Risk in populating Unit of measure for commodity code (foreign trade) in ECC

[Former Member]

We have recently implemeted product classification in GTS for the EU and US.  We want to implement the transfer of tariff data from GTS to ECC via the standard GTS transactions /SAPSLL/SWN_RTR and /SAPSLL/SWN_RTR_R3.

Our compliance team is concerned about beginning to populate the unit of measure commodity code in ECC.  I know this field is only visible when a supplementary unit is on the tariff number and is different than the base unit of measure on the material master.  These additional units of measure must be configured in order for the XML tariff files to load properly.  

One concern that has come up is the conversion of the base UoM to the new unit of measure from the tariff files.  Are there other issues/risks I need to be aware of?  My understanding is this unit is used only when reporting the products to the customs authorities.

I appreciate any guidance you can give me. 

[Former Member]

Hello Alison,

We implemented this, however, made an enhancement not to transfer the UOM to ECC. Our consultants are unable to clearly articulate the use of UOM in classification. I still have not have a complete grasp of UOM with classification. One thing we constantly run into, is job fails when external/internal UOM is not maintained during transfer of classification from GTS to ECC. Since we are not transferring UOM to ECC, we are now considering enhancement, so we do not have to maintain internal/external UOM from the files we receive from Customs Info. We have had a number of issues trying to figure out what to maintain as internal UOM for UOM sent by Customs Info. There is no ISO code to cross reference and makes it very difficult to figure this out.

Another thing that you need to be aware off - if you have products that is not classified in GTS and you have classification maintained in ECC, you can overwrite ECC values with blanks- the product master change/update date (for anything - not just classification) is picked up by the re-transfer job. We are currently making enhancements in the commodity code retransfer program, only to transfer when there is a value in GTS for classification.

I see Dave's message above " UoM is necessary for the calculation that supports your sourcing decisions as well as for your declarations to the authorities". I am really interested to understand the function of UOM in classification.

Regards,

Padma

[former_member215181]

Hi Padma,

Your request is not really part of Alison's question.  If you care to post another question, I will gladly answer it.

Regards,

Dave

[Former Member]

Hi Alison,

Following were the scenarios I tried when I was working on the idea place requirement that I gave in previous response

1) external UoM of tariff code is not linked to a UoM in sap- retransfer program in gts will fail. Related to Idea post that I gave in my previous response.

2) external UoM of tariff code is linked to a internal UoM in

sap

     2.a) internal uom is base unit in matetial master in ecc- Retransfer in gts successful. Subsequent transfer in Ecc successful

     2.b) internal uom is not base unit in material master in ecc but conversion is available in material master- retransfer in gts successful. Subsequent transfer in ECC successful.

    2.c) internal uom is not base unit in material master in Ecc and no.conversion is available in material master retransfer in gts successful. Subsequent transfer in ECC will fail. So no update of code in material master. Doesnt mean the program will fail totally like scenario 1.. Just that the material will not be updated.

Regards

Dhilipan

[former_member215181]

Hi Alison,

Yes, of course you should populate the UoM for each relevant Commodity Code.  Where there is "specific" (rather than "ad-valorum") duty, the UoM is necessary for the calculation that supports your sourcing decisions as well as for your declarations to the authorities.

And yes, of course you should ensure that the UoM conversions are in place in the Material Master records.  The nice thing about classification in SAP ERP, but missing from GTS (I will create a posting in the Idea Place for it) is that the system immediately prompts for the conversion to Base UoM if it is missing, and you can't proceed without it.

I'm not quite sure what happens if you re-transfer classifications from GTS where the UoM conversions are not in place, but I'm sure you can easily try it - probably nothing serious.

Maybe you should propose to trial the new process in your QA system first, to allow your Compliance team to gain confidence?

Regards,

Dave

[former_member215181]

The above "idea" is now created - your votes appreciated :

Prompt for UoM conversion (if missing) during Product Classification : View Idea

Regards,

Dave

[Former Member]

Hi Alison,

There is one issue that I've seen with these External UoMs in my experience. And I've put this in Idea Place as well. Please go through the same and promote if you support my idea.

https://ideas.sap.com/ct/ct_a_view_idea.bix?c=E8A286DD-A6EF-43F9-9371-CD3ECCDD63AA&idea_id=8BC14FD1-...

Apart from this, I don't think there is any other issues/risks you need to evaluate.

Regards

Dhilipan