The Control and Facilitation of Imports

The Control and Facilitation of Imports
Author: Great Britain. National Audit Office
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 52
Release: 2008
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780102954272

HM Revenue & Customs clears most imported goods quickly, and processes for submitting customs declarations and payments for non-EU imports are straightforward. The rate of physical checks at the UK border is below the EU average, however, and the number of audits of traders has dropped substantially since 2005-06. Ninety-nine per cent of declarations are processed electronically and 90 per cent of goods are cleared immediately. The Department checks documents for about 6 per cent of imports each year and aims to clear 95 per cent of these within two hours. However, a recent quality review by the Department found an 18 per cent error rate in these checks. The Department has only recently standardised the reporting of physical checks, and these reports suggest that between 2 and 3 per cent of imports get checked (The EU average is 9 per cent). The Department needs to improve its reporting, develop a standard for the minimum level of checking and undertake testing to understand compliance levels. Audits of traders fell by half for large businesses and two-fifths for small and medium businesses between 2005-06 and 2007-08. The additional revenue from this compliance work is reducing while the level of errors detected is rising, particularly among new traders. For small and medium sized businesses, the level of errors detected has increased from 32 to 39 per cent. The fragmented management of customs activities within the Department, a lack of clear accountability, and incomplete management information have hindered effective oversight of its performance and risk management.

Trade Facilitation and the Global Economy

Trade Facilitation and the Global Economy
Author: Collectif
Publisher: OECD
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2018-05-30
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9264300317

In a globalised world, where goods cross borders many times as intermediate and as final products, trade facilitation is essential to lowering overall trade costs and increasing economic welfare, in particular for developing and emerging economies. Facilitation efforts undertaken by various countries around the world also show that the benefits of such measures clearly compensate the costs and challenges posed by their implementation.

HMRC

HMRC
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts
Publisher: Stationery Office
Total Pages: 36
Release: 2009-07-21
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780215540133

In 2007-08, HM Revenue & Customs (the Department) processed some 22 million import declarations from 16,000 traders, accounting for over £186 billion of goods imported from outside the European Union (EU). It collected £2.5 billion in Customs Duty and £19.3 billion in Import VAT. Some 99 per cent of declarations are submitted electronically and the Department clears around 90 per cent of imports without further check beyond its initial system scrutiny. The Department provides services to help traders navigate the extremely complex classifications, rules and procedures (set by the EU), but traders find it difficult to comply, and simple errors can lead to demands for large back duty payments. The Department controls imports by undertaking documentary checks, physical checks at the frontier (now done by the UK Border Agency), and trader audits. Most effort is directed to documentary checks and trader audits, yet the number of these has fallen significantly even though the number of consignments has increased, and the rate of physical examinations of goods at the frontier was well below the EU average of 9%. The number of trader audits halved between 2005-06 and 2007-08, leading to reduced revenue from this work, while levels of non-compliance increased. The Department's management of customs work and risk assessment is spread across eight directorates and, since April 2008, the UK Border Agency. Poor management information has hindered effective oversight of performance and risk management. In 2007, the Department established the Customs Strategy Delivery Group to improve its strategic and operational management of customs activities.

Are Simplified Customs Procedures for Imports Effectively Controlled?

Are Simplified Customs Procedures for Imports Effectively Controlled?
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 59
Release: 2010
Genre: Customs administration
ISBN:

Simplified customs procedures for imports are a key element of EU customs and trade facilitation policy. This report analyzes whether the two most important simplified procedures, the simplified declaration procedure and the local clearance procedure are effectively controlled in order to protect adequately the financial and trade policy interests of the EU. The report also considers whether the Commission has developed a sound control approach for such procedures and whether member states actually carry out effective controls based on such an approach.--Publisher's description.

Trade and Transport Facilitation

Trade and Transport Facilitation
Author: John Raven
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 102
Release: 2001-01-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780821350478

The report focuses on transport facilitation in developing countries in order to help promote trade in exports and economic growth. Each country has its own set of special characteristics, including significant border entry and import points. This report provides an analytical tool for those working in the field, complemented by practical suggestions, in order to identify facilitation problems and create effective remedial action plans. This report is an expanded version of the publication 'Trade and Transport Facilitation: An Audit Methodology' (ISBN: 0821347195), published by the World Bank in 2000.

Importing Into the United States

Importing Into the United States
Author: U. S. Customs and Border Protection
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2015-10-12
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9781304100061

Explains process of importing goods into the U.S., including informed compliance, invoices, duty assessments, classification and value, marking requirements, etc.

Integrated Supply Chain Management

Integrated Supply Chain Management
Author: World Customs Organization
Publisher: World Customs Organization
Total Pages: 62
Release: 2005
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 2874920169

This sixth volume deals with a highly topical subject, as it presents the response offered by the broad international Customs community to other interested parties, including trade-related and intergovernmental organizations, to the challenge posed by international terrorism and organized cross-border crime, with regard to security and facilitation of the international supply chain.

Handbook of Deep Trade Agreements

Handbook of Deep Trade Agreements
Author: Aaditya Mattoo
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 768
Release: 2020-09-23
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1464815542

Deep trade agreements (DTAs) cover not just trade but additional policy areas, such as international flows of investment and labor and the protection of intellectual property rights and the environment. Their goal is integration beyond trade or deep integration. These agreements matter for economic development. Their rules influence how countries (and hence, the people and firms that live and operate within them) transact, invest, work, and ultimately, develop. Trade and investment regimes determine the extent of economic integration, competition rules affect economic efficiency, intellectual property rights matter for innovation, and environmental and labor rules contribute to environmental and social outcomes. This Handbook provides the tools and data needed to analyze these new dimensions of integration and to assess the content and consequences of DTAs. The Handbook and the accompanying database are the result of collaboration between experts in different policy areas from academia and other international organizations, including the International Trade Centre (ITC), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and World Trade Organization (WTO).