'How to improve your import, export and customs procedures': workshop

We’re holding a series of international trade workshops for Sandwell businesses. Join us at the second one on Thursday 19 October at our new Sandwell Start-Up Hub!

We (the Sandwell Business Growth Team) are holding a series of international trade workshops just for you. Over the coming year, we’ll cover:

• Cutting costs and improving productivity through customs
  
• Ambition to export: mapping and accessing new markets
  
• Reviewing Brexit: customs compliance and audit for UK importers.

Our first workshop was in September – a beginners’ guide to importing and exporting.

The next one takes place on Thursday 19 October at our new Sandwell Start-Up Hub (on the top floor of Jack Judge House in Oldbury). It’s called ‘How to improve your import, export and customs procedures’. It will guide you through advanced customs compliance standards and legislation surrounding compliance in international trade.

We (the Sandwell Business Growth team) are hosting it and Sam Ballard-Robinson of Falsum Consulting Ltd will deliver the session. It’s a whole-day event, from 9.30am to 4.30pm.

During the day, we’ll explore the ‘Three Pillars of Customs Compliance’ and how these impact your business. You will gain knowledge about what to check and how to implement changes within these three pillars.

This practical guide will look at ‘Classification, Valuation, and Origin & Preference’, ensuring you have the knowledge to capture and record the required details.

Focusing on Customs Special Procedures, Sam will give you detailed information on Inward and Outward Processing, Customs Warehouses (and how they operate) and more. We will also cover Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) and the benefits and pitfalls of using AEO.

During the day, we will:

• Focus on how the Three Pillars of Customs Compliance affect day-to-day activities within a business trading internationally
• Be guided through the Transit System and GVMS (Goods Vehicle Movement Service)
• Understand the need for import and export licensing
• Clarify the differences between the data elements and box numbers in CHIEF and CDS
• Get an overview of the different valuation methods and how to build up the customs value of goods for duty and import VAT purposes
• Understand the importance of tariff classification and origin and preference rules within international trade
• Highlight the different customs’ special procedures and when they can be used
• Review record-keeping and reporting requirements and explain the benefits of obtaining MSS reports.

This workshop will be ideal for you if you have an established understanding of customs procedures, or you’ve already attended sessions that introduced these topics. We also recommend it for supervisors and managers, who will benefit from a deeper awareness of their required tasks, responsibilities and controls.