Reliable Customs Clearance Agents | Import Customs Clearance

2022-12-13

International Customs Clearance Agent

As a customs clearance agent, we have mentioned the relevant customs policies of the country in many of our articles, but due to space constraints, we have not described customs clearance in detail. Customs clearance is a very important part of the freight forwarding process, whether it includes import customs clearance or export customs clearance. So, if you are a beginner, make sure you listen to our explanation of the relevant content, or if you are an expert in freight forwarding, make sure you consolidate your knowledge or present your different point of view.

Definition of self-customs declaration and agency declaration.

Custom clearance agent,import customs clearance

  • Import customs clearance and export customs clearance declarations

①Customs clearance is the process of declaring import and export goods to Customs before they are loaded onto a ship for transport, from which import customs clearance and export customs clearance are derived.

②According to China's Customs Law: All goods entering or leaving the country must pass through a port, station or international air terminal with Customs and be declared to Customs by the owner of the goods, and only after Customs has released the goods can they be picked up or shipped for export.

  • Import customs clearance and export customs clearance

①Customs clearance refers to the formalities that should be carried out when importing, exporting or trans-shipping goods in and out of a country's customs territory, in accordance with all laws, regulations and provisions. Customs clearance can only be released after the fulfilment of all obligations, customs declaration, inspection, taxation, release and other formalities, and the owner or declarant can pick up the goods.

②Similarly, all means of transport carrying imported or exported goods in and out of the country or in transit need to be declared to Customs, go through Customs formalities and obtain permission from Customs. During the clearance period, whether the goods are imported, exported or transhipped, they are under customs control and are not allowed to circulate freely.

  • Difference between self-customs declaration and agency customs declaration.

①A self-customs declaration unit is an enterprise approved by the economic and trade administration and has the right to operate import and export. The self-customs declaration unit can be contracted externally and can only handle the customs declaration procedures for the import and export goods contracted under itself to the Customs, and cannot handle the customs declaration procedures for the goods contracted by other units.

②The customs brokerage enterprise is an enterprise with the business operation right of foreign trade warehousing and transportation, international transportation, international transportation service and agency approved by the relevant departments, and accepts the commission of the export goods management unit and the person in charge of the transportation means and their agents to handle the declaration procedures. It is in line with the direction of professional and social development of customs declaration encouraged by the Customs.

What is the meaning of customs clearance in international logistics? What should I watch out for?

  • Customs clearance in international logistics

Clear customs, or customs clearance, is the import, export or transit of goods in and out of a country's customs territory, in accordance with the laws and regulations and the provisions of the procedures should be performed. Customs clearance can only be released after the fulfilment of all obligations, customs declaration, inspection, taxation, release and other procedures, and the owner or declarant can pick up the goods.

Similarly, all kinds of means of transport carrying import and export goods in and out of the country or in transit are required to declare to Customs, go through Customs procedures and obtain permission from Customs. During customs clearance, whether the goods are imported, exported or in transit, they are under customs supervision and are not allowed to circulate freely.

  • The specific flow of customs clearance

①Change of documents - go to the freight forwarder or shipping company to change the signature of D/O.

②Electronic declaration - computer pre-recording, examination of documents, sending, and customs contact/release.

③Inspection - electronic declaration after the release, with one of the four copies of the customs declaration to the Commodity Inspection Bureau for quotation procedures, out of customs clearance or knock three inspection chapter.

④On-site handover sheet - Customs on-site handover sheet.

⑤Inspection - Customs will give inspection according to the supervision conditions of the declared name of the goods and the probability of inspection on the same day, if there is inspection, a notice of inspection will be issued.

⑥Release - Customs release has the following steps: one release Issued a notice of inspection or no inspection directly two releases After inspection, do the customs seal after release.

  • Cautions for customs clearance

1) Understand the restrictions on articles

Know common product restrictions and bypass customs clearance. In general, the goods can be divided into prohibited goods, general goods and sensitive goods.Prohibited goods is the prohibition of transport of goods, weapons, firearms, flammable, explosive, living things, coins, antiques, etc., belong to the prohibition of transport of goods. These items are detected by customs, will certainly be withheld, or even directly arranged international express return.

Common goods, on the other hand, are general and ordinary goods, which have no impact on aeroplanes in international transport, such as combs, mobile phone cases, trinkets and most daily necessities, etc. There are no restrictions on these items, so there is no need to worry about being detained by customs. The last kind, sensitive goods, 3C electronic products, cosmetics, food and books, rechargeable batteries, etc., these items need specific logistics channels, otherwise they cannot be mailed to the destination country.

2) Be familiar with the customs policies of your destination country

The customs policies of countries around the world are similar and basically the same. Some countries, however, have some special policies.

【Countries that need to declare ENS】

All EU member states, ENS costs US$25-35 per ticket.

【Countries that need to do fumigation of wooden packaging】

Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Israel, Brazil, Chile, Australia, USA, Canada, Korea, Japan, and Panama. 【Countries requiring Certificate of Origin】

UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Cambodia, Canada, Egypt, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

3)The goods were detained by the customs

Customs inspection is an essential part of international cargo transportation, how to counteract cargo being detained by customs?

The main reasons for customs seizure and detention of goods

There are often complaints from students doing foreign trade about customs seizures, and the money and goods are empty. In fact, if the proper prevention in advance, the chances of customs seizure of goods is extremely small. Customs seizure of goods withheld mainly for the following reasons.

1.The declared value and the estimated value of inconsistent.

2.The name and product does not match.

3.The packing list is not detailed.

4.Consignee conditions do not allow (no import and export rights, etc.).

5.Personal goods exceed 5000 RMB value.

6.Then there are some relevant policies stipulated by the local country.

How can I avoid customs detention?

Custom clearance agent,import customs clearance

In general, most of our B2C encounters are due to reasons of inconsistency between declared value and estimated value, personal items exceeding 5000 RMB value, and local national policies. So, how to avoid customs withholding?

1)In order to avoid customs detention, for general parcels, can be written as personal gift, private parcels by the customs check the chances are very low.

2)In order to produce high customs clearance fees after the deduction of goods, the declared value can be written relatively less, the rate of deduction of valuable items is very high. In addition, the customs clearance fee is calculated according to the declared value after the goods are detained, the higher the declared value, the higher the cost of customs clearance. The higher the declared value, the higher the customs clearance fee. -Likewise, if you need customers to send back products, you should also pay attention to let customers write down the declared value a bit lower.

For example, although customs clearance is easy in Australia, battery products are not allowed by customs, so batteries or products with electromagnetism should not be sent to Australia. If you must sell products with batteries, you can tell the customer that you will not send batteries, only products.

3)Choose a safe delivery method. The rate of DHL is very high, followed by FedEx and UPS; relatively safe delivery methods are air registered parcels and EMS, in addition to EMS, even if the goods are detained by customs, or can be returned to the shipping location free of charge.

4)The heavier the weight of the parcel, the greater the possibility of being detained by customs.

5)Different products have different chances of being detained by customs, for example, electronic products have a higher chance of being detained than clothing.

6)Shipping to different countries, the declaration strategy used is not different. Britain and the United States customs is relatively less strict, the declared value can be appropriately lower; Germany customs is more strict, it is not appropriate to put too low declared price; like Brazil, customs is also very strict, fill in the declaration materials must be careful, accurate, or very troublesome.

Handling of goods detained by customs

But you should know that these are to reduce the chances of being detained, it is impossible to completely eliminate. If a parcel is unfortunately detained by customs, the following are some of the methods we have put together to deal with it.

1)Timely and customer contact, it is best to let the customer to assist in customs clearance, if the customs clearance fee is low, you can first talk to the customer about customs clearance fees shared equally.

2)If the customer is not willing to see if the package can be returned, if it is EMS and so on, the package can be sent back for free, you can communicate with the customer and so on package sent back to re-ship him.

3)If the package can not be sent back, customs clearance fees and very high can not be done, in this case give up the package it.

4)Must not delay, or once the customer initiated a dispute or even credit card withdrawal, the customer did not receive the goods, this situation is very unfavorable to the seller.

These are the details of what is involved within the customs clearance.

JIKE Logistics, with a wealth of experience in international freight forwarding, has experienced, well-trained and skilled professionals who are dedicated to providing you with suitable solutions, professional advice and reliable service.

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