Customs consulting services play an important role in supporting businesses to optimize import and export procedures, ensure legal compliance, minimize risks and make the most of tariff incentives from free trade agreements.
1. Customs consulting services – Solutions for import-export businesses
a. What are customs consulting services?
Customs consulting services are activities to provide information, guide and support businesses in carrying out import and export procedures in accordance with the law.
Customs consulting services often undertake customs declaration, classification codes of import and export goods (HS), consulting on applying for import licenses, consulting on specialized inspections and resolving issues during the customs clearance process.
Many businesses choose to use customs consulting services to ensure that the implementation process always complies with the law.
b. The role of customs consulting services
- Ensure compliance with applicable customs laws and regulations: avoid inaccurate or false customs declarations, violations of customs regulations, thereby, which can lead to fines, additional fines or subject to corrective measures or penalties.
- Save time and costs: Support expedite procedures and reduce processing time, minimizing waiting time.
- Limit risks: Avoid penalties for errors in tax declarations, permits and post-customs clearance inspections.
- Assist in streamlining import and export processes: Help businesses build an effective import and export strategy.
2. Customs consulting services of UNI Customs Consulting
Here are some popular customs consulting services that businesses often use to ensure convenient and regulated customs clearance.
a. Consulting on customs procedures and customs clearance processes
Businesses will be instructed in detail about the dossier, implementation process and regulations to comply with when carrying out customs procedures. Errors that may cause delays or incur unnecessary costs will be limited to the maximum.
b. HS code classification and import tax calculation
HS Code (Harmonized System Code) plays an important role in determining tax rates and specialized inspection requirements.
Misclassification of HS codes may result in incorrect inspection procedures and may also expose businesses to administrative fines or inflated import/export costs.
With the support of experts, businesses will easily look up, compare and apply the appropriate HS code for each shipment.
This is a basic content that often appears in customs consulting services, to minimize the risk of wrong codes leading to the imposition of wrong taxes.
c. Consulting on procedures for import and export licenses and specialized inspection procedures
Some imported items require special permits or quality checks before customs clearance. Some popular items that need a license under Decree 69/2018/ND-CP can be mentioned such as:
- Chemicals and products contain chemicals.
- Industrial precursors.
- Used medical equipment.
- Cultural products (books, pictures, films,).
- Toxic chemicals.
Customs consulting services will help businesses prepare complete documents, avoiding the situation of goods being kept at the port, causing storage and storage costs.
d. Risk management and post-clearance inspection.
According to the Customs Law No. 54/2014/QH13, Article 77, post-clearance inspection can be carried out within 5 years from the date of registration of the customs declaration to verify the accuracy and validity of the dossier.
This is a period where problems are likely to arise if businesses are not well prepared, such as errors in tax declaration or lack of additional documents. Professional customs consulting services help businesses build an effective risk management system, from pre-checking relevant documents to ensuring compliance with legal regulations. Customs consulting services can prevent these risks by guiding businesses to store and prepare documents in accordance with regulations from the beginning.
e, Duty Free Raw Material Management Service – Balance
UNI Customs Consultings provides Duty Free Materials Management – “Balance” service, which helps businesses easily monitor and control data related to duty-free materials, complying with applicable legal requirements. With a team of experienced experts, UNI Consultings will carefully assess the raw material needs of businesses, thereby identifying opportunities to source and manage duty-free raw materials optimally.
This service also helps businesses manage production data accurately and effectively, ensuring the preparation of settlement reports in accordance with regulations, and at the same time minimizing risks during post-customs clearance inspection.
With this service, businesses can save significant costs and optimize the procurement process, contributing to improving business efficiency.
f. Certificate of Origin (C/O) consulting services
This is a service to support businesses in preparing documents and procedures for applying for C/O, helping goods enjoy tariff incentives under FTAs.
When consulted by experts through customs consulting services, businesses will know the right type of C/O, which markets are eligible for incentives, and what documents need to be prepared to avoid rejection.
3. Benefits of using customs consulting services
a. Mitigate legal risks
With the support of experienced customs experts, businesses can minimize errors in customs declarations, from classifying HS codes to paying import taxes. This not only helps to comply with the law but also enhances transparency in financial activities.
b. Make the most of tariff incentives from free trade agreements:
Customs consulting services help businesses exploit tariff incentives from free trade agreements (FTAs) to which Vietnam is a party.
However, to take advantage of this benefit, businesses need to prove their origin (C/O) correctly – a task that customs consulting services can handle effectively. This not only reduces import costs but also increases profits, creating a competitive advantage in the international market.
Source: Department of Multilateral Trade Policy – Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA)
c. Overall cost savings
Using customs consulting services not only saves direct costs from taxes but also reduces fees incurred during customs clearance. Concrete:
- Reduce storage costs thanks to fast customs clearance
- Optimize the freight process
- Avoid administrative fines and remediation costs.
4. Risks of non-compliance with customs regulations
In fact, many businesses have had to pay a high price for carrying out customs procedures by themselves without fully understanding the regulations:
- Fined for wrong HS code. According to the customs office in Ho Chi Minh City, an FDI enterprise was fined 360 million VND and collected 1.8 billion VND in arrears of tax due to incorrectly declaring HS codes, raising the total amount of fines and arrears collected for enterprises to over 2 billion VND.
Source: Customs Online, False code declaration, an FDI enterprise was arrears and fined over 2 billion VND
- Goods are kept at the port: Many cases of goods are stored for a long time due to the lack of specialized inspection licenses, causing significant costs of container storage and storage.
Source: Customs Online, Many cases of importing goods in violation of specialized inspection
- Not taking advantage of tax incentives: Many businesses export goods to the EU but do not know how to prove their origin to be exempt from tax under EVFTA. This can cause hundreds of millions of VND in profits per year.
Source: Vietnam Confederation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), Topic: Vietnamese enterprises after two years of implementation of the EVFTA Agreement
Customs consulting services are not only a solution to help businesses ensure legal compliance, but also the key to optimizing costs, reducing risks and improving competitiveness in the global market.
This helps businesses avoid overpaying taxes and have an effective declaration plan.
Some customs consulting services currently focus on analyzing in detail the cost factors in the declaration dossier to come up with an appropriate solution.
From supporting accurate customs declaration, classifying HS codes, applying for import and export licenses, to risk management and post-clearance inspection, the benefits that this customs consulting service brings are undeniable.
CONCLUDE
Customs consulting services are not only a solution to help businesses ensure legal compliance, but also the key to optimizing costs, reducing risks and improving competitiveness in the global market.
From supporting accurate customs declaration, classifying HS codes, applying for import and export licenses, to risk management and post-clearance inspection, the benefits that this service brings are undeniable.
Are you looking for a reliable partner to provide comprehensive support for customs-related procedures?
📞 Contact UNI Customs Consulting now for a free consultation on customs services:
📧 Email: uni@eximuni.com
📱 Hotline: +(84) 908-535-898 (Vietnamese); +(84) 902-927-767 (Korean)
References:
- Department of Multilateral Trade Policy – Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).
- Vietnam Confederation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), Topic: Vietnamese enterprises after two years of implementation of the EVFTA Agreement