The growth of digitalisation and data sharing across the logistics industry
Advancements in technology and global connectivity have led to a growing use of digital solutions within supply chains over the last decade. This has been essential not only for increased volumes of physically traded goods but also for compliance and security when trading services across borders.
With such a growing reliance on clean data, digital standards have become a major part of trade deals between nations. Domestically, governments are embracing the Internet of Things with forward-thinking initiatives such as the Single Trade Window and EU centralised clearances.
But for all this innovation, some logistics providers are still relying on their internal teams for customs functions unnecessarily.
The challenge with using an external supplier for customs clearance
Supply chains involve many moving parts. Whether you are a trader using a forwarder, or a forwarder acting on another business’ behalf, you know that there is an art in reducing the amount of work whilst ensuring documents, releases, and customs clearances are processed correctly.
This is why many traders keep their customs function with their freight provider, and forwarders include customs as a secondary, add-on service.
But, what about when that customs function needs specialist attention, such as when you are looking into bonded warehousing or another form of duty management services?
Do you leave your, or your customer’s, money on the table because it is an extra effort to add another party into the equation?
Historically, you’d be right to assume it will be another step to add with the added risk of manual error or delays. However, this is not the case anymore. With the click of a button, you can improve your efficiency whilst decreasing your risk.
How a specialist customs partner can help
Working with your software provider, Customs Support can get your system to talk to ours with an EDI (electronic data interchange) connection.
What this means is we can set up a link that allows you to share the data you need to with us so that we can manage the customs functions within that shipment.
All at the click of a button, with no need to manually input any data or re-upload documents.
You can leverage this connection for standard export declarations and import clearances, or for more advanced functions that require specialist knowledge. For example, connecting with your bonded warehouse or inventory management system could allow us to:
- Release bonded stock within your customs warehouse.
- Generate final clearances for Inward Processing Relief (IPR)
- Raise a T1 form against stock for export.
If you are a forwarder using integrated supply chain management, we can also connect to your system so that you can send a clearance instruction to us with ease. If customs is not your speciality, then why not get more experience, spend less on port licences, and give your clerks more time to manage your customers – all at the click of a button.
Interested in seeing what EDI can do for your customs functions?
Customs Support is a digital-first provider of customs services, working in 13 countries across the EU and UK. We have over 1700 specialists leveraging digital customs clearance on a daily basis, supplying businesses across Europe with local expertise, in-depth knowledge, and clean service, wherever and however they need us. Contact one of our consultants for a quick scan today.
