SHIPINGKNOWLEDGEABLE GUIDELINE
Document Requirement for Shipping China
Airport | Seaport | Railway in China
Airport | Seaport | Railway in Austria
Airport | Seaport | Railway station in Belgium
Airport | Railway in Mongolia
Airport | Sea Port | Railway in Germany
Airport | Seaport | Railway in UK
Customs Clearance guideline for Sea, Air and Rail freight
China Europe Railway
There are three types of customs clearance: port clearance, bonded warehouse clearance, and clearance within bonded warehouses.
Port clearance: Applicable to situations where the entire container contains only one type of product with complete product certification and is sent to a non Amazon warehouse address. Its advantage lies in fast customs clearance speed, without the need for towing fees and unloading containers back to the bonded warehouse. After customs clearance, the goods can be delivered directly. However, the disadvantage is that the detention cost is high and the time is difficult to control during the inspection.
Bonded warehouse customs clearance: suitable for situations where orders need to be split into different cabinets. Goods that have already cleared customs can be delivered first, while goods that have not yet cleared customs are temporarily detained in the warehouse. The timeliness between sub orders does not affect each other and can also avoid demurrage and storage fees. Although it will increase the tolls and unloading fees, leading to an increase in costs, the overall risk is relatively low.
After inspection, the goods are brought back to the bonded warehouse for customs clearance: Currently, in order to avoid port congestion, Hamburg Port in Germany has agreed to adopt this customs clearance method. When containers that pass through the port for customs clearance receive a street inspection notice, they can negotiate with customs to bring the goods back to the bonded warehouse for inspection. However, please note that this method is not applicable to every port, for example, Frankfurt Airport does not allow this method to be used.
Customs Clearance Code In Rail Freight | ATB, ATA & ATC
What is ATB ? German full name: ATLAS NUMMER
AT is the German customs electronic system ATLAS here, B is the code name, 15 represents a temporary number for applying for customs declaration, indicating that the customs has obtained temporary permission and has not yet cleared the customs. The first registration of goods entering the European Union is the forecast of the goods, which is generally used to register the whole shipment. A container is an ATB number.
What is ATA
The customs clearance bank divides ATB into ATA according to the order. The ATA number declares the goods of each sub-order, which needs to be accurate to the weight of the goods, the number of pieces, the customs code, the exporter, the importer, and other information. ATA only registers sub-contract goods and does not enter the customs clearance process.
ATC
After customs accepts the declaration, the ATA number will be automatically converted to the ATC number. The existence of ATC means that customs have accepted the declaration, regardless of whether it is released or not. All subsequent transactions with customs will be queried using ATC.
Notes on customs clearance code
AT represents Atlas system, C represents separate customs clearance
For example: AT/C/40/123456/03/2011/4851, a total of 21 digits, divided into 7 segments
40 is a fixed number for the ATC number, with the last 6 digits being the index number, followed by the accepted month and year, and the last 4 digits being the code for the customs area. For example, the code for Hamburg Customs is 4851.
The month and year may not necessarily be the time for customs clearance. For example, if the goods were inspected at the end of December 2019 but cleared customs in early January 2020, the ATC number would be 12/2019 instead of 01/2020.
The validity period of the ATC number is 3 months. If it is necessary to return, destroy or correct the goods, it must be completed within 3 months, otherwise the number will automatically become invalid.
Note: The original ATC number can be directly used for corrections completed within 3 months, without the need for additional application, and can be inspected by customs. If it is not completed within 3 months, the original ATB number should be used for re declaration.
Reasons For Customs Clearance Inspection
Importer Information: Check if the importer information of the product is complete, especially if the company has an offshore tax number. Considering product quality assurance, a single product returned by a customer for repair without importer information does not comply with EU product circulation quality assurance regulations.
Value and brand: If there is any objection to the declared value, it is necessary to check whether there is any underreporting of the product; For product brands, it is necessary to check for any suspected infringement of the product.
Electronic products: whether the product is safe, such as whether there is a risk of leakage after starting up; Whether the certification is compliant, such as whether there is CE certification; Is the product equipped with a German instruction manual; Is the product label compliant, such as indicating manufacturer, importer, or European representative information.
Textiles (clothing, luggage): whether chemical additives exceed the standard and whether they are harmful to the skin; Is there a washing mark, and is the composition, process, and washing requirements of the product clearly stated.
Several Possibilities After Customs Inspection
Offshore tax issue: Offshore tax numbers can only be cleared 10 times without the guarantee of a local EU company – you need to find a local EU company as an indirect agent to ensure that the offshore company’s tax issues are properly handled and cleared through customs without restrictions.
Declaration issue: Customs will proactively adjust the value of goods based on market value; Customs will force importers to change prices; Customs requires the provision of relevant documents such as procurement contracts, invoices, transportation costs, etc. – Customs has a three-year recovery period for goods, EU tariff rates may be adjusted, and goods that have been cleared within three years will need to pay additional tariffs.
Product issue: Products that have not passed certification cannot pass customs clearance; Textiles with excessive chemical composition or without specified washing standards cannot pass customs clearance; Product infringement or piracy cannot pass customs clearance – if there are quality or certification issues with the product, it can be returned; But if it is a pirated or infringing product, the customs will forcibly destroy it and will not return it.
Packaging issue: The product does not indicate the manufacturer; No importer information available; The model is unknown; Unclear CE mark or lack of CE certification; Lack of German instruction manual – If it is a manual issue, it can basically be rectified in the warehouse without the need to return the entire batch of goods.
Relevant Product Certification Regulations
Electronic products and appliances: CE certification is required; Nameplate (displaying product name, model, CE mark, manufacturer information); User manual (including product safety instructions, usage instructions, etc.).
Toys: must comply with EN71 standards (safety and chemical testing); Comply with Toy Directive 88/378/EEC; Provide a German user manual; Nameplate; Importer information and manufacturer information.
Adult products: Pure rechargeable products are classified as electronic products and must comply with electronic product standards; If it is liquid, it is classified as cosmetics and requires production environment monitoring and product ingredient monitoring; Precautions should be described in the user manual; If the packaging is made of plastic material, a plastic recycling label must be marked.
Textiles: need to have a washing label (indicating whether they can be hand washed, ironed, etc.); Cost table; Chemical category (whether the main components comply with regulations and do not contain toxic substances).
Why SIS Shipping
We have over 30 years of experience in the shipping industry and have the professional ability to handle any shipping needs departing from China. We handle hundreds of batches of goods for customs every month. We have excellent records to ensure that all imported goods can be cleared on time.
Our uniqueness lies in the perfect combination of the following aspects:
We are proud to be able to complete tasks on time and ensure that every project collaboration receives a high-quality experience.
Our logistics expertise
We can help you save costs. We offer a range of transportation solutions and can adopt different transportation methods to reduce your overall costs.
We offer high tier rates for the Chinese market and will give you the cost savings as a reward
We have a global business foundation, which means we can provide high-quality services in any country. Based on our experience, we will never cause chaos or cultural conflicts.