Frequently asked questions
What customs brokers ask us first, answered in a sentence or two.
What Athren does
- What does Athren do?
- Athren prepares customs cases. It reads the shipment email with the invoice, the packing list and the bill of lading, fills in the declaration from them, proposes a code where the invoice is clear and asks where it is not. Your declarant checks what is open and files it.
- Does Athren file the declaration?
- No. Athren files nothing and sends nothing on its own. Your declarant presses Release, downloads the declaration and files it in your customs system, as they do today.
- Which customs systems does it work with?
- Whichever system you file in. Athren does not connect to it or replace it: your declarant downloads the prepared declaration and files it in the customs system they already use.
- Does Athren classify our product master data?
- No. Athren prepares one case per shipment, from that shipment’s email and documents, and proposes a code for each invoice line that is clear enough. Your declarant decides every code.
- Which other software does this?
- Several vendors prepare customs declarations or tariff classifications with AI. The comparison pages describe eight of them in their own words, with the source and the day it was read, and say who files in each case.
Who it is for
- Who is Athren for?
- Customs brokers in Germany and the Netherlands, and the declarants who prepare their customs declarations.
- Which documents does Athren read?
- The shipment email and what is attached to it: the commercial invoice, the packing list and the transport document, such as the bill of lading, as PDFs or spreadsheets.
- What does the declarant still do?
- They check what is open, ask the questions Athren has written and decide every code: a code stays a proposal until they do. Then they press Release, download the declaration and file it.
When the invoice is not enough
- What happens when the invoice is not enough?
- Athren leaves that line’s code open and writes the question the tariff asks, such as porcelain or other ceramic, with the invoice line outlined and who usually knows the answer. It sends nothing: your declarant asks, and enters the answer in the case.
- Is a code Athren proposes binding?
- No. It is a proposal your declarant decides on. To fix the classification of goods in advance, the holder applies for binding tariff information from a customs authority.
- Why do some declarations take half a day?
- Because the tariff asks what the invoice does not say. Declarants told us a clean case takes about two minutes and an unclear one can take half a day.
Getting started
- How do we start?
- Send us 20 past cases. We prepare each one, and you judge the result. Book a call, or write to lucas@athren.nl.
- What happens to our documents?
- Before Athren reads a case of yours, we sign a data processing agreement with your agency that names every provider involved. The security page says how case documents are handled.
- Who is behind Athren?
- Lucas Duys and Timothy Thomas, its two co-founders. The team page says more about them.
Something we have not answered? Write to lucas@athren.nl.
How Athren compares with other AI customs software: the comparison, with sources.
Send us 20 past cases.
For customs brokers in Germany and the Netherlands. We prepare each one, you judge the result.
Pick a time below for a thirty-minute call, or write to us.
Loading the calendar… Book on cal.com