Services related to foreign economic activity are divided into two types: public and private. Public services are the prerogative of the Federal Customs Service. Private turn out to be different companies depending on the profile.
The main players in the customs services market
With all the variety of goods of import, export, countries, transportation and logistics, the circle of players in the customs services market is the same. Foreign economic activity is one of the most established types of business relationships. Here is the list of interacting people on the market:
- state bodies of export-import control ;
- residents and non-residents engaged in foreign economic business;
- customs agents, brokers, representatives, intermediaries;
- representatives of temporary storage warehouses and customs warehouses;
- freight forwarders and freight forwarding companies;
- guarantors.
The third paragraph of the above list lists several terms, which is no coincidence. The fact is that there is a conflict in the terminology of customs services. It refers to the concepts of broker, agent, representative and intermediary. All these words mean the same thing: they are persons who process the goods of their clients and represent their interests in various bodies and services.
It is believed that the term “customs broker” is slightly outdated, because brokers are now called “customs brokers” in the Customs Union code.
In order not to get confused in terms, you need to remember that brokerage customs services are the registration of goods and representing the interests of the client.
State Customs Services
The state type of services at customs is provided exclusively by the Federal Customs Service. The perimeter of the options is quite extensive, but the traditional average volume is as follows:
- Decisions of a preliminary nature regarding the classification of goods according to the Commodity Nomenclature of Foreign Economic Activity of the Customs Union.
- Maintaining a register of financial organizations authorized to guarantee payment of duties and taxes.
- Maintaining numerous registers by subjects of the market of customs services: owners of duty-free shops and warehouses, carriers, customs representatives, economic operators, register of intellectual property objects, etc.
- Qualification certification of specialists in customs operations.
- Informing on customs legislation and advising on issues within the competence of customs authorities.
- Control of foreign exchange transactions and import / export of goods in accordance with customs legislation.
- Decisions of a preliminary nature about the country of origin of goods, etc.
Non-state Customs Services
If in state services in the customs sphere everything is formatted in a single block of sequential actions with a clear separation of duties and rights, then private customs services are a wide variety of activities. They turn out to be companies of different profiles.
All private customs services can be divided into five types:
- consulting;
- broker services;
- transport and forwarding services;
- storage in warehouses of TSW and TS;
- certification.
Services of a customs broker (intermediary)
Customs operations have long been well regulated. The sequence of actions is almost always the same. Here is how a unified system of customs services performed by a customs agent looks like:
- Processing and analysis of information received from a potential client for customs purposes.
- Taking into account the mandatory requirements of the law on the preservation of confidential information, the prohibition and restrictions on its disclosure or transfer to third parties.
- Checking the status and authority of a potential client for goods and transport.
- Informing the client about the rules and regulations under which the client’s application falls.
- Generating a file for storing all customs documents for the service, including contracts, copies of declarations and other related documents for three years from the date of the transaction.
- Submission of goods for state control (veterinary, phytosanitary, environmental), if necessary.
- Classification of goods.
- Determination of the customs value and quantity of goods and payment of customs duties.
- Application with information about goods and customs regime.
- Submission of a customs declaration with accompanying documents for the goods.
- The presentation of the goods indicated in the declaration, at the request of the customs authority.
- Transportation, loading, unloading, weighing, repackaging and other operations, if necessary, at the request of the customs authority.
- Payment of customs payments provided for in the contract.
- Sampling and samples of goods for research in accordance with the law.
- Payment of customs payments , etc.
Customs Consulting Services
Everything is simple here: preliminary consulting is ordered to work out and scrupulously verify all contracts, investment projects and other supporting documents. Consulting also involves the preparation of legal and, if necessary, judicial support. This also includes escort in contacts with customs authorities.
An interesting variant of consulting looks like customs audit. After such an audit, the client can adjust the documents and conduct a preliminary audit of contractors and partners in the transaction. He can also prepare for legal conflicts and disputes with tax, customs or other government agencies.
The peculiarity of the customs audit is that it is similar to the dress rehearsal of the process with high quality customs services: the auditor acts as a state customs officer. He checks the terms of transactions, the correctness of filling out declarations, codes, duties, taxes - everything that can become the object of attention of state control and supervision bodies.
Freight Forwarding Services
Freight carriers across the border of the Customs Union are transport and forwarding companies licensed by the Federal Customs Service as a customs carrier. The customs carrier has many rights: they can transport goods without customs escort and, accordingly, payment of customs duties.
The services provided by customs carriers are as follows:
- verification and preparation of documents for transportation;
- cargo insurance;
- customs clearance and the passage of goods across the border;
- door-to-door cargo delivery;
- warehouse equipment, handling, storage of goods;
- picking of goods at the terminals.
Services of temporary storage warehouses and customs warehouses
These services also require a license. Licensed warehouses are owned by private owners and offer a wide range of customer assistance.
Warehouse customs services are sequential steps and actions:
- reception and warehousing of goods before customs clearance;
- storage of goods in open or closed way, in containers;
- provision of special thermal storage conditions (refrigerators);
- storage of full and empty containers or wagons;
- radiation inspection of goods;
- unloading, loading, sorting, repackaging of goods;
- preparation of goods for customs inspection;
- weighing and photographing goods;
- customs clearance of goods;
- safekeeping after customs clearance;
- loading and delivery of goods to the consumer.
Certification Services
Not everyone likes working with documents. This is especially true of numerous documents that need to be drawn up for any kind of foreign economic activity. This includes numerous permits: certification, state registration of goods, obtaining licenses, permits, approvals, conclusions, etc.
One of these “paper” concerns is the certification of certain categories of goods. Customs clearance services include this certificate as a mandatory requirement for import. This, for example, precious metals, some medicinal substances, representatives of wild fauna and much more. Categories of such products are listed in current law.
The certificates describe specifications and compliance with quality standards. Customs clearance services for such certificates are provided by almost all market participants. There are no problems here.
Two ways to manage customs services
If the foreign economic activity of the company is not expressed in separate rare episodes of import or export of goods, but is an everyday component of the business, you need to choose the optimal method of customs clearance of goods. There are only two of them:
- Have on staff their own customs agents and declarants. This may be a separate customs department.
- Hire external representatives (brokers) to provide customs services.
In the first version of the decision, the company will have to spend resources on everything related to full-time employees: wages, training, technical equipment, etc.
In the second option, all responsibility for the process, including financial, criminal and legal, will be transferred to a third-party contractor. In this case, the most important thing in obtaining customs services is a search and contract with a professional and reliable customs intermediary (broker).
Both options for interaction are quite acceptable. The optimal choice will depend on the current situation: the type of goods, the competence of local brokers, the professionalism of local customs authorities, etc. The main thing is to think, analyze and remember the tasks of your business.