SAP GTS Consulting

In a globalized world with constantly changing regulations and increasing regulatory requirements, SAP GTS Compliance Management ensures that your trade processes remain legally compliant at all times. The solution integrates all aspects of trade control – from monitoring international sanctions lists to managing export licenses. With comprehensive integration capabilities into existing system landscapes (SAP ERP, SAP S/4HANA, non-SAP feeder systems), SAP GTS e4H seamlessly integrates into your global supply chain, ensuring transparency and efficiency in your trade processes. Additionally, with extensive analysis and reporting tools, such as the Audit Trail apps, SAP GTS e4H enables the early identification and resolution of potential compliance risks. SI PRO Consulting brings years of expertise in SAP GTS Compliance Management, combining deep knowledge with proven best practices from the chemical and discrete manufacturing industries.

Compliance Management consists of three elements:

Sanctions List Screening: National and international regulations require companies to carefully screen their business partners to ensure that no business relationships exist with individuals, organizations, or countries associated with funding terrorist organizations. These regulations aim to safeguard global security and ensure that companies do not unintentionally support illegal activities. Violating these rules can have severe consequences: companies may face hefty fines, legal penalties, and, in the worst-case scenario, trade bans that significantly limit access to international markets. Compliance with these regulations is not only a legal obligation but also a key factor for a company’s long-term success and reputation. Sanctions list screening enables the automatic review of business partner addresses or documents (purchase orders, sales orders, deliveries, invoices) against international sanctions lists, such as the Dow Jones Watchlist or the EU list. The EU list includes entries from regulations like (EC) No. 2580/2001 (specific restrictive measures against persons, groups, and organizations to combat terrorism), (EC) No. 881/2002 (restrictive measures against certain persons and organizations linked to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban), and (EU) No. 833/2014 (restrictive measures regarding Russia's destabilizing actions in Ukraine). Sanctions list data can be updated automatically at any time.

SI PRO has maintained a successful partnership for over 10 years with Reguvis (formerly the Federal Gazette Publisher), which provides an extensive and standardized XML-format content package for sanctions list screening. Additionally, as of 2024, SI PRO Consulting is also a partner of Mendel-Verlag, which offers customized global content for sanctions list screening in XML format.

Legal Control

SAP GTS e4H can cover all national, international, and other regulations and agreements in the area of legal control. Each regulation is tailored to the customer’s specific needs, configured, and activated. SI PRO has years of experience in implementing trade controls and combines industry-specific expertise with proven best practices to ensure efficient and compliant checks.

In the chemical industry, regulations such as the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), the German Precursors Control Act (GÜG/DPC), narcotics (BTM), and the PIC Regulation are of primary importance. In the discrete manufacturing industry, regulations such as Dual Use, the Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance (AWV), U.S. export control laws (USEAR and USECC), and U.S. re-export laws play a central role.

Additionally, new regulations like the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and the Deforestation Regulation are gaining significance. These regulations aim to reduce CO₂ emissions and prevent illegal deforestation and will soon need to be adhered to by all companies within the EU. With SAP GTS e4H, the specific requirements of these regulations can also be automatically met.

Embargo Screening

In SAP GTS e4H, embargo screening is not product-specific, but instead focuses on partial and total embargoes as part of business partner control. It involves checking the country affiliations of all business partners (recipients, clients, regulators, suppliers, end customers, etc.) to ensure that no transactions occur with partners from sanctioned countries.

• Partial Embargoes: These impose restrictions on certain trading activities with a country. SAP GTS e4H creates "country pairs" (e.g., USA–Cuba), where these restrictions apply. SAP GTS e4H automatically checks whether business partners are from countries affected by partial embargoes and ensures that only permissible transactions are conducted.
• Total Embargoes: These prohibit all economic activities with specific countries or regions. SAP GTS identifies such countries and blocks transactions that may violate embargo regulations, regardless of the products or services involved.

The embargo screening service is often used by customers to fulfill internal compliance requirements, such as "We do not trade with Venezuela or Russia." Embargo blocks are released or confirmed by expert decisions.

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Preference calculation is an integral component of Risk Management in SAP GTS e4H. It enables the automatic determination of the origin of goods by applying various origin rules derived from international free trade agreements. This automation ensures that complex requirements, such as value-added thresholds, tariff classification changes, or specific processing steps, are accurately and efficiently considered. By precisely calculating the preferential origin, companies can leverage reduced tariff rates or exemptions, thereby achieving significant cost savings in global trade. At the same time, the risk of errors or non-compliance is minimized, as the calculations always adhere to current legal regulations. With SAP GTS e4H, preference calculation becomes an indispensable tool that helps businesses streamline their trade processes while ensuring compliance and maintaining competitiveness.

The preference calculation in SAP GTS e4H offers a variety of features that allow companies to effectively verify origin rules and optimize the benefits of free trade agreements. The preference calculation includes the following functions:

Determination of Preferential Origin: SAP GTS analyzes production and procurement data to determine whether products meet the origin rules of specific trade agreements.

Workflow: An automated process is provided for requesting and managing supplier declarations, including dunning processes and issuing customer supplier declarations.

Automation: Preference calculation automates the verification of origin rules, reducing manual effort and errors. Origin rules for all 44 currently relevant EU agreements, for instance, can be obtained as XML content from our partners Mendel-Verlag and Reguvis. They continuously monitor changes to preference agreements and update their content promptly. With SI PRO's upload tool, delta lists of changed preference agreements can be automatically imported into GTS e4H.

Integration: It integrates with existing SAP ERP systems to directly utilize material master data, bills of materials, and calculation data. With the Identity-Based Preference Processing (IBPP) feature, batch-based preference calculation is also possible. IBPP is an enhancement of SAP Global Trade Services (GTS) that enables the determination of the preference status of materials at the identifier level, such as batches. This offers several advantages over traditional product-level preference calculation:

Advantages of IBPP:

• More Accurate Preference Calculation: Determining the preference status at the identifier level eliminates the "worst-case principle," where it is assumed that the entire product is not preference-eligible if individual components cannot be proven as preference-eligible. Instead, the actual preference status of each batch can be determined, leading to more accurate results.
• Cost Savings: More precise preference calculation enables companies to make better use of tariff benefits, leading to reduced import duties and cost savings.
• Competitive Advantages: Accurately determining the preference status allows companies to offer preference-eligible goods to their customers, resulting in higher profit margins or more competitive pricing.

Availability of IBPP:

• As an Add-on: IBPP was initially offered as an add-on for SAP GTS 11.0.
• Integrated into SAP GTS e4H: In SAP GTS Edition for HANA 2023, IBPP functionalities are integrated by default and available to all users.

Traceability and Documentation: The system generates certificates of origin and other documentation required for export or customs authorities. Since customs authorities can review specific preference calculations at any time, SAP GTS helps companies quickly, comprehensively, and securely provide the necessary documentation during an audit. This ensures smooth collaboration with authorities and minimizes the risk of delays or penalties.

Support for Multiple Trade Agreements: In GTS e4H, any number of free trade agreements can be configured, such as CETA (Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with Canada) or the EU-Japan EPA (Economic Partnership Agreement). SAP GTS performs an automated check during the processing of a product or order to determine whether the product falls under at least one trade agreement and indicates applicable preferential benefits. Products that do not meet the criteria of the respective agreement are automatically marked by the system as non-preferential.

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Electronic Compliance Reporting (ECR) in SAP Global Trade Services (GTS) supports companies in meeting their statutory reporting obligations for intra-community trade within the European Union. It enables the automated creation and submission of statistical reports, such as Intrastat declarations, to the respective authorities of EU member states. By integrating ECR into SAP GTS, companies can ensure that their reports comply with the specific data formats required by national statistical authorities. This reduces manual effort and minimizes potential errors during data collection and transmission.

Electronic Reporting (ER) in SAP Global Trade Services (GTS) offers a wide range of features. Here are its main applications and functionalities:

Intrastat Reporting

• Automated creation of Intrastat reports for intra-community trade within the EU.
• Integration of movement data (goods movements, trade volumes) directly from SAP logistics modules.
• Electronic submission to the respective authorities in the required national formats.

Export Control Reporting

• Preparation of reports to ensure compliance with export control regulations, e.g., license notifications.
• Submission of data to authorities such as BAFA (Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control) in Germany via the ELAN-K2 interface.

Customs Declaration

• Preparation and electronic submission of customs declarations for imports and exports.
• Support for electronic customs procedures, such as ATLAS in Germany, CHIEF in the United Kingdom, or PASSAR in Switzerland.

Compliance Documentation 

• Creation and provision of documentation to meet regulatory requirements, such as AEO (Authorized Economic Operator) standards.
• Evidence tracking and audit trails for external inspections.