How to stay compliant without increasing costs or hurting your supply chain

How Global Businesses Can Stay Ahead of Evolving Trade Policies, Tariffs, and Classifications

In today’s complex international trade environment, compliance isn’t just a box to check—it’s a business-critical function that directly impacts margins, delivery timelines, and your reputation with partners and regulators alike.

Members of the International Chamber of Commerce are asking the same question:

How do you ensure compliance while keeping costs low and your supply chain disruption-free?

It’s a challenge every global-minded business faces. And the stakes are high: delays at customs, hefty penalties, and broken customer promises can all result from a single compliance misstep.

But there’s a smarter way to manage this. You don’t need a massive legal team or limitless budget. You just need a strategy—and the right tools. Let’s walk through how to build cost-efficient, disruption-proof compliance into your operations using modern best practices and Descartes’ automated solutions.

Why does compliance cost so much and how can you reduce it?

Many businesses make the mistake of reacting to compliance demands instead of preparing for them. This often leads to duplication of effort, paperwork bottlenecks, and costly firefighting when things go wrong. Manual, inefficient compliance processes can negatively affect customer experience, costs, and organisational culture.

Technology-powered compliance helps increase the bottom line by reducing both the cost of compliance processes and the likelihood of expensive compliance failures.

The solution? Build compliance into your workflows—and automate wherever possible.

Descartes offers industry-leading automation solutions for customs declarations, security filings, and regulatory compliance. With our platform, businesses can:

Ensure timely and accurate customs declarations
Comply with evolving international trade laws
Minimise disruptions caused by regulatory changes

By automating these processes, Descartes helps reduce manual errors, eliminate redundant tasks, and dramatically lower the cost of compliance. That means your goods move faster—and your team stays focused on growth.

What’s the fastest way to prevent supply chain disruptions due to compliance issues?

Supply chain disruptions caused by compliance missteps are often preventable. The key is visibility and agility. Let’s explore why visibility – companies can manage their supply chains only when they have a clear picture of each link! And to ‘agility’ – well equipped companies with the ability to meet rapidly evolving, and increasingly volatile, customer and consumer needs.

With Descartes, companies gain a powerful edge through:

Real-time trade data visibility
Automated updates on regulatory changes
Integrated filing systems across borders

This means you’re never caught off guard by sudden policy shifts, changes in tariff codes, or evolving customs rules. And because our system connects with both your internal operations and global regulatory bodies, your shipments can move smoothly—even during times of change.

How do you build a culture of compliance that drives efficiency?

Compliance works best when it’s embedded into your business culture—not siloed in legal or logistics departments.

To achieve this, companies must:

Train staff regularly on both global and local requirements
Standardise processes across teams and regions
Incentivise compliance alongside cost and speed metrics

Descartes helps facilitate this shift by providing intuitive dashboards and role-specific access. Everyone—from warehouse staff to customs brokers—can see what’s required and take the right action, fast.

When compliance becomes part of everyday decisions, businesses become more responsive and more reliable.

How can small to mid-sized companies manage compliance without big budgets?

Compliance isn't just for the big players. In fact, small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) often have the agility to adapt faster—if they have the right tools in place.

That’s where Descartes levels the playing field.

Our cloud-based solutions are scalable and modular, so you can start small and expand as needed.
We offer expert support and regular updates to keep you compliant without hiring a full in-house team.

With Descartes, you gain enterprise-grade compliance backed by decades of supply chain software expertise – designed to scale with your business and deliver long-term value.

What’s the long-term plan for sustainable, cost-effective compliance?

Compliance isn’t a one-time project—it’s an ongoing journey. But it doesn't have to be a painful one.

Here’s what leading companies do to stay ahead:

Automate where possible to reduce dependency on manual processes.
Monitor global regulatory changes and adapt quickly with real-time data.
Regularly audit their own compliance to identify and close gaps before they become problems.

Descartes was built with this future in mind. Our tools evolve with your business, giving you peace of mind that you're always one step ahead—no matter how fast the rules change.

From Brexit to border digitisation to cross-border ecommerce, we help you stay compliant, competitive, and confident. Digital trade facilitation tools are essential for the next phase of global commerce.

Your Roadmap to Compliance Without Compromise

Here’s your 3-step action plan:

Automate compliance processes using Descartes’ solutions to reduce cost, errors, and effort.
Build resilience by gaining real-time regulatory insight and building agile supply chain pathways.
Scale smart with solutions that grow with your business and empower your team.

Let’s future-proof your trade operations

You don’t have to choose between compliance and cost-efficiency. With the right partner, you can have both—and gain a competitive advantage while you're at it.

Descartes helps businesses like yours: