Choosing a customs procedure: import, transit, warehousing

When cargo reaches the border, the first question is not “how much will it cost” but “which procedure will it be placed under”. The procedure sets the amount payable, the restrictions and what can happen to the goods afterwards.

What a procedure settles

Every procedure fixes three things:

whether customs payments fall due at once, later, or not at all
whether the goods can be used freely or stay under control
by when and in what form the goods must leave the country

The choice is not final: moving from one procedure to another is possible, but it calls for a new declaration.

The main procedures

Release for free circulation — Classic import: payments are made in full and the goods pass into free use.
Export — Permanent removal of goods from the country.
Transit — The goods pass through the country, no import payments arise, but transit calls for its own document set.
Customs warehousing — The goods are stored without payments; the decision can wait.
Temporary admission and export — Goods are brought in for a period and returned — this procedure suits exhibitions, equipment and samples.
Processing — Raw material is brought in or sent out for processing and the finished product comes back.
Re-import and re-export — Return of goods previously taken out or brought in.

What the choice turns on

In practice four questions are answered:

will the goods stay in the country or come back
are they needed straight away or can they wait
will their purpose change or will they stay as they are
is it better to pay now or to defer

An example: equipment brought in for an exhibition and cleared as an import attracts payments in full, and they do not come back. Temporary admission calls for a guarantee but creates no payment.

The cost of the wrong procedure

When the procedure is wrong, the matter does not end with a payment: breaching the period creates an obligation, the goods are already in the country and returning them is a separate operation. Where a guarantee applies, releasing it depends on closing the procedure correctly.

What we do

We prepare the procedure option before the declaration is drawn up and explain why that one was chosen. If the purpose of your cargo is not yet settled — staying, returning, going for processing — we work it out with you under consulting.

Our service on this topic

Preparation of customs declarations Error-free preparation of import, export and transit declarations, submission to the electronic system and follow-up.