Further reading & document map¶
UNCTAD does not publish ASYCUDA's physical database schema or a machine-readable API catalog. The field-level model is public only through the XML layer and national customs manuals — so knowing which kinds of documents exist, and where they normally live, is half the battle. This page describes the shape of that landscape without pointing at any one document.
This complements the schema's own citations
Sources lists the documents our schema actually
cites (each resolving to a -- src: tag). This page is broader: a general
guide to the kinds of public reading that help you understand ASYCUDA the
platform, not just our reconstruction of it.
The kinds of documentation, and where they live¶
Understanding ASYCUDA from public material means drawing on a few recurring categories. None of them is a single authoritative schema — together they are the public window onto the model.
Public programme materials¶
The ASYCUDA programme publishes introductory and processing manuals, message specifications and general platform documentation. These describe the SAD workflow, the XML e-document model and the overall system at a conceptual level. They are the canonical starting point for what the platform is.
National customs manuals — the field-level goldmines¶
ASYCUDA World is deployed as a national instance, and each administration documents its own instance. These national user guides, broker manuals and SAD field guides define the declaration boxes and fields concretely — often in more practical detail than the general programme material — because they describe the system as traders and officers actually use it. They are typically hosted on the national customs administration's own portal.
Real schemas, samples & code¶
The most useful public artefacts for the actual XML wire format are the real
instances themselves: exported declaration and manifest XML, recovered schema
definitions, and integrator code that reads or writes the <ASYCUDA> format.
These show what real instances export, as opposed to the idealised specification.
Open standards¶
The surrounding standards are fully public and stable: ISO country/currency codes, the UN trade and transport code lists, the WCO Harmonized System and Data Model, Incoterms, and the WTO valuation framework. ASYCUDA aligns to these, so they are load-bearing background reading in their own right.
Public customs-ML research and open datasets¶
For the analytics and risk-engine side, there is a body of public customs machine-learning research and a small number of open, downloadable customs datasets. These describe feature schemas, modelling approaches and evaluation methods generically — enough to prototype a risk model before you have access to real declaration history. See the ML risk-engine guide for how that research shapes the blueprint.
Restricted — request via your national customs or the ASYCUDA programme¶
The load-bearing technical documents are not public. The physical database schema / ERD, the ASYHUB API specification, the ASY5 risk-signal payload format, the selectivity admin data model, and Inspection-Act read access are all obtained by request — through your national customs administration's ASYCUDA project team or the UNCTAD ASYCUDA programme. Gated learning platforms and credentialed developer repositories exist for member customs administrations but are not open to the public.
What to put on the request list:
| Request | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Physical DB schema / ERD | The biggest gap — needed for training-data extraction and selectivity write-back |
| ASYHUB API specification (OpenAPI/WSDL, auth, message catalog) | The single most important unknown for sanctioned real-time integration |
| ASY5 "third-party AI → risk profile" signal payload format & endpoint | The forward-looking injection point; format not yet public |
| Selectivity admin data model (operators, priority, validity, score→lane thresholds) | Deliberately hidden to prevent gaming |
| Inspection-Act read access (illicit flag + recovered revenue) | The ML labels and the feedback loop depend on it |