By Benny Lim.    Photo：Ollie Craig

In international logistics and transportation, we used to be facing a term frequetly encountered and referred to is custom clearance in destination port.

Customs clearance time can vary from as short as a day or two to as long as ten days or even two weeks in international logistics. Why does this discrepancy occur? To avoid any delays, what factors should be taken into consideration?

To comprehend the issue of customs clearance, it is essential to first understand what is meant by 'customs clearance in destination port '.

Customs clearance refers to the procedures that must be carried out according to legal requirements when goods are imported, exported, or transshipped across a country's border. Upon completing customs declaration, inspection, taxation, and release procedures for imported goods, all obligations must be fulfilled before the goods can be released, picked up by logistics companies, and ultimately delivered.

In essence, whenever goods from one country enter another, they must undergo prescribed customs clearance procedures; otherwise, goods entering a country in violation of regulations could face legal sanctions in that foreign jurisdiction. For each country, customs clearance serves two primary purposes: firstly, to ascertain the legality of the goods, and secondly, to levy duties to maintain trade balance between the two nations.

What is the process of customs clearance?

1.   Delivery order

Go to the freight forwarder or shipping company to change the D/O. (According to the bill of lading in hand to determine where to change the bill. H B/L freight forwarding bill of lading M B/L shipowner's bill of lading) Electronic declaration - computer pre-recording, document review, sending, and customs contact/release.

2.   Inspection

After the electronic declaration is released, use one of the four copies of the customs declaration form to go to the Commodity Inspection Bureau to go through the quotation procedure and issue the customs clearance form. (If the goods need to be declared for inspection)

3.   Handover

On-site customs handover form (only if the goods need to be declared for inspection).

4.   Inspection

The customs will conduct inspections according to the supervision conditions of the declared name of the goods, and if there is an inspection, an inspection notice will be issued (only if there is an inspection by the customs).

5.   Issuance of tax bills

When the goods are declared, the customs will issue a tax bill detailing the import duties for the enterprise to pay the tax.

6.   Release

Goods released.

What precautions should be taken during customs clearance?

If you do not want the goods to be seized by the customs of the destination country, you must declare the goods according to its customs policies and requirements, including the name of the goods, quantity, weight, declared value of the goods, and certification documents corresponding to special goods, etc.

The main factors affecting customs clearance are as follows: First, in terms of cargo declaration information, including the declaration value and declaration name, inconsistency will lead to the detention of goods; in addition, special items such as children's toys, cosmetics, medical equipment, etc. need corresponding certification documents, otherwise they will be detained goods.

How should the goods be detained?

If the goods are detained at the customs of the destination country, it is necessary to understand the reasons for the detention to solve the problem. In actual operation, deduction of bills is nothing more than incomplete customs declarations, few customs declarations, irregular customs declarations and other reasons.If the preparation materials are incomplete and there are few customs declaration forms, the materials and taxes shall be supplemented as required.In the case of prohibited items and other goods prohibited from import, the goods can only be discarded and destroyed.

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