Small business dealing with UK Customs clearance procedures

[Era]

Hi!
I am the owner of a small business, and I had some questions regarding importing from China.
I have some small orders I have placed with my suppliers in China, and I have as well got in contact with DHL to use it as a courier.
I am not planning to have more than 6 deliveries a year, and not very big ones; so I thought there was no need to get to hire a customs broker, and I could have dealt with customs clearance myself- as some companies had extremely high fees- which I cannot afford.

I have had some time to familiarize with EORI Number, VAT, Customs Duty, and Codes&Tariffs- however, I am finding it very confusing when it comes to the description of the iter- how to properly make a Customs declaration? How do I register for CHIEF & do I have to register for CHIEF? What software do I have to buy to file a declaration online?
It is very confusing.. and I honestly found myself in limbo and do not know how to deal with it.

DHL says will not deal with Customs Clearance.
I have an EORI number and registered for VAT.
Is there anyone who can help me with this?

Many thanks for your time.

 

[Mr D]

Thats what you pay fees to companies for.

Is DHL locked in now?

You can do the process yourself but its a lot easier to get an expert to do it all for you. Factor the costs into your pricing same as you do your other costs.

 

[Mike Godwin]

Speaking as a freight forwarder/customs broker, CHIEF costs thousands of pound per year to run & maintain with additional add-ons for 'badges' that are required for each UK entry point. To make it pay you need to handle lots of clearances on a regular basis which is why 99% of importers use a freight forwarder for their clearances and pay a fee accordingly. That said, unless your goods are not for home use and/or are subject to specific customs clearance arrangements, DHL will automatically carry out customs clearance for you, provided they have original invoices to refer to at the point of origin of the goods.

 

[paulears]

Have I lost the plot? I thought CHIEF was obsolete and was now CDS?

 

[Mike Godwin]

Correct. CDS came into play August 2018 to supercede CHIEF. Unfortunately (for me anyway), old habits die hard, so to speak!

 

[MOIC]

I have some small orders I have placed with my suppliers in China

I am not planning to have more than 6 deliveries a year

You're over thinking whats required for shipping.

If you only have 6 small shipments per year, just ask your China suppliers to send by DHL (or UPS, TNT, FEDEX . . . . . .)

If they are being sent from Guangzhou/Dongguan/Shenzhen we can arrange it all for you.

No CHEIF required.

No CDS required.

No EORI required. (If you have it, that's fine)

Door to Door - Currently taking 4-5 days.

 

[mejamakan]

thanks for sharing,very usefull for me

 

[Ray272]

Happy to help with the correct commodity codes, takes 2 minutes to look this up on uk trade tarriff:
https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff

I recall it being slightly confusing at first but its pretty easy for most products.

If you have the item descriptions, you can check your commodities applicable duties rates in advance and that will also help you figure out final costs.

I would never book dhl from one country to UK but I know the Chinese have started to insist on this in some cases recently.

 

[Era]

Thank you all very much for your time. It has been very helpful!
I got back in contact with my DHL Account manager and asked him if their part could deal with the Customs Clearance, instead of me hiring a Customs broker, and they agreed, for a small fee to be added upon my regular fee.

 

[Import Expert]

Correct advice above - DHL will do this for you for a small fee - usually around the £20 mark plus any Duty/VAT.

Oh and @Mike Godwin @paulears CHIEF is still very much up and running. Switchover to CDS in the UK has been delayed (looking like mid/late 2021 now). It's being used by a few CFSP approved companies as part of a long testing phase but the whole project has been a complete mess thus far.