We’re ending the first month of 2014 with our first Logistics Glossary Week post of the year. As you may already know, these posts focus on increasing your logistics and supply chain industry vocabulary as well as awareness about our industry. This month we’re going to focus on terminology that you might see at the border. This is Part I of our series on Border Crossing Logistics Terminology!
Border Crossing Logistics Terminology – Part I
This part will focus on the Importer of Record documents that are needed when crossing the border, for example an inbound shipment from the United States to Mexico. Now, depending on the border different documents might be necessary but this serves to give you an idea of what you would need to pay attention to.
Importer of Record
Definition: The Importer of Record is the person or company responsible for payment of duties and taxes and the maintenance of Customs records. For example, if your company was a US car parts manufacturer and wanted to ship to a car manufacturing plant in Mexico, you would be the Importer or Record and would need the following documents listed below.
Importer Tax ID
Definition: The importer tax ID is the identification needed for import duty purposes, where import duty is a kind of tax on levied goods which are being brought into the country. The duty to be paid depends on the country of origin of the goods as well as the type of goods. Rates can differ though, for example a standard rate could be 20%, but certain goods can be eligible for a reduced rate of 5% while some can have a no duty rate (0%).
Importer Product Specification
Definition: The importer product specification serves as a document that can be referred to when checking products at the border. This document allows the importer of record to define the custom product specifications of the goods that will be traveling across the border (i.e. the custom product specification group and product specification items to attach to any product). Attaching specifications with products need well-defined product specification groups and items for shipment security and risk mitigation practices.
Carta Encomienda Permits
Definition: The carta encomienda permit serves as the letter of appointment of the customs broker. The customs broker in charge of import operations must be able to present this this document (assigned by the importer of record) to Mexican authorities.
Other forms of documentation are needed, but we feel that they are pretty self-explanatory. These are the honourable mentions of what you need as an importer of record to cross the border: Voter’s registration, business registration, and address verification.
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