All of our quotations do not include customs duties, because we are not sure the exact tax rates in your country, including customs duties may cost you more, and now express companies or freight forwarders provide easy customs clearance services, so we recommend that you Pay the duties yourself.
Before shipping
What you need to provide
In order to minimise any potential delays and avoid the possibility of returns, please provide us with the following information:
1, Recipient Contact Information - After the goods arrive at the port, the express company or customs broker will contact the recipient to pay the customs duties. We will need the recipient's full name, phone number and email.
2, EIN Number (Employer Identification Number) - also known as a federal tax ID number. Available in the United States. Most companies or individuals need EIN to deal with tax-related matters, including import customs clearance and pay customs duties.
3, VAT Number and EORI Number - VAT is Value Added Tax, commonly used in EU countries, which is the profit tax on the sales price of goods. It applies to imports, commercial transactions and services occurring within the EU.
EORI (Economic Operator Registration and Identification) number is a necessary registration number for individuals or enterprises with import and export trade activities.
Among them, the EORI number is used for customs clearance of goods, and the VAT number is used for payment of customs duties, import value-added tax.
Please note EIN number is for USA, the VAT and EORI number are for EU, not all needed.
What Ohscarf will provide
For each shipment, ohscarf will provide the following documents directly to the shipper:
Packing List - Includes product information, quantity, dimensions and weight for each shipping carton.
Commercial Invoice - List of products, price, value and quantity of goods sold.
Customs declaration - contains customs number, trade method, value of goods, importer and exporter name, date and other information, it is the main basis for customs to calculate taxes and collect duties.
C.O. Certificate - The C.O. (CERTIFICATE OF ORIGIN) is a document used to certify the exported goods and the place of manufacture, and is the "certificate of origin" of the goods in the act of international trade. In certain cases the importing country grants different tariff treatment to the imported goods on this basis. The C.O. certificate is not always required and costs an additional US$40-50.
Shipments arrive at port
When your goods arrive at your local port or wharf, it will be placed in a bonded warehouse first, which is a warehouse specially used to store uncleared goods. Once the goods are officially cleared through customs and the relevant taxes and fees have been paid, the goods will be released and transferred to the local courier company (such as FedEx, DHL) or freight forwarder and shipped to your designated location.
Customs Clearance Process
What are the process of customs clearance?
FedEx, DHL, UPS or TNT, these couriers also serve as the Importer of Record (IOR) and will help with everything related to the process of importing your goods, to complete the customs clearance process on your behalf. If it is air or sea freight, the customs broker can complete the customs clearance on your behalf as well.
What is required from you?
POA - A Power of Attorney (POA) is a written authorization to act for or on behalf of another person in a private matter, business, or some other legal matter.
In this case, a POA is a letter of authorization from the importer or exporter authorizing FedEx DHL or other couriers to clear customs on its behalf.
5106 Form - Probably Needed (only in USA), CBP Form 5106, also known as the Importer Identification Form, must be filed with Customs and Border Protection prior to importing goods into the United States. Upon completion, the importer will have an account with CBP and be able to import merchandise. Licensed customs brokers can assist importers in completing and submitting this form.
Pay for duties & taxes - Please note you may be required to pay duties and taxes in advance before receiving the shipment.
Based on our previous experience; FedEx is more likely than DHL to require a 5106 form, this form only needs to be completed once and the 5106 form needs to be provided within 5-7 days, otherwise the goods will be returned back and there may be secondary shipping charge, duty charges, storage charges and a significant delay in transit time.
Useful Links
You can refer to the link below for more detailed customs clearance process information.
