July 2008 Newsletter

Welcome

It's been sad month for us at Customs Clearance Limited, as we learned of the unexpected and untimely death of our team member, Robert Michael Allen, on 28th June.

Rob was just 19 years of age and a most popular member of the CCL family, working in the import operations team. He was with CCL on a two-year vocational training programme, leading to NVQ certification. The CCL family are shocked and stunned by Rob's passing and we extend our condolences and those of our partner companies to Rob's family and friends.

Robert Michael Allen
1988 - 2008
Rest in Peace

Travels and Events: We've been taking CCL on-the-road, to the 5th SINO conference in Hong Kong and the Triangle conference and exhibition in London. We would like to welcome all the new contacts we made and say thank you to all the friends, clients and associates we met on our travels.

We took pole position at Silverstone on 4th July for the big Formula 1 event, courtesy of the generous hospitality provided by mail distribution company, Keymail UK (www.keymailuk.com). Thanks to Tubbs Rooprah of Keymail UK for organising the event and bringing us all together.

Web Site Update: We've been adding to our Resources page on the web site this month. There's an expanded Forms & Templates area from which you can download a selection forms and letters which make it easy to set up an account with us and instruct us to act on your behalf. This page also contains a useful link to the HMRC web site's list of downloadable customs forms.

Special Mentions: We want to give a special mention in this issue to our friend and valued client, Richard Thornton (www.airworldexpress.com). We hear from Richard how much he enjoys the newsletters and he's come up with some great ideas for future issues. Like so many, he tells us he enjoys our Coffee Break stories. Our aim with the newsletter is to be both informative and entertaining on customs and import matters and we're delighted when we succeed. Many thanks for your feedback, Richard and we look forward to you 'travel tales'.

Finally, there's another thank-you and special mention, to a very special lady - Rudee's mother-in-law, Hyacinth Gyles, in Jamaica. Hyacinth is another of the many readers who tell us how much they enjoy the newsletter, especially our Coffee Break stories. It's always great to know that our monthly missives are so well received.

Whilst we're a little subdued this month, we're still our usual friendly and approachable selves. So please don't forget, for any customs and importation queries, make our Customer Services team on +44 (0)20 8231 0900 your first port of call.

In this issue

What Price that Straw Donkey?
New Feature - Your Customs Clearance Specialist Needs You!
Q&A - Everything you wanted to know about importing, but were afraid to ask!
Coffee Break Story Takes a Coffee Break

What Price that Straw Donkey?

With the summer vacation season fast approaching, we thought you might like a quick reminder of the ways we can help you with those unexpected overseas holiday purchases. You know the sort of thing you treat yourself to, when the sun is shining, the days are long and relaxing and the liquid refreshment is flowing...

... That fabulous carpet from the Moroccan Souk...

... Those three handmade Turkish leather jackets you just couldn't choose between...

... That beautiful hand-engraved coffee table from Thailand...

... Gold, pearls and opals from the Far East...

... Just about anything from the USA where the exchange rate makes it all so tempting...

But, there is a day of reckoning, and it comes when you arrive home.

Shipping larger purchases home:

Many overseas traders selling to holidaymakers are experienced at shipping their wares to their customers' home countries and will take care of this for you once you fill in the appropriate forms and pay the shipping fees. When they arrive in the UK, depending on the value of the item(s), you are likely to be required to pay duty, VAT and customs clearance fees and you will be expected to collect your goods. There may also be airline handling and storage fees if you can't collect promptly.

The shipping airline will hold the goods at their airport facility and contact you to arrange payments and collection. But here's the problem - this can be a time-consuming task, especially once you're back at work and trying to catch up after your vacation. It's not unknown for it to take a whole day for an inexperienced person to clear their goods through customs.

If you assign Customs Clearance Ltd to be your customs broker, we will advise you of the precise fees and taxes and can take care of everything for you. Just make a note of the airline's reference number, then call us. For a very reasonable fee, we will handle the customs clearance process and pay the charges on your behalf, then arrange for delivery of your new purchases at a time to suit you.

Bringing smaller items home in your luggage:

You've landed at the airport and collected your bulging suitcases. You know you've made purchases over your duty-free limit and have to go through the red 'goods to declare' channel - but what happens next?

The Customs officer at the desk will require you to declare your goods and will calculate the amount of import duty and VAT that you need to pay. You can simply pay by cash or card, and be on your way. However, some can be surprised by the amount due (it's all too easy to lose your head on an overseas shopping spree) and may not be in a position after an expensive holiday, to settle on-the-spot.

What you need at this point is "MIB clearance". MIB stands for 'Merchandise in Baggage' and Customs Clearance Limited can take care of this for you. Again, all it takes is a simple phone call. We can make the customs declaration on your behalf, then make arrangements with you to collect the due payments, and you can be on your way with your baggage, there and then. Alternatively, if you're in a hurry - perhaps for your onward transportation - you can leave your dutiable items with the Customs officials and ask Customs Clearance Limited to clear your property through Customs at a later date. For this you will need to forward us the detention notice that the Customs official will give you, along with your reference number, and we will handle clearance and onward shipping to your UK destination.

So wherever you're going, if you think you might 'shop til you drop', be sure to keep the Customs Clearance Limited contact number +44 (0)20 8231 0900 close at hand.

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New Feature - Your Customs Clearance Specialist Needs You!

We mentioned before that Customs Clearance Limited has been on-the-road over the past few weeks. We've met a lot of people, and we've heard some very interesting stories. It seems that, far from being a sad and lonely life of hotel room after hotel room, airport after airport, there are intriguing goings-on afoot, all over the business travel world. One of our clients has even offered his services to write about his particular experience, so we're looking out for that and will bring it to you in a future issue. It got us thinking - there must be more stories out there (only the publishable ones of course...)!

So... if you have a story, a recollection of an unexpected happening in the course of your business travels, a surprising encounter, a roller-coaster taxi ride, a cultural 'misunderstanding', for example, we'd just love to hear about it. We can publish your stories, or just a line or two if you like, anonymously. Of, if you would like to put your own web address and business in front of our growing readership, at no charge, we will be happy to insert a link and a line or two about you and your trade - just let us know what you prefer when you send your stories to Rudee at rudeeb@customsclearanceuk.com.

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Q&A - Everything you wanted to know about importing, but were afraid to ask!

Each issue, we answer in brief one or two of your more specific customs and importation questions.

Q: I'm planning on selling imported music CDs in the UK. These are coming in without cases, in order to save on shipping costs, and will need to be repacked in cases and shipped to their destinations. Can you help?

A: We can clear your CDs through customs in the UK and through our network of partners we can also offer you the repacking and onward shipping services you need.

In order to provide a quote, we would need to know the following:

1. From which port(s)/airport(s) are the CDs being shipped?
2. Into which port(s)/airport(s) will they arrive?
3. What are the shipment volumes (dimensions/weight etc)?
4. What will be the frequency of your shipments?
5. What are your specific pick-and-pack and onward distribution requirements?

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Coffee Break Story Takes a Coffee Break

In view of our sad news about Rob, we didn't feel it was appropriate to get too light-hearted in this issue, so our Coffee Break story is taking a coffee break of its own this month.

But fear not, we'll be back on form next month, so if you're one of those people who takes their laptop to the beach, there'll be something to keep you away from the latest pot-boiler.

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