Is your consignment in the customs? Yes, customs can be a real pain and can cause a lot of fuss, but when it comes to regaining the possession of your products customs clearing process can help. Here in this blog, we will help you understand the causes and how you can deal with customs hold-ups and how you avoid such a situation in the future. All the details starting with skipped paperwork and ending with taxes and import duties – you will find it all here to make your packages cleared and delivered to you without delays. Don’t let it happen to you – learn what you can do to keep your shipments on track!
A shipment that is detained or package stuck in customs at the border can ruin the purchasing experience of a customer besides leading to lost of revenue due to delayed or jammed goods. Whenever your shipments are held up in customs this can be very irritating although it is very important to learn ways of dealing with it. With Customs there are possible reasons including but not limited to minor things that may be a document to major things like banned merchandise. Regardless of the cause of delay, one has to move fast and with so much energy in order to address the concern and get your products on the move. It is always helpful to identify what one has to do in order to accelerate the process and to avoid time that may end up being very expensive.
In this article, we will guide you through the process of avoiding such holds, how to contact customs to determine the reason for a customs hold, clearing your shipment as soon as possible, and how tools like Easyship can assist you in avoiding other holds and making the shipping process less slow and stressful process for both you and your customers. To avoid such incidences and ensure efficient delivery time with little interferences from customs, you ought to act wisely by following events.
Reach Out to Your 3PL Provider
The first thing to do when facing a shipment stuck in customs is to get in touch with your 3PL or the shipping company that shipped your products. Many times the shipper only deals with the seller and not the buyer, so to ascertain the status of your shipment clear customs you need to talk to the seller. Ask whether there are any problems, for example incorrect paperwork or even missing documents for importation that would cause the product to be held up at the customs.
Your seller should be able to talk to the shippers directly and find out more reasons as to why the shipment got held at the local post office customs office. Make sure that your seller provides you with the tracking number so you can track your shipment and know what it’s up to.
The best way to follow the delivery is by going to the courier’s website and tracking the package on the spot. In case your shipment has not moved or is slow in processing you should first contact the sender.
Contact Your Carrier
In particular, if you were convinced that your shipment is in customs, it is high time to talk to your carrier. Freight forwarders such as DHL or FedEx are known to clear the customs fast; however, some hitches may be experienced. Some consignments will always have problems getting clearance through even with well-known shippers.
The information you get on this method may not be accurate as many of the carriers use premium numbers on the phone and hence the information given may attract extra cost. It will be beneficial if you have your tracking number at hand, as it helps the customs officer or shipping carrier to locate the exact spatial location of the shipment and facilitate search for customs-related concerns..
Watch for Undervaluation of Shipments
One must also take into consideration factors such as fraud or dishonesty of the seller, especially if the latter hails from a particular area or country like the Far East. Occasionally, some sellers may; overstate the value of goods in FOB shipments to evade a higher tax rate in an area or under-declare the value of goods in DDP (Deliver Duty Paid) or DDU (Deliver Duty Unpaid) in a bid to pay a lower tax amount. This system may eliminate one-time costs, but it is an example of tax avoidance, and it often implies heavy penalties, such as customs seizure and additional time.
When a consignment is valued way below the actual price, then customs authorities may be forced to confiscate the package and one is left to sort out the problem. Even though suppliers can reduce the taxable amount by under valving their consignments, they should not because they are simply shooting themselves in the foot in the process.
You can propose that your shipper communicates with you often and concentrate on methods such as reviewing a commercial invoice and performing customs declarations that can lead to the fast and smooth the customs inspection and clearance of your shipment. It will also reduce your chances of facing legal complications in the future and or being delayed for quite some time.
Check for Outstanding Taxes and Duties
Taxes are often placed on any shipment that over a certain value limit is imported into many nations. In the case of such taxes, if delivery duty unpaid not paid, customs will retain your shipment until the full amount is recovered. In cases of small consignments especially when sending goods through international standard express couriers or postal services these taxes are borne by the courier through the Delivered Duty Unpaid term. When the courier service or carrier clears your goods through customs for you they will do this at a cost that includes an administrative fee.
Nonetheless, for voluminous consignments including those that do not exceed the value of $ 2500 in the USA, service of customs brokers will probably be required. A customs broker helps in the import regulations, payment of tax and releases additional documentation for the shipment from customs as well. Of course, you can perform it on your own; however, it will be more reasonable and profitable to address a professional broker.
In international ocean shipping, it is especially important that you clearly know your customs clearance and your taxes and duties for your shipment. Neglecting these customs review taxes or creating an issue with their payment and solution might lead to package return to your warehouse & end at worst. If you wish to proceed to have further information regarding the various customs duties, and taxes for international shipments, we have an article about it here.
Ensure All Required Paperwork is Complete and Accurate
Among the major factors, the poor documentary requirements are top ranked major delays at the customs. According to the size, the estimated value of the consignment, or the type of products in the shipment, all the paperwork must may be different. Even if certain mistakes can be overlooking, including shipping with prohibited or restricted items or prohibited products, not attaching an invoice, or omitting a CN22 customs form, the processing of the package is going to take time.
Defining what it is that has been missing or incorrect information paperwork left out can sometimes be rather difficult, even if you do not have physical access to the recipient’s parcel. When selecting an express shipping service, they will most often be willing to help you find any lost papers. Therefore, the first course of action when dealing with this problem is to contact your shipper.
If there is any document, missing documentation, or incorrect paperwork, the shipper will be able to orient you on what should be done next. It can be as basic as sending the right documents through email. Nonetheless, wrong documentation leads to more significant losses, and care should be taken to complete and endorse all papers in an appropriate language, where necessary, to avert additional hold-ups.
Exercise Patience
However, if you chose to have it delivered using the common airmail methods, customs procedures are known to be time consuming and can be a real headache in many countries. Usually customs detain the cargos for a while to ensure that the declar hart and weight are true. Regrettably, such random checks are normal practice and not much could be done to hasten customs process or avoid such incidence. Very often intervention attempts are in vain and can take considerable time.
As for the shippers, they should make sure that all the articles are properly described and all the Forms are filled in to the point. Creating proper documentation and paperwork means less chances of problems and incidence which hinders customs clearance of restricted items in your consignment.
If your shipment is going through the same postal service network, most often all you can do is wait. Parcel tracking in postal services often can be very imprecise and thus it might just better to wait for the package in this case. However, to be sure, they know that the shipment will make it to its final destination but it might take sometime.
During waiting time is equally important to keep on being composed so the team would not be easily weary with the constant waiting. Despite a number of inaccuracy in tracking — often, packages may vanish from the system, and later return — the key is not to worry. Your package is on its way.
Fortunately, the postal system normally does a reasonably good job with the customs including processing and forwarding your shipment as soon as it goes through the customs. However, it might take some time, in certain cases you may be expected to make any related taxes on receipt pay customs.
If you are an online seller and often experience such customs issues that significantly slow down your deliveries, Easyship will be helpful. This way, Easyship reviews all the documents required for customs clearance and considerably minimizes the chance of getting your deliveries delayed. These customs processes and many more questions will not be on your mind again once you get started with Easyship.
As much as it is a hindrance for a firm to have customs delays, it is even worse for a consumer hence the reason it is commonly cited as one of the barriers for consumers to order from another country. Allow Easyship to meanwhile manage all the complexities of the international shipping and customs aspect to your business, and provide great customer experience to your customers.
Conclusion
Customs delays are always an inconvenience for both the businesses and the customers in such contracts. If you are involved in trade operation you are either exporting products or importing goods there are things which one should know as to why these operation take longer times as well as as to how one can avoid significant delays or reduce them as a source of stress. Knowledgeable of the legalities and the necessity of correct documentation, tax duties and acceptable papers, there is likelihood of your shipment getting halted in the customs. Waiting is required, but actions to make it easier in the future can prevent and alleviate these future shipping nightmares considerable customs headaches.
In its complexity, customs issues can be a stumbling stone for any business, but the solutions are simple: prepare properly. Changing carriers and being more precise with what is declared on the package as well as working with reliable platforms, such as Easyship can minimize the likelihood of a parcel being delayed by customs. For instance, Easyship’s tools for dealing with the customs declaration forms help automate the process of making sure that all the approximate necessary customs paperwork is filled out correctly and that the shipments are processed through customs in as efficient a manner as possible. With such tools, the businesses will be able to expand their operations without worrying about negative impacts of customs countries impose taxes.
All in all, many customs delays are unavoidable, but to secure a good and pleasant communication between the shipper and the receiver, one should minimize the effect of the mentioned challenges on the whole process. They can keep abreast of what is happening in the region, select the right shipping methodologies and make use of advanced technology so that timely delivery, customer satisfaction and adverse effects arising out of delayed customs clearance will not hurt their operations.
Summary
Customs related delays are usual and scarcely avoidable and their effects can be seen in various ways on businesses and consumers. These kinds of delays are normally caused by incidences such as the wrong or incomplete documentation, unpaid taxes or random seizures by customs officers. These disruptions should therefore be prevented by making sure that all shipments are properly documented and all customs forms correctly filled. One needs to be well informed on taxes and the customs clearance process so as to avoid delays which might be inconsequential. Even when waiting for a delivery to go through the custom agencies’ processes may be discouraging, using right channels of shipping and taking advantage of Easyship could ease all these by observing the right channels of the shipping policy. For instance, Easyship deals with the documentation of customs to ensure that the delivery time is fast and that the time a customer waits is reduced. Through all above said precautionary measures business can manage to mitigate the effect of customs delays and its implications on their international operations, which in return could help to achieve timely delivery to the valued customers and retain the much needed trust of the global customers.
