January 2009
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WelcomeWelcome to the January 2009 newsletter. We hope it’s not too late to wish all our customers, suppliers, associates, staff and other readers a happy and prosperous new year, and of course, a very happy Chinese New Year to our Chinese readers across the globe, as we enter the Year of the Ox. In this issue, you’ll find news of CCL’s new venture focused on the USA and Canada –Customs Clearance Solutions Inc. We’re also spotlighting CCL EXP, our dedicated export entry service. There’s the usual Coffee Break Story (we know you set aside a quiet 5 minutes for these tales, so don’t deny it!) – this month in honour of Chinese New Year, it has an Oriental flavour. Lastly, CCL is lending its support to two more charities this year and we’re taking a little space in this issue to highlight their important work. Changes to some HMRC regulations were implemented in the latter weeks of 2008 - the De Minimis limits and Low Value Bulking Concessions. We’re happy to report everything seems to have run very smoothly and we’ve had no issues to stress either ourselves or our customers. Let’s keep it that way! In what are fast becoming the most challenging of times across the world, we’d like to invite all our associates, customers and friends to work a lot closer and more collaboratively this year. Even bad times like recessions offer opportunities for enterprising and creative businesses. Every negative breeds a positive and we at CCL believe that working closely and openly with our associates and customers makes us all stronger. On a lighter note, we’d also like to put in a word this month for a rather special business with a family connection to CCL. A top choice for corporate events, with an impressive client base already, Swifthand Entertainment gets our thumbs-up. Richard Bertie (recognise that name?) and Daniel Charles are talented close-up magicians with a real magic touch when it comes to amazing and entertaining. Check out their web site at www.swifthands.co.uk. Don’t forget, if you would like a free promotion in a future issue of the newsletter, say something nice about us that we can put in print, and in return, we will spotlight your business and link to your web site. Our newsletter now goes worldwide to over 1,000 subscribers involved in import/export. Or maybe you have a notable travel story to share. We can write it up for you and even embellish it beyond all recognition if you like. We can hide your identity, or put your name in lights – whatever you prefer. The festive season is well and truly behind us now, but we had a great time and we thought you might enjoy seeing one or two of the more publishable photos. So here are Rudee, Brian and other CCL party-goers raising their glasses to you all.
Enjoy the rest of this issue 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. In this issueCustoms Clearance On-The-Road Customs Clearance On-The-RoadWe’re putting our best feet forward again this year and you’ll find us at a couple of upcoming industry events. We won’t be in Bangkok in February as previously advised, but we will be at the Triangle World Mail & Express Americas Conference and Exhibition from 24-25 February at the Hilton Miami in Florida. Now in its sixth year, this is a not-to-be-missed event for anybody involved in North, South and Central America and the Caribbean. Come and find us on Stand No 23. We will be in the Far East later in the year however - in Hong Kong at the Courier & Parcel Logistics Expo Asia from 19-21 May. This event showcases technologies and services for companies carrying and sending express shipments worldwide. If you plan to attend, let us know - it’s always great to meet up and put faces to a names. Customs Clearance Solutions Inc: Our New Dedicated Service for the USA and CanadaIn recent months we have identified a strong trend within the USA and Canada, with an increasing number of small and medium-sized businesses embracing the global marketplace and trading across the world via e-commerce. Our response to this is to establish a sister company, Customs Clearance Solutions Inc (CCS Inc) in Ontario, Canada. Our aim in establishing CCS Inc is to service companies in the USA and Canada seeking to export consignments to Europe and the wider global market. We offer both consultancy services and specialist expertise, and gateway customs clearance services via our Ontario-based hub and CCL’s UK headquarters. Our vision is that via CCS Inc, American and Canadian businesses of all sizes can trade freely across the world without the need to employ their own import/export professionals. CCS Inc simplifies and streamlines the process of shipping goods from the USA or Canada and clearing them through customs into the UK and countries across Europe. Specialists are available whenever needed, plus the full resources of CCL in the UK. CCS Inc customers can save time and money and deliver high quality service to their own global customers. Here’s what CCS Inc is providing:
We’d like to work with shipping partners in the USA and Canada, to grow a customer base of regular exporters and capitalise on the potential of this market. In the coming year we’ll be travelling regularly to the USA and Canada, visiting existing customers and presenting to new prospects. If you would like to meet with us, or would like us to join your own business meetings and offer the UK/European perspective on the import processes, contact us via our dedicated CCS Inc line in Canada: +1 416 800 4319 or email info@customsclearancesolutionsinc.com. For further information, see our CCS Inc web site at www.customsclearancesolutionsinc.com. CCL EXP: Export Clearance Taken Off your HandsWe haven't made much of a noise about our export clearance services until recently. But now that we've launched a new division, CCL EXP, specifically to focus on this area, we're picking up more customers every day. We thought you might like to know a little more. From the customs perspective, exporting can be just as tricky and complicated as importing. It's easy to make mistakes which can be costly and time-consuming. But just as with imports, we can manage the job for you, ensuring that all the necessary declarations are properly made and enabling your shipments to be on their way without delay. Just send us an Export Declaration, advising the contents of your shipment, its weight/dimensions etc and destination. We then complete the HMRC customs entry declaration online. Once this is approved by HMRC, we receive the customs entry reference number for you, which then ties up with your airway bill and the VAT system and means your export can be released to meet its flight. Engaging CCL to handle your export declarations saves you both time and money. Most importantly, you don't need to have an export specialist on-site, and you don't need the on-line link to HMRC - we do it all for you and you have the backing of our extensive expertise and knowledge of the system, to ensure your declarations are properly completed for speedy handling. To find out more about CCL EXP, call us today, or email us on our special address for exports: CCLEXP@customsclearanceuk.com. Our Charities for the Year AheadWe’re supporting two charities this year and want to take a line or two to let you know about them: Sickle Cell Society Sickle Cell Disorders are a group of genetic diseases that affect the red blood cells of people with the condition. They can cause bouts of extreme pain and can cause permanent damage to many different organs. The Sickle Cell Society believes that every sickle cell sufferer has the right to quality care. This can only be achieved if funding is made available to educate health carers and other professionals about the condition. The Society aims to provide this. Find out more at www.sicklecellsociety.org. The Prostate Cancer Charity Prostate cancer, which affects only men, was for so long a neglected health issue - neither understood by the public nor prioritised by politicians. Set up in 1996 The Prostate Cancer Charity is the largest and most comprehensive of the charities focused specifically on this cancer. They aim to provide hope for tomorrow through funding research and offering practical support through extensive information services. Find out more at www.prostate-cancer.org.uk. Coffee Break Story: Hong Kong Phooey -Super-Hero!Here’s another of our ‘coffee break’ stories for your time-out time. Enjoy! I had man-flu within a day of landing in Hong Kong – but I couldn’t let it crush me. I think it was a combination of being stuck in the cheap-seats for 13 hours then forced to queue for a taxi in the drenching humidity of a Far Eastern summer afternoon. Still, they’d booked me into one of the most spectacular hotels on the island, down by the Macau Ferry Terminal. Amazing – I was 30 floors up, overlooking the harbour, watching the Star Ferry crossing back and forth, and a thousand other boats going about their business. It was breathtaking! I was only supposed to be in Hong Kong for 4 days – hardly enough time to get over the jet-lag. It was meetings, meetings, every morning, so I couldn’t give in to crawling back under the duvet. I dosed up with everything I could lay my hands on and did my very best to make the most of the trip – shook a lot of hands, exchanged even more business cards, talked up the business.... and despite a raging temperature, secured a couple of very important signatures on a couple of very worthwhile contracts. Then there was the whole ‘corporate hospitality’ side, the evenings awash with crowded restaurants, pounding night-clubs and far, far too much booze. Well, you’ve got to play the game, haven’t you, especially when the ink has hardly dried on the contract and you need to get things off to a strong start. Plus, you don’t want people thinking you’re a wuss either. But all that was as nothing, compared to the rising panic I felt at the one other task that lay ahead of me that week.... The way it worked out, I had just one afternoon and one evening free for by far the most challenging part of the trip. I’d hardly drawn breath from announcing that I was off to Hong Kong and the shopping list was opened. What ‘her indoors’ didn’t want, wasn’t worth having.... She wanted silk... raw silk palazzo pants (whaaat?!), work shirts, lingerie, and what she rather scarily called ‘something special’ – heck, I was supposed to know what that was without even the faintest clue. Then she’d heard there were tailors who could make exact copies of existing clothing, so I’d arrived with two ladies’ skirt-suits and an evening gown in my luggage – it’s a good job I didn’t have to explain that to any airport officials. Then she wanted jewellery (isn’t it enough that she gets gold every Christmas? Obviously not.).... Opals the stone of choice, apparently, but diamonds would be nice as well. (As well....?!) Then my adolescent lump of a son got in on the act. Picking up a pen for the first time in months, he’d produced a list – a full page - of software, widgets, gadgets and other technological bits and bobs which he promised me I could pick up for a mere fraction of their UK cost. Between them, they were determined I wasn’t to have a moment to myself – nor a moment’s peace if I returned empty-handed. So my afternoon off, I was a man-on-a-mission. I took the Star Ferry over the water, and trawled the streets of Kowloon, armed with my lists and my bag of womens’ clothing. Indeed, she was right – there were literally dozens of tailors’ shops happy to produce replica garments in 2 or 3 days. This wasn’t quite as hard as I thought it would be. The jewellery shops were rather fabulous too – not cheap (never cheap!), but I did manage to pick up something rather nice – let’s see what she makes of it when I get it home... I was directed to a huge indoor computer market for my son’s demands, and again, it was all pretty straightforward. Triumphant, I nailed it all in the one afternoon, and only needed to return briefly on my night off to collect the new outfits. It was all going to be alright after all, less the weary traveller, more the conqueror returning home with his spoils.... I was at the airport a bit early as I thought there might be some hassle over the luggage – and yes, I was indeed over-weight. But I didn’t care – I had everything. I’d even located that mysterious ‘something special’ that I was supposed to ‘use my imagination’ to seek out (and no, I’m not going to tell you what it is), so I figured on getting richly rewarded when I got home. I must have been radiating success.... confidence... triumph.... at the check-in desk. Or maybe it was the aromatic cloud of vapour-rub and menthol that had been surrounding me for days. I don’t care what - for the first time in my life, I got an upgrade!! Yesss! Life is good. I settled smugly into my Business Class seat, and as the freshen-up cloths and champagne began to come round, I nodded politely to my neighbour. “You look happy,” he observed, with a cheery smile. Yes indeed, I was happy. And as the bubbly took effect and my tired bones sank deeper into the armchair seat, I couldn’t help recounting to him the triumphs of my week. We chatted on, and I explained all about my business to him – the meetings, the contracts, and the work that I had ahead of me. He asked lots of questions – seemed really interested in the sort of shipments I was going to be dealing with – then explained his own business was all about making life easier for people who shipped goods around the world. He had particular experience handling shipments from the Far East and was very familiar with the customs clearance requirements into the UK and Europe. Where I’d been worrying about how to break down container-loads and dispatch them to my retailers across Europe, he had the answers. He didn’t give me the hard-sell – in fact, in the end, it was me asking the questions, and me pressing my business card into his hand. But I sensed we’d made a mutually profitable connection in those final few hours of my trip, which made that homeward journey all the sweeter. |
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| Customs Clearance Limited | |
27th Jan 2009
