Pay the balance, ship, clear, receive
Balance against the documents, clear customs with the right code and proof of origin, count and check on arrival, claim inside the window.
DOCUMENT: bill of lading, invoice, packing list, origin proofNUMBER: duty, fees, VAT
Pay the balance against the documents: the bill of lading (the ship’s receipt for your goods), the invoice, the packing list, the inspection report and the proof of origin your duty claim needs. Clear customs with the right commodity code, the duty from the duty page, and the market’s own labelling rules already on the garments. Count and check the goods the week they arrive, against the sealed sample, and claim inside the window your contract names, because a claim raised late is a claim waived.
Check it outside, at the source:
- Eurostat Comext (opens in a new tab) EU27 import values and volumes by product and partner, monthly, with an open API and free bulk files
- HMRC uktradeinfo (opens in a new tab) the UK read separately, which it has to be, because since Brexit it is not inside the EU27 figures
- Eurostat business and consumer surveys (opens in a new tab) the retail order expectations series itself, the part that turns months before the customs data does
- FashionUnited (opens in a new tab) European retail and brand news, for the reason behind a turn in order expectations
- UK Integrated Online Tariff (opens in a new tab) the British duty and VAT on your own commodity code, which has been a separate schedule from the EU one since Brexit
- EU textile fibre names and labelling, Regulation 1007/2011 (opens in a new tab) the permitted fibre names, the composition tolerances and the marking rules, read before you approve a label rather than after the container loads
Tools for this step
- Import duty on garments
Read the base duty your garment faces in each market, next to what each market actually charges duty on. The bases are not the same.
Every tool for this guide, grouped by what you are trying to do, is on the tools page.
