7. My company has a new customer in a country which, we now learn, requires consignments to undergo pre-shipment inspection. Can you offer any general advice?
The subject is covered in the general section of the Guide (pp. 37-9 of the current issue) and where information can be obtained the requirements are summarised in the country articles. The inspection agency in the UK has produced a guide for exporters to the country concerned and you should telephone or fax them to request a copy. The procedure is mostly straightforward and the agency will send you a request for information which explains it all and will lead you through the various steps. The inspection should not appreciably delay despatch of a consignment if you are prompt in doing what is asked of you. Here Are some general tips: the first step is the importer's completing an import order (a document given different names in different countries) based on the proforma invoice, which is itself a document the agency will want to see, so the proforma must be the version agreed as it stands and must not have been modified in any way before the order was confirmed. For a first order, it would be helpful for you to discuss with the agency some parts of the procedure, especially value for customs purposes and price verification and to get a preliminary opinion on price, so that you will not be surprised if the agency accepts your price but recommends that duty be levied on a higher price. Pre-shipment inspection nowadays works smoothly and seldom causes difficulties to honest and efficient exporters; indeed, for many countries, it provides an independent guarantee of your performance as a supplier and this can materially help the sale of your goods in the market place. The agencies also claim that they often help shippers get their documents right and so avoid difficulties over both delivery of goods and payment for them; they say that their chief difficulty wish shippers is that they are expected to work with shipments documented by inadequate paperwork.
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