The job that a customs clearance agent does is a specialised one that has to take into account the legislation of every country involved in the process of shipping goods. It involves being very organised and methodical, accurate and being able to communicate with all parties involved in importing and exporting goods around the globe.
Every country has its own different rules when it comes to customs, so the role involves making sure that we keep up to date with any changes to ensure that these regulations are carefully adhered to. The process involves preparing all the correct paperwork and/or electronic documents for each case, calculating and paying the required amounts of taxes on behalf of the customer, including all duties and excise taxes, and acting as the first point of communication for the importer/exporter and the governmental authorities involved in each case. As you can imagine, it’s a specialised job.
Customs Clearance Agents also have to make sure that they are up to date with the Tariff Schedule (or Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS)), as well as the listing of duty rates for imported items, and all regulations governing imports, submit it to the relevant government agencies to notify them - and arrange any clearance that’s needed for specific cargo.
A Customs Clearance Agent has to be accredited with ports, customs authorities and border agencies, as they will have to arrange to pass all necessary documentation on at customs and arrange for any inspections that have to take place.
At t.ward we have many years of experience in customs clearing UK imported goods for both private and commercial customers. We can help you obtain clearance for your goods through customs throughout the world and we’re also happy to advise you on import duty, tax and international tariff codes and permits.
Contact us if you’re looking for advice or assistance on:
• Customs clearance advice for Far East sea freight imports for FCL / LCL
• Customs clearance in all UK Ports (for example - Felixstowe, Southampton, Grangemouth)
• Air freight customs clearance
• Tariff clarification
• Import and export licences
• Temporary imports
• Duty and tax planning
Tuesday 27 January 2015
Monday 12 January 2015
T Ward helps Stretch Tent Scotland
Here at T Ward, we like to offer our clients a really thorough service that’s tailored to their needs. We’re also experienced in helping clients reach the best solution for difficult logistical problems, and we demonstrated this last year when we worked with a company called Stretch Tent Scotland. The company supplies tents for use at large events such as weddings and festivals, and asked us to assist with customs clearance when they imported a batch of the tents from suppliers in Cape Town. The first shipment was due in April/May 2014.
The company bought the tents on CIF Edinburgh Incoterms, which meant was the shippers in Cape Town organized the shipping up to the first port of entry to the UK, which was Felixstowe. We assisted with customs clearance at Felixstowe and delivery to Edinburgh.
The complication was that because the gods were bought on CIF terms, the client had no control over which warehouse was responsible for their LCL shipment on arrival in the UK. As a result, the common charges (handling, security, documentation) levied by the warehouse for an LCL import were non-negotiable and Stretch Tent Scotland had to pay in order to release their goods – an extra expense they weren’t expecting. The costs were high, too.
Although there was no way around this problem in 2014, we advised Stretch Tent Scotland that next time they imported goods from Cape Town, they should buy them on FOB Cape Town terms. This would mean that shippers in Cape Town would only be responsible for getting goods to our nominated agent’s warehouse in Cape Town. From there onwards, t.ward shipping would be able to take responsibility for the shipment up until it was delivered to the client’s premises in Edinburgh.
There were no nasty surprises with the next shipment as we could decide which UK warehouse the goods arrived into. This saved a few hundred pounds and led to a happy client. In summary, t.ward can assist with all shipping, import/export and customs matters, and we are able to use our many years shipping experience to tailor our services to fit clients’ precise needs, potentially saving them money and ensuring that they don’t need to pay over the odds for shipping costs.
The company bought the tents on CIF Edinburgh Incoterms, which meant was the shippers in Cape Town organized the shipping up to the first port of entry to the UK, which was Felixstowe. We assisted with customs clearance at Felixstowe and delivery to Edinburgh.
The complication was that because the gods were bought on CIF terms, the client had no control over which warehouse was responsible for their LCL shipment on arrival in the UK. As a result, the common charges (handling, security, documentation) levied by the warehouse for an LCL import were non-negotiable and Stretch Tent Scotland had to pay in order to release their goods – an extra expense they weren’t expecting. The costs were high, too.
Although there was no way around this problem in 2014, we advised Stretch Tent Scotland that next time they imported goods from Cape Town, they should buy them on FOB Cape Town terms. This would mean that shippers in Cape Town would only be responsible for getting goods to our nominated agent’s warehouse in Cape Town. From there onwards, t.ward shipping would be able to take responsibility for the shipment up until it was delivered to the client’s premises in Edinburgh.
There were no nasty surprises with the next shipment as we could decide which UK warehouse the goods arrived into. This saved a few hundred pounds and led to a happy client. In summary, t.ward can assist with all shipping, import/export and customs matters, and we are able to use our many years shipping experience to tailor our services to fit clients’ precise needs, potentially saving them money and ensuring that they don’t need to pay over the odds for shipping costs.
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