Axians supports customs officers on Europe’s borders

Customs officers, responsible for managing cross-border trade, still rely on slow, paper-heavy systems, causing over €450M in lost tax revenue from misclassified goods and letting nearly €600M in illicit drugs slip through, as per the European Anti-Fraud Office.  

Axians’ new mobile solution, DuanPro, transforms field inspections at ports, airports, and borders, putting vital data and workflows directly into customs technicians’ hands on the ground. It is designed to be modular, secure, and replicable, opening doors for other national authorities facing similar challenges across Europe and beyond. 

Luis Capela, Line of Business Manager at the Tax & Customs Business Unit at Axians Portugal, explains his approach:

We act as a trusted advisor, co-creating solutions alongside our clients. The idea began with field visits and interviews with customs officers. We wanted to fully understand their pain points before developing anything.”

Through in-field visits, user interviews, and a co-design approach, Axians defined a clear vision: a single mobile platform that simplifies inspections, standardizes procedures, and boosts compliance, all while improving the daily experience of customs agents. 

Developed using Flutter and supported by a secure Java backend, the solution is designed to be intuitive, robust, and fully integrated with national systems. It’s true that innovation lies in how it reshapes operations. 

Field officers can document inspections, capture evidence, and request lab analyses, all from a single mobile interface. AI-based features assist with tasks like tariff classification or product handling guidelines, reducing errors and learning curves. New use cases are being piloted, including support for currency declarations, anomaly detection in containers, and chatbot-guided procedures. 

For the Portuguese Tax Authority, which collects taxes and enforces compliance in Portugal, we are creating a specific instance of this solution, named “AlfandGO PRO”, that will offer new ways to track efficiency, ensure compliance and reduce operational risk.