Importing goods into the UK means that you are going to have to get through customs. For anyone who regularly travels or imports, you’ll know that this isn’t always an easy process, especially if you’re inexperienced.
However, in many countries, customs are there to protect a mutual interest and as a result shouldn’t be feared. As long as you play by the rules, you can get through with minimal stress, hiring a professional international freight forwarding company to handle it for you can make it even easier.
One of the first hurdles you will face to ensure that your items aren’t withheld, late or refused is to make sure that all of your paperwork is correctly filled in.
Several items will require you to have a certificate or license, particularly if they are a firearm or any kind of weapon.
Documents everybody needs:
Items such as textiles will need this certificate to provide evidence of their country of origin. As suggested by the name, this certificate is issued by the country from which the item is coming from. In most cases you will only need to have a certificate issued by a local Chamber of Commerce, however depending on the country issuing the certificate and other influential factors, it may be issued by a local council or localized government body.
This certificate is used all over the world by many varying countries and is by no means solely used by the UK.
This is just to confirm that all your goods meet the required standards expected for products entering the EU.
This one will probably be needed if the goods you are seeking to import are edible or used with food and drink.
Some products, particularly electricals, might be stopped by Trading Standards to ensure that they are safe. Test certificates enable you to prove that you’ve had your items officially tested.
Material Safety Data Sheets are essential to accompany any hazardous shipments.
Some products may need licenses to bring them into the UK. While this is only a select few, products often need licenses to get them out of their country of origin.
Go through each item that you are planning to import into the UK and check the following things:
Trading Standards exist to make sure that goods arriving in the UK are of an acceptable quality. They take into consideration several different factors such as safety, animal welfare, authenticity, correct labeling, and accurate weights and measures.
Anti-dumping duty is a charge placed upon people attempting to bring goods for cheaper prices from foreign suppliers than they would pay in the domestic market. This helps to protect the economy of your home country and is only applied once the goods make it to the UK border. You will need to pay this for your goods to be released.
Some items need to certification. Some examples of items that might need certification are:
Before arriving at UK customs, you need to be aware of how much you need to pay for all the goods that you are planning to bring through customs. Some of the main charges include VAT, customs duty, and excise duty. If you can’t pay for whatever reason you will be unable to collect your goods.
A letter of intent is known as an LOI. The letter of intent is a type of document. You may…
Small companies all started in the same place: employees used personal cards to cover work expenses and submitted receipts for…
Clean water is, undeniably, one of the most vital resources on earth, and the professionals who manage and treat wastewater…
Four friends in Spain started with $300 and a straightforward pitch: trendy sunglasses sold online at a fraction of what…
In a world where technology evolves at lightning speed, some leaders manage not only to keep pace but to shape…
How do some people turn small ideas into massive business empires? You don't need a silver spoon or overnight luck.…