ network by adding new trade data content and related transactions, while connecting to partner GTM systems to drive additional customs filings;

  • Strengthening Descartes’ Customs and Regulatory Compliance application footprint by adding tools for researching and documenting the item classification process; and 

  • Growing Descartes’ global multi-modal logistics community with over 800 multi-national shipper customers and some of the world’s largest e-commerce companies.

Expanding Descartes’ Global Logistics Network

Descartes’ Global Logistics Network (GLN) is the foundation on which the applications and community are built. The GLN provides community members the flexibility to easily connect and collaborate with global trading partners. The Customs Info acquisition increases the scale of Descartes’ network by adding new content related services and related transactions.  In addition, Customs Info’s trade data content powers a number of large GTM application providers’ systems, which has the potential to drive additional customs filings volume on the network.

Enhancing Descartes’ offering of logistics management applications

Descartes’ product strategy is focused on expanding its logistics application functional footprint to provide its customers with the most comprehensive logistics management solutions in the industry.  Customs Info has been building its comprehensive trade data repository and related solutions for over 10 years. The acquisition will strengthen Descartes’ Customs and Regulatory Compliance platform with enriched trade data content while adding solutions for customers to research and document the item classification process.

Growing Descartes’ global multi-modal logistics community

Descartes’ logistics community is the largest multi-modal network of logistics intensive companies in the world, with over 200,000 parties using its cloud-based services in over 160 countries. It is Descartes’ mission to create the world’s most comprehensive networked logistics community. The acquisition will add over 800 multi-national shipper customers and some of the world’s largest e-commerce companies.

About Customs Info 

Customs Info provides comprehensive trade data content for more than 160 countries to more than 800 multi-national shippers to help them reduce operating costs, improve customs compliance, and accelerate supply chain speed. This trade data populates GTM systems, including SAP GTS and Oracle GTM, and includes trade tariffs, duties, regulations, trade agreements, rules of origin and other trade-related content. Some of the world’s largest international e-commerce sites also use this data to provide its customers with accurate landed cost information.

In addition, Customs Info also provides one of the leading on-line global trade research tools used by thousands of trade professionals, as well as a SaaS-delivered classification solution to help trade professionals and multi-national shippers quickly build and easily maintain complex classification databases for their operations around the world. 

The acquisition makes Customs Info’s customers members of the world’s premier global logistics community – The Global Logistics Network – facilitating improved performance and productivity of logistics operations around the world. As part of this community Customs Info’s customers will have access to additional solutions via Descartes’ Logistics Technology Platform to improve rate management, dock appointment scheduling, transportation management, routing and scheduling, and in-transit inventory visibility. Visit www.custominfo.com to learn more.