Organizations of all sizes use customs brokers to help with the movement of their commercial goods; from independent importers to global enterprises. The complexity behind importing and exporting goods often calls for a heavy time and resource investment, which makes opting for a customs broker the ideal choice for businesses, so you can focus on further developing your core competencies.  

Customs brokers make sure your required documentation are in check, duties and tariffs are sorted, and, most importantly, your shipment clears customs on time!

One of the challenges of the industry is that regulations are subject to change quickly and without much warning — which certainly has a significant impact on the way business is conducted worldwide.

It’s crucial that your chosen customs broker is constantly staying up to date on the regulatory framework and keeping up with business trends, like moving administrative processes online. A good brokerage is developing their workflow to match what’s happening in the industry.

The tasks executed by a customs broker can vary depending on the organization’s needs, but here is a list of things that a customs broker can do you for business: 

customs broker partner

Documentation & paperwork

Identify, prepare, and send required documentation and payments to Customs on your behalf. The documents can include, but are not limited to, commercial invoices, bill of lading, cargo manifest, origin/destination details, and others depending on the kind of commercial goods.

Useful link: Canada Customs Invoice: What You Need To Know

Regulatory compliance 

Ensure that your commercial shipments meet all regulations that apply to importing and exporting and acting as an interface between your organization and the government department.

Pay dues on time 

Properly classify your commercial goods to correctly determine the applicable duties, fees, tariffs, etc. that may need to be paid.

Give useful advice

Use their subject matter expertise to provide customized advice for your business. It’s rare that any two organizations are alike, but a good customs broker will be able to recognize your business needs and make recommendations based on previous use cases.

Click here to take a look at our recent blog post, What Does A Customs Broker Do? We cover the kind of work that you can expect from a customs broker.

“Similar to how a lawyer represents clients in the courtroom, your customs broker represents organizations at the border. A customs broker license is given by the Canadian Border Services Agency to brokers trained to work with companies and individuals, ensuring that their imports comply with regulations and clear the border with ease.”

Canada Border Services Agency deals with hundreds of thousands of importers every year. Most of the importers work in partnership with a customs broker to make sure that the customs process goes smoothly.

It is certainly possible for importers to do work with CBSA for their customs dealings directly, but it is undoubtedly a time-consuming and resource intensive undertaking for businesses. In most cases, working with a broker is the more efficient choice for organizations to make.

If you’d like to learn more, you can click here to read our recent blog post: 5 Tips for Choosing The Right Customs Broker, in which we outline the key elements you need to look for in your broker. 

If you’ve had your fill of reading material on the subject for today, click here to get in touch with us and get the conversation rolling!