The Importance of Customs Compliance for Brand Value

Customs compliance is just as much about protecting your corporate brand

A common misconception is that customs compliance is just about ensuring adherence with the tax and customs authority. Being audit-ready is important to steer clear of civil penalties and to avoid unexpected resource requirements to support costly investigations. However, customs compliance is just as much about corporate compliance, which is of equal importance. The same adherence to the authoritie’s high standards should also be applied, when protecting your corporate brand.

I have supported many international retailers resolve customs declaration issues. However, the resolution to the issue has only been initiated following a HMRC investigation. Subsequently, at this point the problem is already serious and going to be time consuming to resolve.

Mark Jamieson, VP Operations, Emma Systems UK

The traders risks and responsibilities

Only you as a business can ensure your corporate compliance and self-auditing is accurate. HMRC and other revenue authorities will never investigate your business for over-paying duties or VAT when the non-compliance is in their favour, however it is certainly hitting your
businesses bottom line.

In a case of severe compliance failure due to the volume of declarations, large fines may be imposed and AEO certification may be lost. While lack of HMRC compliance may cause an unexpected investigation and an expensive fine imposed, brand values are much harder to repair. In both scenarios, the business loses corporate and brand respect, both with authorities and customers.

Evaluating your current customs compliance level? Here are some questions to get you started:

• How does your business measure accuracy?
• What does your business check for compliance, and how do you stay compliant?
• Does your business employ people with in-depth Customs Duty & VAT knowledge?
• Does your business assume freight forwarders / express parcel carriers are responsible for your product item classification?

Learn more about this topic in our white paper below or book a demo of Emma E-Doc, our digital customs archive and compliance platform.