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How to Improve Shipping Times with a Customs Brokerage

Growing your business means expanding inventory and ensuring the items on your website or retail location are available when customers are ready to buy. If you purchase inventory or raw materials internationally, you might find that doing so results in delayed shipments, which can cost your business in terms of sales.

With that in mind, let’s dive into how working with a customs brokerage could benefit your business, improving shipping times and helping you to keep your inventory stocked to meet customer demand.

How Customs Brokers Can Impact Shipping Times

A customs brokerage is the process of obtaining customs clearance for goods entering and leaving the country. Customs brokers are licensed and regulated by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). They assist importers and exporters to meet federal requirements, thus ensuring that their shipments are not delayed for avoidable reasons. They can also offer a combination of services to cater to the needs of their clients, either importers or exporters.

With their knowledge of the customs process, customs brokers play a critical role in ensuring your shipments are not delayed due to misfiled paperwork or other missed steps. The result is that they can keep your shipments in compliance, minimizing long wait times at the ports.

Improve the Shipping Process with a Customs Brokerage

First, when you work with an experienced customs broker, you can tap into their knowledge and experience with shipping. They can follow your shipment, track potential issues, and devise alternative options to minimize delays. Plus, customs brokers are often experienced importers and exporters, so they can assist in determining the best ports for your shipments to arrive in and working with you to determine how your shipment is delivered to your business or warehouse once it clears customs. Here are just a few of the ways that they assist in the importing and exporting process:

  • Guide you through the customs clearance process.
  • Help your business comply with customs regulations and standards for your country of origin and destination country.
  • Serve as the importer of record.
  • Prepare the initial release package for your shipment and submit it electronically.
  • Assist with certificates of origin, usage of preferential taxation schemes for imports, declaration of dual-use goods or strategic goods, assistance with import or export licenses, and providing guidance to access the benefits of free trade agreements.
  • Electronically register your shipment with customs, speed up communications, and know the timescales required to anticipate problems.

For many businesses, the biggest challenge is that they do not understand the classification and evaluation processes, which means their goods are delayed because of improper classification or being valued improperly. Working with a customs broker can help you avoid these issues, thus ensuring your shipments continue to move through the process efficiently.

Benefits of a Customs Broker

Clearly, multiple benefits come from working with a customs broker, including the ability to leverage technology and innovation in a way that allows you to focus on your core business instead of trying to navigate the customs process.

With a knowledgeable and experienced team, you can get your shipments in a timely fashion, thus allowing you to meet your customers’ needs and increase your revenue. With Atlanta Customs Brokers, you get the benefits of decades of experience in international shipping, plus a valuable partner located at one of the busiest ports in the United States. Let us help you get your shipments moving faster and more efficiently today.

Atlanta Customs Brokers is one of the oldest and most trusted customs brokerage and shipping firms in Atlanta. Established in 1985, our company has been a fixture in and around the Atlanta airport and Savannah port for more than 31 years. We enjoy working with our international partners and enjoy what we do. If you are a first-time importer, exporter, or a large corporation, we can handle your needs.