Global Trade Compliance Systems

The Global Trade Compliance (GTC) Systems market research delivers current market analysis plus a five year market and technology forecast. The research is available in multiple editions including worldwide, all regions, and most major countries.

Global Trade Compliance Market Grows by Double Digit Rates the Second Year in a Row

ARC Advisory Group’s research of the Global Trade Compliance (GTC) market reveals that it has grown by double digit rates for the second year in a row despite the fact that there is no standard user for this type of software and consequently there is no common understanding of what the end-to-end global trade compliance process should be. Sometimes the trade function rolls up to the supply chain function to support agility in cross border movements. Sometimes, it rolls up to legal for companies who want to be sure they are compliant with global regulations. And increasingly we are seeing industry specific solutions. Further, no GTC provider can provide compliance to all trade regulations across all nations which leads to many small domestic suppliers of these solutions.

Global Trade Compliance Solutions Strategic Issues

Global Trade ComplianceIn addition to providing a five-year market forecast, the Global Trade Compliance Systems market research report provides detailed quantitative current market data and addresses key strategic issues for both suppliers and potential buyers of these systems. 

Different Approaches to Improved Trade Compliance

Companies that need to classify goods and services for import and export have different choices. They can set up a program in-house and choose not to use any technology. They can have a trade compliance program that does leverage technology. Or they can outsource trade compliance to a consulting firm. For companies with any complexity or scale surrounding imports and exports, the safest choice is often an internal trade compliance program that leverages GTC technology. Some solutions continually update the trade classification content. GTC software, in turn, enforces processes that help companies reliably comply with trade laws. Better compliance will result if oversight of the compliance function is centralized, even if some trade compliance officers continue to work in different regions of the world. 

Many companies depend on freight forwarders or customs brokers to classify their goods and file all the correct forms. However, if an error is made, the seller of goods is typically designated as the exporter of goods and the party responsible for paying the fines. Similarly, when importing, compliance responsibility typically falls on the purchaser of imported goods. If a service provider makes a mistake that damages the company’s brand, the company has no one to blame but themselves. Further, companies that have insourced trade compliance often find they can respond with greater agility to unexpected disruptions.

Trade Compliance Requirements

For each of the risk/benefit areas – improved compliance, protecting the brand, logistics efficiency, improved sourcing, and freeing up cash flow – there is specific functionality in the GTC solution. Understand the benefits you are seeking and ensure that the supporting functionality exists in a GTC solution to capitalize on that benefit. Companies need both trade content and an application that enforces the compliance process. Companies should ask themselves if they prefer to get the trade content from the same company that provides the GTC application. Or is it all right if the GTC solution provider has an alliance to get that data from a content vendor?   

Compliance functionality should be based upon the ability of a system to provide an audit trail that shows how goods were classified with a logic tree that explains why the goods were classified that way.  In many jurisdictions, this audit trail demonstrates “good faith” and means even if a declared good was misclassified, the company would be given credit for exercising diligence and would likely avoid the most severe penalties (if they received any at all).  Many shippers, if audited, have no ability to explain why they classified goods as they did. 

Solutions That Ease Trade Classification

Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS) commodity classification is one of the most labor-intensive tasks trade compliance officers face.  HS is a commodity description and coding system, which forms the basis upon which all goods are identified for customs.  The system is used by customs authorities worldwide.  Using the right HS code allows companies to pay the correct tariffs.  And paying the right tariffs are necessary to avoid government fines, calculating the true landed cost of products, and identifying promising selling and sourcing opportunities abroad.  
    
The problem is that there is an incredible gap between how products are described commercially by trade and how they are expressed in the national customs tariff schedules.  This has resulted in error rates of 30 percent according to several government sources.  Worse, every country or trading bloc has its own taxonomy beyond the international 6-digit level. Error rates are high because the task is complex and nonintuitive.  What a regular person would describe as “baby food” in HS speak is known as a “homogenized composite food preparation;” a “hair blower” is an “electrothermic hair dressing apparatus;” before you can classify “rayon” you have to know whether this is an “artificial” or a “synthetic” fiber; and if you were classifying an automotive part, like a car alarm, you might think you would go to the section of the HS code focused on automobiles, but no – this is an electronic signaling device.  

GTC suppliers are beginning to build expert systems that use AI to read and understand everyday commercial goods descriptions and reason their way through the classification process.  An AI-based system allows shippers to describe products in their own words and check to see if there is enough relevant detail to assign an HS code automatically, and if there is not, asks relevant questions until a single code is reached.

Market Data Research Available Datasets

This in-depth market data research is split into two key modules: Market Growth Outlook and Competitive Analysis.  Each of these modules is further configured into several sub-modules to meet the needs of executives as well as marketing, sales, and product development managers.  All of these modules and sub-modules may be purchased as a bundle or separately.  A brief description of these modules, sub-modules, and their use cases is included below.

Market Growth Outlook

ARC’s market growth outlook service delivers an in-depth market opportunity analysis including five-year market and technology forecasts and 3-year history trend lines where available. Besides providing an in-depth analysis of the market opportunity provided by each technology, this service allows technology suppliers to analyze their own customized markets consisting of multiple technologies. For example, customers can view different market scenarios by adding or removing technology markets from the analysis, providing them a Total Available Market (TAM) view of their own served market. A list of the available market growth outlook services can be seen in the list below.  

This service is designed to help accelerate your organization's ability to understand an up-to-date view of the market opportunity provided by your current product portfolio and analyze how your company’s market opportunity would change if you were to acquire or divest a particular product line. The service will also help you identify and capitalize on emerging markets, whether these markets are based on an emerging technology, region, vertical industry, or application. Built upon a proprietary market model and ARC’s field proven primary research, this service helps product and marketing managers optimize their business plans by identifying the opportunities provided by emerging trends. ARC’s reputation as the preeminent independent provider of market growth opportunity analyses for nearly four decades also provides greater weight to your business plans. ARC’s market growth outlook services are available in a variety of formats depending on whether you view your market opportunities via different technologies, industries, or world regions.  

In addition, ARC has a strong history of providing customized market opportunity reports and services to meet your specific needs.  For example, you may sell your products only to specific industries and/or in only one or two regions. You tell us your served markets and ARC can quickly configure a report or service designed to best serve your served market.

ARC provides several versions of these reports and services depending on your role in the organization. Executive Views are high level market opportunities designed to help executives quickly identify key trends and market opportunities around the world.  In-depth market opportunity analyses provide marketing and product managers more detailed technology specific market information to plan marketing and product development strategies.  The following table shows more specific information included in each version.

Market Growth Outlook AnalysisUse CasesTarget Role
Worldwide Market Growth Outlook by Industry & Region with 3-year history where availableIn-depth technology-specific strategic growth planning across multiple technologies, applications, regions, and industriesProduct & Marketing Managers
Worldwide Industry Growth Outlook by Region with 3-year history where availableStrategic technology growth planning for markets defined by a single or multiple vertical industriesIndustry Managers
Regional/Country Market Growth Outlook by Technology & Industry with 3-year history where available (includes country data)Strategic technology growth planning for markets defined by a single or multiple world regionsRegional & Country Sales Managers
Market Growth Outlook Executive ViewStrategic Total Available Market (TAM) growth planning dashboard covering multiple vertical industries, technologies, and world regionsExecutives
Market Competitive Analysis

ARC’s Competitive Analysis services deliver in depth competitive analyses across multiple technologies, applications, regions, and industries.  Besides providing an in-depth analysis of the market opportunity provided by each technology, this service allows technology suppliers to analyze their own customized markets consisting of multiple technologies. For example, customers can view different market scenarios by adding or removing technology markets from the analysis, providing them a Total Available Market (TAM) view of their own served market. A list of the available market growth outlook services can be seen in the list below.  

This service is designed to help product and marketing managers identify their company’s market positioning across multiple views within their Serviceable Available Market (SAM). Built upon a proprietary market model and ARC’s field proven primary research, this service helps product and marketing managers optimize their business plans by identifying how their company’s market position would change if the company were to acquire or divest a particular product line or technology. ARC’s reputation as the preeminent independent provider of competitive market benchmarking for nearly four decades lends greater weight to your business plans. ARC’s market competitive services are available in a variety of formats depending on whether you view your market opportunities via different technologies, industries, or world regions.  

In addition, ARC has a strong history of providing customized market opportunity reports and services to meet the specific needs of our clients.  For example, you may sell your products only to specific industries and/or in only one or two regions. You tell us your served markets and ARC can quickly configure a report or service designed to best serve your served market.

ARC provides several versions of these reports and services depending on your role in the organization. Executive Views are high level market competitive analyses designed to help executives quickly assess their SAM by world region, technology, or vertical industry. In-depth competitive market analyses provide marketing and product managers more detailed technology specific benchmarking information to plan marketing and product development strategies.  The following table shows more specific information included in each version. 

Competitive AnalysisUse CasesTarget Role
Worldwide Competitive Analysis by TechnologyIn-depth competitive market analysis that quantifies how your company’s market position has changed over time across multiple technologies, applications, regions, and industriesProduct & Marketing Managers
Worldwide Competitive Analysis by IndustryStrategic technology-based competitive analyses for markets defined by a single or multiple vertical industriesIndustry Managers
Regional/Country Competitive Analysis by IndustryStrategic technology-based competitive analyses for markets defined by a single or multiple world regionsRegional Sales Managers
Competitive Analysis Executive ViewStrategic Serviceable Available Market (SAM) analysis dashboard covering multiple vertical industries, technologies, and world regionsExecutives

Worldwide Research Focus Areas

Strategic Analysis

  • Major Trends
  • Strategic Analysis
  • Buyer Strategies
  • Supplier Strategies
  • Growth Contributors and Inhibitors

Competitive Analysis

  • Market Shares of the Leading Suppliers
  • Market Shares by Region
    • North America
    • Europe, Middle East, Africa
    • Asia
    • Latin America
  • Market Shares by Revenue Category
    • Software
    • Software-as-a-Service/Application Hosting
    • Implementation Services
    • Maintenance & Support Services
    • Trade Content Services
  • Market Shares by Industry
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Automotive
    • Chemical
    • Electronics & Electrical
    • Food & Beverage
    • Household & Personal Care
    • Logistics
    • Machinery Manufacturing
    • Oil & Gas
    • Pharmaceutical & Biotech
    • Retail
    • Wholesale & Distribution
  • Market Shares by Customer Tier
    • Tier 1
    • Tier 2
    • Tier 3

Market Forecasts & Histories

  • Total Shipments of Global Trade Compliance
  • Shipments by Region
    • North America
    • Europe, Middle East, Africa
    • Asia
    • Latin America
  • Shipments by Revenue Category
    • Software
    • Software-as-a-Service/Application Hosting
    • Implementation Services
    • Maintenance & Support Services
    • Trade Content Services
  • Shipments by Industry
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Automotive
    • Chemical
    • Electronics & Electrical
    • Food & Beverage
    • Household & Personal Care
    • Logistics
    • Machinery Manufacturing
    • Oil & Gas
    • Pharmaceutical & Biotech
    • Retail
    • Wholesale & Distribution
  • Shipments by Customer Tier
    • Tier 1
    • Tier 2
    • Tier 3

Industry Participants

The research identifies all relevant suppliers serving this market. 

Regional Research Focus Areas

Strategic Analysis

Competitive Analysis

  • Leading Suppliers in Region
  • Industry Shares in Region
  • Country Shares in Region
  • Leading Suppliers by Industry

Market Forecasts & Histories

  • Market Forecast & History by Country
  • Market Forecast & History by Industry

Industry Participants

List of countries included in each region: MIRA-Country

For More Information

To speak with the author or to purchase the Global Trade Compliance Market Research, please contact us.

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