Doing import and export business requires you to deal with the customs house at various stages. From documentation to clearance, it is important to have experts to ensure a smooth flow of the procedural aspects of the import and export business. That’s why most people hire best CHA and freight forwarders to take care of the legal and procedural hassles.
Who are CHA and Freight Forwarders?
CHA stands for Customs House Agents. They are licensed individuals who assist the importers and exporters with their shipments at the customs station. They act as an intermediary between the clients and the customs house and help their clients ensure the completion of all their formalities and documentation for their cargo. This ensures that their shipment passes through the customs house without any hassle and reaches the destination on time.
On the other hand, a freight forwarder in India is responsible for the movement of goods. They hold expertise in the maintenance, handling and arrangement of the cargo on behalf of the shippers. The responsibility held by the freight forwarders can start from the time the goods are picked up from the seller till they are delivered at the location specified by the buyer.
Services Provided by CHA and Freight Forwarder
Here’s the bouquet of CHA and freight forwarder services that can immensely help you in your import and export business:
- Customs Clearance: CHAs and freight forwarders can be entrusted with the crucial role of customs clearance beginning with preparation and submission of all the necessary documents. This is supported by accurate calculations as per the customs laws and regulations. Special care needs to be taken for the valuation of goods and calculation of duty. Further, to expedite the clearance process, it is essential to effectively liaison with the customs officials.
- Freight Forwarding: As stated earlier, the role of freight forwarders is to assist with transportation services. They can provide efficient air cargo solutions for time-sensitive shipments. Further, they can also assist with cost-effective solutions for heavy and bulky cargo.
- Warehousing and Distribution: Warehousing and clearance are important aspects and services for any importer and exporter. With the help of the best CHA and freight forwarders, you can source short term and long term storage facilities for goods. This can be supported by advanced and highly efficient inventory management solutions to ensure optimal inventory at all times.
- Transportation Management: There are various modes of transportation facilities available based on the specific needs of the importers and exporters. For the movement of goods and cargo within the country, roads and railways serve as effective modes of transportation. However, in the case of cross border movement of goods, air and water transport are the dominant modes of transportation. CHAs and freight forwarders can help you with seamless cross border transportation solutions for timely delivery of shipments. They can also assist you with strategic route planning to reduce costs and minimise transit time.
- Regulatory Compliance: Customs law requires you to comply with all the regulations and requirements followed with timely and accurate compliance. Most importers and exporters are caught up in business operations and therefore, to ensure they do not miss out on the compliance part, it is important to hire experts who can fulfil all the compliance requirements. Further, they often provide with advisory and updates on international laws, trade agreements and tariffs.
- Value Added Services: Good CHAs and freight forwarders also provide multiple value added and ancillary services that revolve around their core services. This can include comprehensive insurance services to protect your cargo against all the potential risks, warehousing support, ancillary registration and compliance requirements, business development and consulting services etc.
FAQ
CHAs are known as Customs House Agents. They are licensed to act as an intermediary between their clients and the customs officials for any transaction of business relating to the import and export of goods at customs stations.
Core services offered by a freight forwarder include ocean or air freight transportation assistance, preparation of necessary documentation, inland transportation from place of origin to destination, storage and warehousing services, customs compliance, cargo insurance etc.
Customs House Agents and freight forwarders are not the same. While a CHA acts as an intermediary between its clients and customs house and assists in the clearance and customs formalities, freight forwarders are focused on the transportation and logistics aspects. However, both these services can be provided by a single organisation.
A good CHA or freight forwarder does provide ancillary customs services including insurance, business consultancy and customs compliance services in India. Laying down your complete requirements can be helpful in determining the scope and extent of services you expect from the CHA and freight forwarder.