Export Declaration

Export declaration refers to the shipper (or its agent) declaring the detailed information of the exported goods to the customs, and the customs will review and release them after passing the inspection, allowing them to be exported.
The procedure for export customs declaration
The general export customs declaration procedure mainly consists of the following steps:
1. Declaration:
1-1. The shipper of exported goods shall, in accordance with the provisions of the export contract, prepare the exported goods on time, of good quality, and in sufficient quantity, and then handle the procedures for chartering a ship and booking a cargo space with the transportation company, prepare to handle the customs declaration procedures with the customs, or entrust a professional (agent) customs declaration company to handle the customs declaration procedures.
1-2. Enterprises that need to entrust professional or agency customs declaration enterprises to handle customs declaration procedures should handle the entrusted customs declaration procedures with the professional or agency customs declaration enterprises at the nearest export port before exporting the goods. The professional customs declaration enterprise or agent customs declaration enterprise that accepts the commission shall collect a formal customs declaration power of attorney from the commissioning unit, and the customs declaration power of attorney shall be in the format required by the customs.
1-3. Preparing the necessary documents for customs clearance is the foundation for ensuring smooth customs clearance of exported goods. In general, the documents required for customs declaration, in addition to the export goods declaration form, mainly include: consignment note (i.e. delivery paper), one invoice, one trade contract, export receipt verification form, and various documents related to customs supervision conditions.
Issues to be noted in declaration
The customs declaration time limit refers to the legal time limit for the shipper or its agent to declare customs after the goods are transported to the port. The time limit for customs declaration of exported goods is 24 hours before loading. Goods that do not require taxation fees or inspection shall complete customs clearance procedures within one day from the date of acceptance of the declaration.
2. Inspection:
Inspection refers to a regulatory method in which the customs, based on the declaration of the customs declaration unit and the audited declaration unit, conducts actual verification of the exported goods to determine whether the declared content of the customs declaration documents matches the actual imported and exported goods.
2-1. Verify whether the declared content in the declaration process is consistent with the verified documents and goods by comparing the actual goods with the customs declaration documents. Through actual inspection, identify any issues such as concealment, false reporting, or inaccurate declaration that cannot be detected in the declaration and document review process.
2-2. Through inspection, doubts raised during the declaration and review process can be verified, providing reliable regulatory basis for taxation, statistics, and subsequent management. After customs inspection of the goods, a record of the inspection must be filled out. The inspection record generally includes the inspection time, location, name of the consignee or their agent of the imported and exported goods, the declared condition of the goods, the inspection of the transportation packaging of the goods (such as the name of the transportation vehicle, container number, size and seal number), the name, specifications and models of the goods, etc. The goods that need to be inspected shall be issued an inspection notice within 1 day from the date of acceptance of the declaration, and the inspection shall be completed within 1 day from the date when the customs inspection conditions are met. In addition to paying taxes, the customs clearance procedures shall be completed within 4 hours after the self inspection is completed.
3. Taxation:
According to the relevant provisions of the Customs Law, import and export goods shall be subject to customs duties unless otherwise stipulated by the state. Customs duties are levied by the customs according to the customs import and export tariff rules. Goods that require taxation fees shall have a tax invoice issued within 1 day of receiving the declaration, and the customs clearance procedures shall be completed within 2 hours of paying the tax invoice.
4. Release:
4-1. For general export goods, after the shipper or its agent truthfully declares to the customs and pays the due taxes and relevant fees in full, the customs will stamp the "Customs Release Seal" on the export packing list. The shipper of the exported goods can then load the ship and transport it out of the country.
4-2. Customs clearance of exported goods: The shipper of the goods applying for customs clearance shall declare the clearance to the customs within three days from the date of clearance, and can only transport the goods out of the customs supervision site after approval by the customs.
4-3. Issuance of Export Tax Refund Declaration Form: After customs clearance, the light yellow export tax refund special declaration form shall be stamped with the "verification seal" and the signature of the customs responsible for reviewing the export tax refund that has been filed with the tax authority, and returned to the customs declaration unit.
Approximately $150 million worth of goods are exported daily in our country, and every day of delay in export verification and tax refund causes significant losses to our customers. How to accelerate the speed of export verification and tax refund? An important point in document operation is to correctly fill out the export customs declaration form. The relevant content of the customs declaration form must be consistent with the manifest content transmitted by the shipping company to the customs in order to smoothly verify the tax refund. After the customs accepts the declaration and releases it, if some goods cannot be loaded onto the originally declared transportation vehicle due to reasons such as the loading of the transportation vehicle, the shipper of the exported goods should promptly submit the "Application for Change of Export Goods Declaration Form" and the corrected invoice and bill of lading copies to the customs for correction, so that the content on the declaration form can be consistent with the content on the manifest.