Container export customs clearance procedures

Container Export Customs Clearance Procedures

I. Basic customs clearance process: Declaration, Inspection, Tax Collection, Release

Declaration:

1. After the exporter has prepared the export goods according to the export contract in terms of time, quality, and quantity, they shall proceed to arrange for shipping space booking with the shipping company and prepare for customs declaration, or entrust a professional (agent) customs broker to handle the customs declaration procedures.

2. Enterprises that need to entrust a professional or agent customs brokerage to handle customs declaration procedures with the customs shall, before the goods are exported, go to the professional or agent customs broker near the export port to handle the entrustment procedures. The entrusted professional or agent customs broker must collect a formal customs declaration authorization document from the entrusting party. The format of the customs declaration authorization document must conform to the requirements of the customs.

3. Preparing the documents for customs declaration is the foundation for ensuring the smooth clearance of export goods. Generally, the documents required for customs declaration include, besides the export goods customs declaration form, mainly: a shipping order (mate's receipt), an invoice, a trade contract, an export verification sheet for foreign exchange, and various certificates required by the customs supervision conditions.

Issues to note in declaration: Customs declaration time limit: The customs declaration time limit refers to the time limit stipulated by law for the declarant or their agent to report to the customs after the goods arrive at the port. The customs declaration time limit for export goods is scheduled no later than 24 hours before loading. For goods that do not require tax/fee collection or inspection, the clearance procedures shall be completed within one day from the acceptance of the declaration.

Inspection: Inspection refers to a supervision method where the customs, based on the declaration units accepted and reviewed from declaring entities, carriers out actual verification of the export goods to determine whether the content declared in the customs declaration is consistent with the actual imported or exported goods. 1. By checking the actual goods against the customs declaration documents, it verifies whether the declared content during the declaration phase matches the documents and goods. Through actual inspection, it can discover issues concerning concealed declarations, false declarations, or untrue declarations that cannot be identified during the document review phase. 2. Inspections can verify suspicions raised during the document review phase and provide a reliable supervision basis for tax collection, statistics, and subsequent management. After inspecting the goods, the customs will fill out an inspection record.

Inspection records generally include the inspection time, location, names of the importer/exporter or their agents, declared goods status, inspection of transport packaging condition (such as transport vessel name, container number, size, and seal number), goods name, specification and model, etc. Goods requiring inspection will have an inspection notice issued within one day from acceptance of the declaration, and inspection will be completed within one day from when customs inspection conditions are met. Unless tax payment is required, custody clearance procedures shall be completed within four hours after the inspection is completed.

Tax Collection: According to relevant provisions of the "Customs Law," import and export goods, except as otherwise stipulated by the state, are subject to customs duties. Duties are collected by customs in accordance with the Customs Import and Export Tariff Regulations. For goods requiring tax/fee collection, a tax bill will be issued within one day from acceptance of the declaration, and clearance procedures shall be completed within two hours from the verification of the tax payment.

Release:

1. For general export goods, after the shipper (exporter) or its agent declares truthfully to customs and pays the applicable duties and relevant fees in full, customs stamps the "Customs Release Stamp" on the export shipping order. The exporter then books the cargo for boarding and departure based on this stamp.

2. Withdrawal of export goods from customs: The shipper applying to withdraw goods should apply to the customs for cancellation of shipment within three days from the export cancellation. The goods can be removed from the customs supervision area only after approval by the customs.

3. Issuance of export tax rebate customs declaration form: After release, the customs stamps the "Verification Seal" on the light yellow export tax rebate-specific customs declaration form along with the signature and seal of the customs official responsible for export tax rebate inspection, registered with the tax authorities, and returns it to the unit making declaration. In our country, goods worth approximately 1.5 billion USD are exported daily. Every day delay in export verification and tax rebate can cause substantial losses to a large number of customers. How can the speed of export verification and tax rebate be accelerated? The most crucial point regarding documentation processing is filling out the export customs declaration correctly. The relevant content in the customs declaration must be thoroughly consistent with the manifest data transmitted to the customs by the shipping company to simplify verification and tax rebate smoothly. After customs accepts the declaration and releases the goods, if due to shipping stowage allocation reasons, part of the cargo cannot be loaded onto the originally declared transport, the export goods shipper should promptly submit the "Application for Modification Export Goods Customs Declaration Form" along with corrected packing list invoices and a copy of the B/L to appropriate procedure instructions making modifications so that the content within the declaration form matches the ship's manifest data perfectly while accessible records working consistent functional standards are upheld efficiently in all processing chain segments.