February 2010

Welcome to the February 2010 newsletter from Customs Clearance Ltd.

Some of you might have noticed that emails from Customs Clearance Ltd have been coming from a different domain name: [sender]@ccllhr.com. Rest assured, nothing about the business has changed. We’ve implemented this additional domain as a short-cut, as some people have observed that our standard domain name [sender]@customsclearanceuk.com, uses up rather a lot of ink and can be a bit tricky to remember when you’re not near your contact list. You can use either domain name, and both will get your emails to their correct destination. Whatever else, we want you to keep talking to us – and we want to make it easy!

We hope you find this issue of value, and don’t forget, for any customs and importation queries, make our friendly and approachable Customer Services team on +44 (0)20 8231 0900 your first port of call.

Conference update: We’re on the move again in the next few days. We’ll be at the Triangle World Mail and Express Americas Conference and Exhibition, 22-23 February in Miami, Florida, USA; let us know if you’re planning to be there as we love the chance to meet up with clients, associates and other contacts whenever we can.

It’s a REDS Letter Day for CCL! We’re delighted to announce that CCL is now able to assist you with movement of wines, spirits and beers from Europe into the UK. Alcohol shipping is a very specialised area, so we’ve teamed up with our preferred associate partner, specialist Registered Excise Dealer (‘REDS’), PJ Shipping Ltd. This partnership means that we can now accept and make payments of Excise duty on your behalf to UK HMRC – whether you’re a company or a private individual importing shipments of wine, beer or spirits. We can calculate the charges due and arrange for the right paperwork to be issued, to enable your shipments of wines, beer and spirits to be moved, cleared and delivered to their destination in the UK. Contact our Customer Services team on +44 (0)20 8231 0900 to find out more or get a quote.

Greek Debt Crisis - Customs Officials Strike: News from Associated Press 16 Feb 10 – Greek customs officials and finance ministry employees have embarked on a 3-day strike in protest against government austerity measures designed to pull the country out of a debt crisis that has shaken the entire Eurozone. If this impacts you, you can read more here. The debt situation faced by Greece puts considerable pressure on the euro and the way this crisis is handled could have wide implications. We’ve gathered a few interesting articles to keep you up-to-date if you trade across the Eurozone:

• ‘Greece debt crisis’ several articles from the UK’s Financial Times
• ‘Europe Commits to Action on Greek Debt’ from The New York Times
• ‘Greek Debt Crisis Tests Euro Zone’ from India’s Business Standard
• ‘Lies, Damned Lies and Greek Statistics’ from Germany’s Der Spiegel

Our Featured Freight Forwarder – Your Cargo Contact: Our featured freight forwarder this month is Your Cargo Contact (www.yourcargocontact.com) based at Schiphol Airport in The Netherlands. Established in 2003, owners Mark and Rajesh set out to become the very best freight forwarder at the airport, providing the most comprehensive services. Your Cargo Contact provides the full range of freight forwarding services – air, sea and road – plus warehousing and distribution and full supply chain management. They are also equipped to handle live animals and dangerous goods. If you need to ship via Schiphol, check out their web site then get in touch with our colleagues at Your Cargo Contact.

Ask the Experts: Customs and import/export is a complex business, beset with rules, regulations and penalties. Our consultancy service can help those who have faced importation difficulties in the past and want to avoid them in the future. We also assist businesses who need to make their import/export processes more streamlined or cost-effective. Rudee Bertie and Brian Kelly, joint MDs of Customs Clearance Ltd, conduct consultancy assignments. They can assess your freight movement systems, review efficiencies, value-for-money, suitability etc, and recommend improvements, giving you a balanced perspective and leaving you clear about your options and able to make better informed decisions. Find out more here, then contact Rudee or Brian on +44 (0)20 8231 0900 to book an appointment.

Q&A surgery: We haven’t opened the Customs Clearance Q&A surgery for a while, so here’s one for this month.

Q: I would like to send a small shipment of handicrafts, around 1 cubic metre in size, from India to the port at Belfast, N. Ireland. This needs to be cleared through customs. I know you’re based at Heathrow, but can you assist with this?

A: Yes we can. To quote for our services and calculate the import duty/vat applicable, we will need a packing list and invoices showing the value of the goods. We will also need to know the expected date of arrival of your shipment. Once it arrives and is cleared, we can also arrange for delivery to its final destination if you wish.

A mini Coffee Break Story: A very fine road-trip

I wouldn’t exactly call it a ‘booze cruise’. I’d like to think we were being just a little more…. sophisticated… than that. My business partner and I had indeed crossed the Channel. For booze. Yes. But we’d gone on the bikes and we’d taken a few days about it – call it a ‘working holiday’. Well, we did discuss our business plans in one or two gastronomically ‘superbe’ bistros en route to our destination. That sort-of qualified it as a business trip, right? We took it slowly – a 3-day run to the South, with campsite stopovers in beautiful, rural France. But we made it to the tiny village of Chateauneuf du Pape on target and found the campsite easily. That meant we had a full four days to take our time over the tastings, before making our choice of those fine, rich reds, and heading for home.

Popes used to reside in Chateauneuf du Pape during the heat of summer – we had just a few late spring days, but we made sure we made the most of it. We criss-crossed the area between Orange and Avignon, visiting ‘cave’ after ‘cave’, discussing the merits of one year over another, one grape over another – and tasting, of course. Endlessly sampling those magnificent wines. Theoretically, this was work. In practice, I couldn’t imagine a more perfect way to pass a springtime holiday.

I’d got it all arranged with Customs Clearance Ltd before we left home, so I knew what we needed to do, to organise the shipping, Customs clearance and delivery to our stores, just outside London. I’m so glad I spoke to these guys as I hadn’t realised they could handle clearance for wines