Customs clearance procedures in the United States

Customs clearance procedures in the United States

I US Customs Clearance Process and Required Documents A

After receiving the arrival notice (ARRIVAL NOTICE) and possessing the necessary customs documents (see B), the customs broker can prepare to arrive at the port or inland point within five days (5 DAYS PRIOR TO)

ETA) Apply to customs for clearance. Customs usually notify whether to release (sea freight) within 48 hours. The air freight will be notified within 24 hours. (US customs actually work at all times, so air cargo can be cleared even if it arrives on Saturdays and Sundays, but additional fees must be charged through some weekend duty companies.) Some cargo ships have not yet arrived at the port, and customs have decided to inspect them. The vast majority of inland points can make a pre declaration (PRE CLEAR) before the arrival of the goods, but only after the arrival of the goods, it will be ARRIVAL

IT

The results will only be displayed after. There are two ways to declare to customs. One is through electronic declaration. The customs broker inputs the information that customs needs to know into the American Customs Internet (ABI), including what kind of goods and materials, value, number of pieces, bill of lading and container number, extraction of port information, etc., and sends them to customs. If customs release, ABI notification is also used. Nowadays, the vast majority of goods are declared electronically, which is a fast process for customs approval. Usually, within 48 hours, they are notified by the ABI system whether to release them

（IMMDIATE

ENTRY) or further inspection is required (EX). The second type is that customs need to review written documents. In this case, the customs broker needs to send all documents, including the original or photocopy of the importer's original documents, to customs, and customs personnel will review whether to release or inspect (EXAM) after inspecting the written documents. In this case, the release will be very slow, and it may take around three days to arrive. Many precision electronic products, as well as most food products and textiles, require customs documents to be sent. Products with quotas need to submit the original VISA and customs duties to the customs before they can be released. B

Documents required for customs declaration: (1) Bill of Lading (B/L), (2) Commercial Invoice, (3) Packing List, (4) Arrival Notice

NOTICE) (5) If there is wooden packaging, fumigation certificate (FUMIGATION CERTIFICATE) or non wooden packaging declaration (NON WOOD PACKING) is required

STATEMENT）。 The name of the consignee on the bill of lading needs to be consistent with the consignee displayed on the last three documents. If there is any inconsistency, the consignee on the bill of lading must write a letter of transfer (LETTER) for the goods

OF TRANSFER), a third party can proceed with customs clearance. S/is also required on the invoice and packing list&

The name, address, and phone number of C/. Some S/documents in China lack this information and will be required to be supplemented. Import Precautions (Mainland Exports) (1) If it is a heavy cargo, the customs will determine that there must be wooden packaging, and a fumigation certificate is required. If there is no wooden packaging, it must be declared on all documents as non wooden packaging (NON

WOOD

PACKING）。 Although the shipping company limits the weight of the container to 44000 pounds, the shipping company's standard frame weight limit is 38000 pounds. Therefore, if this weight is exceeded in inland transportation in the United States, the truck company will require the use of its own special triangular or quadrangular frame to ensure safe driving. In many states in the United States, this restriction is very strict and requires the transportation of ultra heavy container trucks to apply for and have a permit. Due to the additional cost of self owned frames and licenses, please note when quoting for inland door-to-door services that the price is applicable to goods weighing less than 38000 pounds. If the container exceeds 43000 pounds, many inland states do not allow it to be put on the road, that is, using a special frame. (2) The product must have "Made in China" (MADE

IN

CHINA "label. If not, customs will require labeling before sale, especially for consumer goods, so please be prepared. (3) Food. The United States has strict import requirements for food and food related goods. In addition to customs declaration, FDA (FOOD) must also be declared

&DRUG ADMINISTRATION) Both parties can release the goods before picking them up, and the customs broker usually charges an additional service fee for the FDA declaration. D.

If customs clearance is done inland, a cut I.T. - Immediate Transit is required. We need to provide I.T. #, effective date (DATE

ISSUED, Place ISSUED AND ENDED. Inland customs will use I.T # to control and release.

Starting from March 2003, US Customs began testing AMS

System. This is the shipment information transmitted by NVOCC to US Customs via AMS within 24 hours of the ship's departure. There are some goods NVOCC

Still entrusting the shipping company VOCC to do AMS. So special attention needs to be paid to who made the AMS. The US Customs only uses AMS NO to identify different goods, and an important part of AMS NO is AMS FILER

Code SCAC

CODE cannot be missing during customs declaration. F. Release the goods. (1) In the previous ABI system, the shipping company and dock were directly connected to customs, which means that if customs released in ABI, both the shipping company and dock could see it. After the trial implementation of AMS, large-scale shipping companies

EVER GREEN, APL, MAERSK, COSCO, CSCL, and others are also connected to AMS, but the terminal does not. So customs release in AMS, these shipping companies and NVOCC AMS

FILER can synchronously see that the shipping company helps the terminal system update at the same time; Small shipping companies such as SINOTRANS, LYKES, GWS, etc. have not achieved AMS connectivity, so they can only use NVOCC

AMS FILER Fax NVOCC Guarantee Letter and Copy of Customs Pass (CUSTOMS FORM)

3461) will be released, and these shipping companies will manually update the terminal system after receiving the fax. It can be imagined that manual release leads to a doubling of workload, as well as issues such as human errors and customer data leakage. （2）

The dock/shipping company is connected to the shipping company for cargo release. If the freight is prepaid and the bill of lading is electronically released, as soon as the customs release it, the dock will automatically release the goods to the truck company. In the United States, customers do not need to exchange orders, so the US agent has no way to help with the deduction of goods. This is completely different from China. So if you haven't received the shipping fee from the customer at the loading port, please don't use the shipping company's large bill of lading for electronic release or prepayment of the shipping fee. Otherwise, C/can pick up the goods without the need for a US shipping agent, and the US agent may not even receive the original bill of lading. If the shipping company's bill of lading is electronically released and the freight is prepaid, the shipping company will release the goods as soon as it receives the freight. No matter who pays the shipping cost. So some cunning consignee can directly check this information from the shipping company. Pay SSL to avoid paying more fees to NVO. There is also a risk of not receiving the freight and original bill of lading for all MB/L electronic releases. The only thing that can control the release of goods is the shipowner's original bill of lading. Without the original bill of lading, SSL will not release the goods. All trucks going to the dock to tow containers must sign contracts with the shipping company and the dock (INTERCHARGE

AGREEMENT）。 Guarantee to bear container damage and demurrage fees. Otherwise, the shipping company and the dock will not release the cabinets to the truck company. (3) Inland release&P3S)_ For goods arriving inland, the shipping company will provide a PICK after customs clearance

UP #, the agent will notify C/after receiving this PICK UP #, and the truck company will pick up the goods based on this number. This number will wait for: A. The goods will arrive at the yard and be loaded and unloaded from the train

B. After customs clearance, C and the shipping company can only obtain the goods after they are released. Without any missing items, they cannot be obtained. Therefore, inland goods need to spend a lot of time tracking and receiving PICK upon arrival at C/

Until UP #. The storage (free) period for inland railways is 3-5 days, with most being 3 days. If C/clears customs on the last day and our US agent arranges services, usually trucks cannot deliver on the same day, and it takes 24-48 hours to arrange delivery to your doorstep. If you don't get the PICK

UP #, the vast majority of truck companies do not reserve drivers and front ends or make phone appointments for receiving warehouses. The storage fee for railways varies from place to place, with most being USD50-USD100 PER CTNR PER for the first five days

Day, then double every day. 2. AMS IC and VSSL ARRIVALSSL

ARRIVAL, notify customs on the day the ship arrives at the destination port. This is calculated based on the actual port of arrival, not counting when the previous port arrived. IC: When customs clearance is released, the AMS system will automatically display IC, indicating customs clearance. Almost all goods arriving at the port can start customs declaration before the ship arrives

And display the clearance results. Although many inland goods can be PRE-CLEAR, the shipping company needs to know whether to release them after ARRIVAL I.T. After doing AMS, many NVOCCs

Forget ARRIVAL

I. T., resulting in C/not being able to receive the goods after customs clearance, and even delaying them to the last day for free stacking fees. 3 Customs fines. If customs duties are not paid on time, the customs will impose fines and interest. Other fines that are not significant must be declared to the customs within 15 days of the arrival of the goods. If no one declares to the customs after 15 days, the customs will question the safety of the goods and transfer them to the supervised warehouse (GO

WAREHOUSE) is unloaded from the container for inspection, and customs clearance requires the use of a supervision number (G.O. NO.) for clearance. If the goods enter the supervision warehouse (G.O.WHSE General Order),

The following fees will be incurred, a dock storage fee or railway storage fee. Truck towing and container returning fees from the dock, warehouse container dismantling fees, and container loading fees. D Warehouse storage fee. Container occupancy fee. C/The goods can only be picked up after paying these fees in full and paying the shipping fee to the shipping company in exchange for LIEN notification. If the goods are not cleared and picked up by anyone within six months, the customs will confiscate the auction to mortgage storage and other expenses. 4. Free storage period at the dock: Most docks have a storage period of 5 days (calculated from the time the container is lifted off the ship and can start picking up the goods), with storage fees paid on holidays and weekends after the expiration date. Rickmers

The Houston Terminal only has a 3-day free period, please be aware. 5．

The storage fee, regardless of where the goods come from, is usually $60 per day for the first five days of the dock, followed by $120 per day. But some terminals such as HANJIN and COSCO have an overdue storage fee of $100 per day PER

CTNR。 The shipping company and the dock are different companies. If no one picks up the container for more than five days, there will be a storage fee. If it is the responsibility of the shipping company, the dock will charge the shipping company according to the agreement. If the shipping company does not bear the responsibility, the dock will charge the extractor. Please note that the shipping company has no control over the terminal storage fees. This does not mean that the shipping company can waive the storage fees, but rather that it may help to discount or bear some of the storage fees. However, in some special areas such as SAVANNAH, CSCL and the terminal have long-term usage contracts, so they can have more control over storage fees. Additionally, for example: HOUSTON, NEW

WHARFAGE in ORLEANS and other places. So it cannot be generalized. E7.

Before AMS, SSL needs to send the manifest to customs. As long as the two product names are similar or compatible, they can be successfully cleared through customs. Now customs clearance is carried out according to the product names made in AMS. If the product names are inconsistent and are spot checked by customs, a fine of $5000 to $10000 may be imposed. Strictly speaking, customs do not care about the contract. The matter of setting the product name is under the jurisdiction of the shipping company or FMC (Federal Maritime Commission). If the AMS content does not match the packing list and invoice content, it may lead to customs imposing penalties on AMS

FILER。 If you do AMS yourself, others may not know what product name you are making. E8. The required documents for customs clearance at the destination (non unloading port) 7A are identical to those required for customs clearance at the unloading port, but I.T # is also required. Please refer to (1

d) Item. If it is a Canadian circuit CP transfer, both CPRS and IT are required to clear customs together. Please refer to item F 2 for the release of goods for 9. M B/L. If NVO does AMS,

If the shipping company needs AMS PRINT OUT, we can deduct AMS to deduct the goods. If the shipping company does not want AMS or SSL for AMS, M B/L

Once the electricity is released, we cannot control the release of the goods. 10. The vast majority of shipping companies at the destination port CHASSIS provide CHASSIS (chassis) at the unloading port, except for SSL (such as RICHMERS) for bulk ships with containers. But some parts of the goods arriving inland do not have frames, such as through Canadian CP

Rail transit to points inland in the United States, CHICAGO, MINNEAPOLIS, DETRIOT,

CP's stations do not have frames. The vast majority of shipping companies do not have frames for the goods to MINNEAPOLIS. Attention: If the cargo is overweight and requires a three axle trailer, sometimes the shipping company's dock or railway will charge an additional container hanging fee of $50/CTN per crane, which is used to lift the heavy container onto the truck company's own three axle trailer (FLIP

FEE）。 If SOC boxes are used, this cost may be incurred in some inland areas. Also, the rental fee for the frame mentioned earlier is usually $100 to $150. The issue of SSL in the port area of the dock is very complex and difficult to summarize. It is recommended that you check online. 12. In general, most shipping companies can contact customs if customers do not pick up the goods after they arrive, and the auction will take place six months later. According to convention, the auction proceeds must be paid in full for customs duties, dock fees, and shipping costs, and the remaining excess must be returned to C/

or

S/。 If the auction is not enough to pay all those fees, customs and shipping companies have the right to demand the difference from C/or NVO. Based on previous experience, there are very few cases of being pursued by customs or shipping companies. There has never been a situation where excess amounts have been refunded. So, usually, they handle it themselves. The shipping company and the railway have conceded compensation, but it is difficult to say that they will definitely not come to NVO. So please be cautious, otherwise being found will be bad luck for all of us. 13. For inland trailer freight inquiry, please inform SSL where to go (including place name, ZIP)

CODE) Cargo weight and CTNR

SIZE, if you don't know where to transfer, you can find large transfer points on the online map of the United States. In some cities, different shipping companies connect to different railway stations, and truck fees may vary. Some SSL models have frames, while others do not, and the cost varies. There may be differences in overweight, dangerous goods, etc. Please clarify when checking. Many truck fees are only valid for 30 days, so there is a possibility of price increases. If C/unloading exceeds the free time limit (usually 1 hour on the west coast and 2 hours for others), there will also be a waiting fee for truck drivers. Some customers request to pick up the empty container a few days after delivery, but based on experience, only the truck fee is lower than