Jasmine Gladstone

A clean bill of lading is issued by a carrier declaring that goods have been received in the appropriate condition, without defects. The product carrier issues a clean bill of lading after inspecting the goods. If the bill of lading is "claused" or "fouled" when it notes that the products or goods are damaged or defective. A uniform bill of lading or straight bill of lading was first adopted in 1909 and spelled out how a carrier can limit its liability. It may not be transferred and is only deliverable to the named consignee (recipient). Like any bill of lading, the uniform bill of lading also lists the goods being transported and serves as a contract of the terms of the shipment.

If you are using a customs broker, you will need to sign a Power of Attorney in order for them to work on your behalf as an importer.

For formal entries and all containerized ocean imports, importers are required to issue surety bonds against the duties owed.

A Single Bond is taken out on each individual shipment. This can be time consuming if you are importing more frequently. In this case it is simpler to have a continuous bond.
A Continuous Bond is automatically renewed and covers bonds on all shipments for a calendar year.
Customs clearance will entail other forms and documents. In fact, there is such a wide and varied range of required documents to prepare when you are importing that it is well worth taking some time to find out what you need and ask your freight forwarder or customs broker any questions that you might have.

Here are some of the required documents you will likely need to prepare when importing goods into the US:

Shipping documentation (Bill of Lading)
Commercial invoice
Packing list
Arrival notice
Special documentation
Missing or incomplete documentation is a major source of delay and added cost, so keep on top of your documentation and customs requirements to streamline the process even before goods reach the US. This is really where customs brokers can help you. With their expertise, brokers can help you do customs clearance right and therefore reduce overall times and costs when sourcing goods.

Under a counterpurchase arrangement, the exporter sells goods or services to an importer and agrees to also purchase other goods from the importer within a specified period. Unlike bartering, exporters entering into a counterpurchase arrangement must use a trading firm to sell the goods they purchase and will not use the goods themselves.

Offset

In an offset arrangement, the seller assists in marketing products manufactured by the buying country or allows part of the exported product's assembly to be carried out by manufacturers in the buying country. This practice is common in aerospace, defense and certain infrastructure industries. Offsetting is also more common for larger, more expensive items. An offset arrangement may also be referred to as industrial participation or industrial cooperation.

The need for SAD refunds arose mainly on account of the fact that traders or dealers of imported goods were unable to take credit of this duty (which was a Central tax) while discharging their VAT or Sales tax liability (which was State levy) on subsequent sale of the goods. Unless corrected through a mechanism such as refund (of one of the taxes) this would have resulted in “double” payment of tax. With the introduction of GST on 01.07.2017, credit of “eligible duties” in respect of inputs held in stock and inputs contained in semi-finished or finished goods held in stock, is permissible to registered persons not liable to be registered under the existing law (for instance, VAT dealers) under transitional provisions (Section 140(3) of the CGST Act). Further, eligible duties as defined in sub-section (10) include SAD. In other words, dealers/ traders can take ITC of SAD paid on goods imported prior to 1st July 2017. Sub-section (5) of section 140 also allows a registered person to take credit of eligible duties in respect of inputs received on or after 1 July 2017 but the duty on which has been paid under the existing law. These provisions taken together ensure that SAD paid by dealers/ traders can be set-off against their GST liability as and when imported goods are supplied by them in the domestic market. However, certain items which are out of the GST net would be eligible for SAD refunds as earlier.

If we are speaking about the import market regulations then, Hong Kong has a 0% tariff on most goods, except for a few items such as beer, alcohol, tobacco, petroleum, and methanol. Import bans and control of permits done for items in the fields of health, security, environmental protection, and compliance with international obligations. Customs procedures are relatively simple, facilitating trade. Hong Kong is also a member of the WTO and APEC.

The Certificate of Origin (CO) is not a mandatory export document, required only for transactions that require customs formalities from the importing country or to satisfy the buyer’s request.