Some customs clearance problems are beyond your control, others can be avoided as long as you have the right process in place. Whether your shipment gets stuck in customs, you face unexpected duties and tariffs costs, or you failed to file paperwork correctly or completely, any logistical mistake is frustrating. Because of this, you must be well informed on customs clearance problems and plan in advance to avoid such mistakes. One of the best decisions you can make is to take advantage of Clearit USA customs clearance services. These services streamline the clearance process, ensuring your shipment gets cleared on time.
Reasons Customs Clearance Issues Occur
Once an international order is placed and shipped, several documents must be made before and during transit. These documents include descriptions of the goods to be shipped, the monetary value, and the weight. This data requires verification at customs and throughout the shipping. Given the pieces of information to monitor, issues with customs clearance can occur. And whether these issues can be a simple miscommunication or misunderstanding, they can be construed as fraud. These issues can be costly for businesses due to the penalties they may face on top of taxes and duties.
Fixing Customs Clearance Issues
To avoid customs clearance issues, business owners must identify and fix them before their shipments are in progress. It is important to watch out for the following:
- The eligibility to ship goods to a country. Laws and regulations in every country keep items from entering. For instance, the United States prohibits the import of adulterated, defective, misbranded, or unsafe items such as dangerous toys, ceramic tableware, firearms, and others.
- Goods classification. All goods that will be imported into a country must be accurately represented. It is necessary to check on the destination country’s specific classification system to comply with local customs standards. Goods classification is quite precise and misclassifying goods can lead to hefty penalties and fraud accusations.
- Tax payments. Mail and printed materials that travel across borders do not incur duties. However, parcels of certain values will usually incur. E-commerce companies that ship low-value items must understand the limits for tax payments.
- Paperwork. Customs paperwork, when not filled out correctly and accurately can lead to delays. Shipments can get delayed due to poor goods descriptions, missing details, or incomplete consignee information. Companies can avoid the hassle of customs paperwork when they let a customs broker handle this for them.