Five Control Routines Every Importer Should Run on Their Customs Data

Customs declarations are submitted every time goods are imported. For the importer, responsibility for the accuracy of those declarations remains, even when a customs representative handles the submission.

In practice, declarations and supporting documentation are often stored or accessed when needed, rather than reviewed systematically. A more robust approach involves running structured control routines at defined intervals. These routines do not need to be complex, but they do need to be consistent.

Five practical control routines that can significantly strengthen internal control over customs data

1. Reconcile against official governmental statistics

At regular intervals, importers should reconcile their internal archive of customs declarations against the official declaration overview provided by the customs authorities.

This control helps confirm that:

• All declarations submitted in the company’s name have been received internally
• No declarations are missing from the archive
• No declarations have been submitted incorrectly under the company’s organisation number

This reconciliation is one of the most effective ways to ensure completeness and to detect irregularities early.

Examples of official declaration overviews in some of our core markets:

• Norway: Declaration Overview
• Sweden: Statistics Import / Export
• United Kingdom: CDS import / export data

Matching internal records against authority data is a key control routine

2. Review tariff classification consistency

Tariff classification, often referred to as HS or commodity codes, is applied at item level. Similar goods should normally be declared under consistent tariff classifications unless there is a documented reason for change.

A periodic review should focus on:

• Identical or comparable products declared under different tariff classifications
• Recent changes in classification for recurring goods
• Variations across brokers or business units

Even minor inconsistencies can have financial implications over time, particularly where duty rates differ between classifications.

3. Analyse country of origin patterns

Country of origin affects duty treatment and regulatory requirements.

Importers should regularly review origin data to ensure that:

• Comparable goods are declared with consistent origin
• Changes in origin are supported by commercial or supply chain explanations
• Preferential origin claims are applied correctly

Unexpected shifts in origin data may indicate documentation issues or misunderstandings in the declaration process.

4. Reconcile customs values with accounting data

Declared customs value is central to duty and VAT calculations. It should be reconciled periodically against commercial invoices and accounting records.

This routine can help identify:

• Discrepancies between invoice values and declared values
• Currency conversion inconsistencies
• Systematic under- or over-declaration of certain cost elements

Regular reconciliation reduces the risk of cumulative financial deviations.

5. Monitor duty and tax development over time

Importers should review duty and tax amounts across time periods to identify unusual trends.

Questions to consider include:

• Has total duty exposure changed significantly without a corresponding change in volume?
• Are certain product groups generating unexpected duty levels?
• Do duty patterns differ across brokers or entities?

Trend analysis at line level provides context that cannot be seen in individual declarations.

Moving from ad hoc checks to structured routines

These routines do not require extensive manual work if customs data is available in a structured format. However, without structured and searchable data, even basic checks become time consuming.

The objective is not to eliminate all discrepancies. It is to establish repeatable routines that provide clarity over time.

Customs declarations contain detailed information about classification, value, origin and duty exposure. When reviewed systematically, they become a practical tool for financial control and compliance management rather than simply archived documents.

For importers operating in an increasingly regulated environment, structured control routines are no longer optional. They are part of responsible trade management.

Running these routines consistently requires access to structured and searchable customs data. When declarations are available as usable data rather than static documents, reconciliation, trend analysis and financial checks become significantly more manageable. Solutions such as Emma Compliance are designed to support exactly this type of systematic review, by turning customs declarations into data that can be verified, analysed and followed up over time.