SBS-OP-DOtC-05-022 - Import process

Purchase Order (PO)

The PO is automatically generated from the Purchase Info Record, a document that links a supplier, a product and purchasing terms. The PIR is under the responsibility of the buyer.

When setting up/updating a PIR, the buyer must consider that, if (and only if) Solvay Solutions UK Ltd is the importer of the goods, a few key data are mandatory in the PIR:

• The control confirmation key to allow the creation of an Inbound Delivery
• The Goods Supplier Address has to be outside the European Union
• The incoterm has to be different from DDP

All Purchase Orders are replicated into GTS. The control confirmation key is mandatory for import flows. 

For more information, see the following awareness/training documents:

The requirements above are related to the use of the GTS tool. Parallel to that, Solvay Solutions UK Ltd manages on cost conditions in the Purchase Order in order to take into account additional costs when valuing the stock.

In case of an import, the condition “Z0B1” corresponding to the administrative cost of the import clearance has to be added and attached to the relevant partner, that is Kerry Logistics, the selected customs broker (Vendor No 110688).

The procurer ensures that data are set up correctly and inform the buyer if amendment is needed.

Receipt of import documentation

The customs broker receives a copy of the Purchase Order automatically if he is set up as a partner for the on cost condition for clearance.

The buyer must also indicate in the text of the PIR (it will therefore come up in the PO) the notify party for customs clearance.

The customs broker receives the original import documentation.

Inbound Delivery

When the vessel is expected in the UK shortly, the customs broker gets ready for the Frontier Declaration (see next step). The first operation is to create an Inbound Delivery (transaction reference “VL31N”), in RCS, based on the Purchase Order Number.

He then writes down on his file what is the Inbound Delivery number attached to the PO number. 

Key point: the customs broker checks that the information in the Inbound Delivery matches the original documentation sent by the supplier.

Case of multi lines PO (1 PO reference but several physical shipments with separate import entries)

If a PO has several lines (for different items), all the lines come up when creating an Inbound Delivery based on the PO number. But maybe the supplier has only shipped certain items in the vessel. In this case, the customs broker adapts the Inbound Delivery by removing the non relevant lines. When the rest of the PO eventually arrives, all the remaining lines come up again in a new Inbound Delivery. The lines corresponding to items that have already been receipted on site can’t be used again.

Case of a shipment with multi POs (several POs references but 1 single shipment and import entry)

The customs broker creates several Inbound Deliveries corresponding to the different PO references. Each Inbound delivery generates a UCR number. When the customs broker creates the SFD, he attaches to the SFD all the UCR references. CHIEF comes back with a single reference for the SFD. This reference is then added in all the SFD replicas attached to the different Inbound Deliveries when the customs broker updates them. This way, all the supplementary declarations are linked to the same SFD.

Evidence of preferential origin - Long Term Declaration

A customer can ask Solvay to provide a Long Term Declaration, a legal document in which Solvay certifies that the goods qualify for preferential origin (or not), for all the shipments in a given period, generally 1 year (see also “Procedure Management of Long Term Declaration in GTS”).

The person in charge of LTD within CS EMEA is responsible for issuing the document directly from GTS. The output is based on the result of the preference calculation.

Non drawback clause

The non drawback clause is a part of the preferential agreements (except the ones between the EU and South Africa and South Korea that exclude this rule). This clause prevents cumulating the benefits from preferential origin (for the importer) and from customs regimes with economic impact such as IPR (for the manufacturer and exporter). It means that an export flow post IPR cannot benefit from an invoice statement or EUR1.

At the time of export, GTS checks if the flow qualifies for IPR and if the flow qualifies for trade preference.

If the third country has not signed any preferential agreement with the EU, then the export flow discharges the IPR stock.

If the flow qualifies for trade preference (relevant country and product qualifying), then an invoice statement is printed, and it is possible to issue a LTD for the product.

Remark: « worst case » rule

This rule applies in the determination of the preference and when issuing LTD.

If there is a multi sourcing on a raw material (EU and non EU), then GTS considers that the raw material does not originate from the EU.

If there are several alternative BOM’s to manufacture a finished product (certain leading to a positive result, certain to a negative result), the GTS considers that the finished product does not qualify for preferential origin.

To issue a LTD, GTS considers all the shipments (all the invoices) during the period. If only one shipment doesn’t qualify, then the LTD is negative.

Steps of the IMPORT process

The customs broker is responsible for checking if there is any preferential origin certificate in the original documentation sent by the supplier:

• Invoice statement
• EUR1
• Form A
•  A.TR used within the customs union TR-EU (it doesn’t confirm the preferential agreement, but confirms that the product is in free circulation) 

He is then responsible for using the relevant codes and CPC accordingly and filing the document. He is also responsible to archive documents. 

Annexes

Annex 1: 

List of preferential agreements and accepted evidence of preferential origin

Follow the link below to the EU website 

http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/customs/customs_duties/rules_origin/preferential/index_en.htm 

Annex 2: 

Invoice statement 

“THE EXPORTER OF THE PRODUCTS COVERED BY THIS DOCUMENT (CUSTOMS AUTORISATION …) DECLARES THAT, EXCEPT WHERE OTHERWISE CLEARLY INDICATED THESE PRODUCTS ARE OF EU PREFERENTIAL ORIGIN.”