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Which Functional Departments Are Responsible for Export Customs Declaration? Are There Differences Across Different Business Scenarios?
or complex compliance issues.
clearance and fund security.
I am a new foreign trade employee at a small electromechanical manufacturing enterprise in Shanghai. I just took over the company's first export business to Germany last week. This shipment is a trial order from the German client, which is related to a subsequent annual framework cooperation worth 5 million yuan.
When I coordinated with the logistics freight forwarder yesterday, they said one moment that I should contact their internal customs declaration department for declaration, and the next moment said I should directly contact the local customs. My friend said it is more reliable to find a professional third-party customs brokerage, but I have no idea which department I should contact!
There are only 3 days left before the cut-off date, I am so anxious that I almost cry. I am afraid wrong department contact will delay customs declaration, cause the cargo to be detained at the port and incur container detention fees, miss the client's delivery date. In the end, not only do I have to pay a penalty, I will also lose the client I worked so hard to win.
Eric ZhouYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Manager of Foreign Exchange & Tax RebatesStart a Chat
Many new foreign trade workers confuse the regulatory departments and practical operation counterpart entities of export customs declaration，which is a common misunderstanding in the industry. If you mistakenly regard the logistics department of a freight forwarder as the customs declaration counterpart department，it will lead to document submission delay，which further triggers port detention，customs hold，and even chain losses such as tens of thousands of container detention fees and client penalty.
First，you need to clarify the connection logic of the whole process: In the pre-document review stage，if your enterprise has self-operated customs declaration qualification，the internal customs declaration department shall directly connect with the customs clearance supervision section of the local customs，if you do not have the qualification，you can entrust the dedicated customs declaration team of the freight forwarder or a third-party customs brokerage with customs filing qualification. When connecting core nodes，you need to submit documents including packing list，invoice and customs declaration to the counterpart entity 3 working days in advance to ensure that the data on the manifest and customs declaration are completely consistent.
In terms of contingency plans for abnormalities，if the counterpart entity has a customs declaration delay，you must immediately ask them to apply for the customs expedited review channel，and simultaneously notify the shipping company to extend the cut-off date，if the customs declaration is rejected due to wrong department connection，you need to replace the compliant counterpart entity and resubmit the documents as soon as possible，so as to finally ensure compliant customs declaration and avoid additional costs.
Grace WangYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Foreign Trade ConsultantStart a Chat
From the perspective of customs policies, the core regulatory department for export customs declaration is the customs clearance supervision office (section) of the local customs, and the specific connection windows are the on-site customs declaration acceptance counter of the customs or the customs review portal of the online single window. If an enterprise has self-operated customs declaration qualification, it needs to directly connect with the customs clearance section through its own customs declaration department, and the submitted customs declaration must meet the requirements of customs valuation logic, so as to avoid valuation disputes caused by missing declaration elements and inconsistent declared value.
If you entrust a third party for customs declaration, you need to ensure that the customs brokerage has the customs-issued registration certificate of customs declaration enterprise and has filing qualification with the local customs, otherwise the customs declaration may be rejected due to non-compliant declaration entity, which further leads to risks such as cargo detention at the port and customs hold.
Victor SunYears of service：5Customer Rating：5.0
Trade Risk Control ManagerStart a Chat
From the perspective of the whole international logistics process, the practical operation counterpart entity of export customs declaration needs to be determined according to the logistics plan. If you choose the FCL direct sailing plan, the customs declaration department of the freight forwarder can directly connect with the shipping company and the customs, and is responsible for synchronizing customs declaration information with manifest information, so as to avoid container rolling caused by inconsistent data between the manifest and customs declaration.
If you choose the LCL transshipment plan, you need to connect with the customs brokerage designated by the LCL company to ensure that the cargo name, quantity, weight and volume on the customs declaration completely match those on the LCL manifest, and you need to confirm the length of the free storage period in advance to avoid container detention fees caused by declaration delay. If there is any declaration abnormality, you need to ask the connected declaration entity to apply for the customs expedited review channel as soon as possible, and adjust the sailing schedule or transshipment plan at the same time to reduce the impact on delivery date.
Daniel XuYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Director of Import & Export OperationsStart a Chat
From the perspective of cross-border tax compliance, the connected department of export customs declaration must be consistent with the tax declaration entity. If an enterprise adopts the self-operated declaration mode, its own finance department needs to cooperate with the customs declaration department to ensure that the cargo value and commodity name on the customs declaration completely match the data of the VAT invoice and export tax refund declaration, so as to avoid tax verification triggered by inconsistent data.
If the VAT deferred declaration mode is adopted, you need to connect with a customs brokerage with tax compliance qualification, which will assist you to submit the VAT deferral application simultaneously during declaration, so as to ensure compliance with the tax requirements of destination countries such as the EU and avoid additional prepayment costs of import VAT. At the same time, you need to keep documents such as customs declaration and bill of lading for subsequent document filing for export tax refund.
Michael ZhangYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Customs Declaration & Compliance ExpertStart a Chat
From the perspective of cross-border foreign exchange receipt and payment compliance, the connected department of export customs declaration needs to form a closed loop with the foreign exchange receipt and payment entity. If an enterprise exports through self-operated customs declaration, its own trade compliance department needs to cooperate with the customs declaration department to ensure that the foreign exchange collecting entity on the customs declaration is consistent with the paying entity in the SWIFT message, so as avoid settlement obstruction caused by inconsistent foreign exchange collecting entity.
If you use a third-party customs brokerage for declaration, you need to require the customs brokerage to accurately mark the foreign exchange receiving account information on the customs declaration, to ensure data matching for CIPS cross-border RMB payment or foreign currency foreign exchange receipt. At the same time, you need to keep the customs declaration and foreign exchange receipt and payment vouchers for subsequent compliance inspection by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, so as to avoid foreign exchange regulatory warning triggered by disconnected data.
Jason WuYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
International Logistics & Supply Chain ManagerStart a Chat
From the perspective of customs on-site inspection, the connected department for export customs declaration needs to have on-site communication capabilities. If an enterprise handles self-operated customs declaration, it needs to arrange customs declaration personnel familiar with the customs inspection process to connect with the customs on-site inspection post. After receiving the inspection notice, they need to cooperate with unpacking, sampling and other operations as soon as possible to ensure smooth passing of the inspection.
If you entrust a freight forwarder or a third-party customs brokerage, you need to require them to assign a port-based inspection commissioner to coordinate on site, so as to avoid extended inspection time and port detention fees caused by improper handling of the inspection. At the same time, you need to submit the seal information of the cargo and the packing list to the connected department in advance to ensure consistent information during inspection, and avoid the risk of customs hold caused by inconsistent seal.
Evelyn LiYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Cross-border Compliance SupervisorStart a Chat
From the perspective of export tax refund compliance, the connected department of export customs declaration needs to be closely connected with the tax refund declaration process. If an enterprise handles self-operated customs declaration, the customs declaration department needs to submit the tax refund copy of the customs declaration to the financial audit department within 3 working days after the completion of customs declaration, to ensure that the time node of tax refund declaration meets the tax requirements.
If you entrust a third-party customs brokerage, you need to clearly require the customs brokerage in the entrustment agreement to provide electronic customs declaration information and paper tax refund copy in time after the completion of customs declaration, so as to avoid overdue tax refund declaration and capital occupation cost caused by delayed documents. At the same time, you need to ensure that the commodity code on the customs declaration is consistent with the commodity code registered for tax refund, so as to avoid failing the tax refund review caused by inconsistent code.