How to take control of your US customs declarations with technology

From the long-term impacts of COVID-19 to ongoing regulatory uncertainty under a new administration, there’s no denying that the stakes are high when it comes to navigating your shipments through the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and other Partner Government Agencies.  

Securing customs clearance is an inevitable process. There’s a lot of rules around producing declarations, all of which aren’t negotiable. And 99.9% complete is not good enough – it’s either correct or incorrect.  

If you’re used to relying on multiple systems and databases to manage your import and export processes, it’s likely your operators are constantly re-entering data, which is time-intensive and error prone.  

What’s more, this disparate system approach limits your visibility, which can increase costs and result in late or lost freight that doesn’t adhere to CBP rules.  

CargoWise is a single-platform software solution that shares customs entry data across your operations and network of partners, allowing you to enter data once, then transfer it to a new entry automatically, any time and from anywhere.  

Simply choose the option to create an entry from an import, and then select the job from the available import files. Any existing shipment information will be brought in automatically, including the shipper and importer, along with transportation information, like the Bill of Lading numbers and the vessel and voyage data.  

From here, all your operator needs to do is enter the additional information required by customs, such as the entry type and the message type to be sent. 

The same is true of any container information entered on the forwarding shipment, which will also be brought automatically into the container tab. What’s more, all the Bills associated with the shipment are displayed, including Master, House or Sub-House Bill information.  

Not handling the freight but completed the Importer Security Filing (ISF) for the shipment? Your operator can create an entry directly from an ISF job instead, with the transportation information available in the ISF record brought into the new entry automatically.  

At this point, you can also see the importer and Bill of Lading information, along with any other data that was added to the ISF, such as the vessel and voyage details. Even the tariff information will flow through to the invoice lines tab, again saving your operator the time of having to re-enter the data. 

Of course, if you’re processing an entry as a stand-alone and not handling the freight or the ISF, then CargoWise can just as easily handle this situation too.  

Your operator can create the new entry and enter the data here for the first time. Alternatively, if it’s a customs entry that is handled often, your operator can apply filters to find past entries and use the copy feature to quickly and efficiently process another entry.

Want to accelerate the speed and accuracy of your customs clearance processes? Create, manage and clear your import and export customs declarations with CargoWise. Learn more

Need help optimizing your productivity with CargoWise? Our global CargoWise Partner network helps customers of all sizes implement and configure CargoWise to suit your business needs. Find out how