As of July 1, 2009, the European Union requires the use of the AES/ATLAS method for registering exports to non-EU countries. These functions are connected to an SAP Retail system by means of an external service provider.
Supplement
Before the service provider was chosen, various alternatives were checked, including Global Trade from SAP. As the commercial enterprise only needs the customs declaration, it is enough to transfer data by IDoc from the export invoices to the external service providers certified by the customs authorities.
Subject description
ATLAS is an internal IT process used by the German customs authorities. It was developed on the basis of Article 4a para. 1 of the ZK-DVO (EU Customs Code Implementing Provisions). In ATLAS, written customs declarations and management records (e.g. import duties notifications) are replaced by electronic notifications. This automates, simplifies and speeds up customs clearance and customs processing. All of the German Customs Administration’s offices are equipped with the ATLAS specialist procedure that is necessary for their fields of activity. The registration data is archived at a central location and made available, subject to the provisions of the data protection guidelines, to the following authorities: the Central Risk Analysis Unit (Customs), the Federal Statistical Office, the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control, the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food, audit services, customs investigation offices and state fiscal authorities. (Source: http://www.zoll.de/)