Which systems must customs software support?
Import and export declarations go through DMS; AGS has been phased out. Since 16 May 2026 you also submit supporting documents through DMS rather than by email. Transit declarations have gone through DVA, NCTS phase 5, since late October 2024. Entry summary declarations (ENS) can only be filed through ICS2 since 1 December 2025. And through CERTEX, Dutch Customs checks more and more licences and certificates automatically, so the references in your declaration have to be exact. Ask every vendor which of these flows they support.
Declaration software with its own AI features: AEB and Customseye
AEB Customs Management is cloud software from Germany, hosted in its own data centres, for DMS imports and exports, NCTS, DECO and the Portbase connection. You choose how far to automate the declaration, and AEB Intelligence adds AI models for product classification and reading source documents. Customseye, from Rotterdam, offers customs software for DMS, NVWA, NCTS and Portbase. According to the vendor, an intelligent assistant helps build the file, invoices and packing lists are processed with AI, and you decide which declarations are filed without intervention.
Declaration software without AI features: Descartes, Softpak, Stratech and Fiton
Descartes Customs is cloud software for Dutch declarations through DMS and NCTS, with a Portbase connection; for the declarations themselves Descartes does not mention AI. Softpak, from Ridderkerk and active since 1977, exchanges declarations with Dutch and Belgian customs, useful if you declare in both countries. Stratech Shipment by Stratech Logistic covers DMS, DVA, EMCS and Portbase, and is one of the few with a public price. Fiton, from Zwijndrecht, supplies Fit on Customs together with software for warehousing and forwarding. Stream Software from Antwerp, with Customs Streamliner, is an independent company and not part of Descartes. None of these four mentions AI features for the declaration.
AI before the declaration: Digicust
Digicust, from Vienna, calls itself an AI and data-quality layer before customs: it pushes validated declarations into the system you already use rather than replacing it. In early 2025 it announced its expansion to Belgium and the Netherlands. According to the vendor it reaches an automation level of 70 to 90%. Which Dutch declaration software it is connected to in production is not stated on its site, so ask.
Portbase: not declaration software, but the port
Portbase is the Port Community System of the ports of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, a not-for-profit organisation. It handles port-related notifications such as the import cargo notification, the pre-notification under ICS2 and the transit declaration (T1). Most declaration packages above connect to Portbase. For the transit declaration, Portbase charges an amount per declaration plus a one-off connection fee.
Where does Bonsai fit?
Bonsai does not build declaration software. It is regulated and certified, and rebuilding it only adds risk. We put AI to work around your existing customs software: reading invoices, packing lists, B/Ls and certificates regardless of format, a reasoned proposal for the CN or TARIC code where the declarant decides, consistency checks before submission, and sorting incoming emails and requesting missing documents. If you already use a package with AI extraction, such as AEB or Customseye, the extra gain is smaller. The biggest gain is for teams that retype many documents by hand in software without AI features.
How do you choose?
Check the basics first: DMS, DVA, ICS2 and CERTEX, a Portbase connection and, if needed, declaring in Belgium. Then look at the pricing model, such as a fixed subscription with a cost per declaration, at where your data is stored, and at how much automation you allow: some packages let declarations be filed without intervention, others keep every declaration with the declarant. Ask every vendor for a trial with your own files.