Customs Clearance of Goods
All steps and processes carried out to release goods from customs are referred to as customs clearance.
Accordingly, the owner of the goods or their legal representative, after preparing the documents required for submission to customs, declares to the competent customs the details of the goods sent to the warehouse under customs supervision for import or export. This declaration is generally made electronically or physically.
The owner of the goods or their legal representative is then obliged to account for expenses such as commercial profit, customs duties, and value-added tax in their statement.
Customs clearance calculations must consider the purchase value of the goods, customs tariff source, and other rules, regulations, and facilities provided by the government to importers and exporters.
Customs Clearance Procedures
The customs clearance process involves several stages, including:
- Arrival of goods at the customs area and receipt of the customs warehouse invoice
- Preparation of documents
- Customs declaration
- Receipt and determination of the declaration path
- Inspection and evaluation of goods
- Obtaining necessary permits such as specifications and laboratory approvals
- Tariff inspection and declaration value
- Payment of customs duties
- Loading and delivery of goods from the customs warehouse
- Release of goods
Stage 1: Arrival of Goods at the Customs Area and Receipt of the Customs Warehouse Invoice
At this stage, the goods must be delivered to the customs area under customs supervision, and the customs warehouse invoice must be received. The customs warehouse invoice includes information such as the weight of the cargo, number of packages, and arrival date of the goods.
Stage 2: Preparation of Documents
In this stage, you must prepare all the necessary documents for the customs declaration. If necessary, before declaring to the concerned customs, you must send the documents to the proxy bank for review and approval.
Stage 3: Declaration through the EPL System
At this stage, the details of the goods must be declared electronically by the owner of the goods or their legal representative in the EPL system. Through this system, the import, export, and transit of goods can be declared, available at https://epl.irica.ir.
In this stage, several pieces of information such as product specifications and order registration information are retrieved from systems and other information such as:
- Value of goods
- Exact number of goods
- Customs tariffs and declaration calculations
are declared by the declarant.
The customs declaration must be submitted to customs, and the declarant must enter all relevant information.
"EPL" is a system for customs clearance. If you, as a customer, wish to clear your required goods from customs, you must use this system to communicate with customs.
To use the EPL system, you must first go to the customs IT unit and request a password to enter EPL, which is your customs identification code. In the EPL system, preliminary statements can be printed. Therefore, if users are not accustomed to entering information directly online, they can do the following:
First, print the general form of this statement and fill in all relevant parts, then enter the information into the system based on what has been filled out.
Filling out the declaration form is particularly important, and if a mistake occurs, it can lead to significant financial and non-financial damages.
The amount that the owner of the goods must pay as input fees is crucial and is calculated at the stage of completing the declaration.
The goods owner can prepare the customs declaration themselves or through their legal representative. The declarant audits the documents and completes the draft declaration form using them.
Step 4: Receipt and Determination of the Declaration Path
After the final approval of the declarant, a declaration registration number is issued. Immediately after assigning the declaration number in the first step, the declaration is automatically placed in one of three paths: green, yellow, or red.
This declaration path selection is either random or done using the risk management system based on components such as:
- Type of product
- Country of origin
- Weight
- Tariff classification
- Credit of the goods owner
Step 5: Inspection and Evaluation of Goods
In the continuation of the customs clearance process, depending on the designated path, it will proceed as follows:
Green Path:
The declaration goes directly to the exit stage. If no special permits are needed and customs duties are paid, you can proceed directly to the issuance of the loading permit.
Yellow Path:
In this way, according to the virtual expert's diagnosis, the goods may need evaluation. In this case, the packages must be opened in the presence of the customs appraiser, examined, and matched with the documents in terms of quantity and specifications. In some cases, the expert can confirm the declaration and send it to the payment stage based on sufficient records and documents.
Red Path:
For shipments placed in the red path, the appraiser is identified from the beginning, and it must be done in the first stage of goods inspection and evaluation. In this way, the package is opened, examined by the customs appraiser, and matched with the documents.
Step 6: Obtaining Necessary Permits
Obtaining the necessary permits for the goods, which are determined based on the officially declared tariff or based on the opinion of the appraiser and the expert.
Step 7: Tariff and Declaration Value Verification
In this stage, the virtual expert examines the cargo in terms of value and tariff and its compliance with laws and regulations based on the declaration information and evaluation of the goods and matching them with the declaration documents.
In case of discrepancies, the declaration is referred to the Head of Evaluation Service and a report of the dispute is issued for review and final decision.
If the declaration information is accepted by the expert, they will confirm the declaration and send it to the payment stage.
Step 8: Payment of Customs Duties
After the inspection statement and determining the amount payable for fees and taxes by customs, the owner of the goods or their legal representative deposits the amount related to the fees and taxes through the electronic payment gateway or by cash receipt at the bank to the customs account.
After paying the due amounts at this stage, the goods owner or their legal representative can make the necessary arrangements to deliver the goods in the next stage.
Step 9: Loading and Delivery of Goods from the Customs Warehouse
After completing customs procedures and payment at the payment stage, the declaration is put into the loading permit issuance state.
If all active permits are approved in the system and the currency source information for bank declarations is entered, based on the declarant's request, customs will issue a loading permit.
After receiving and settling the storage invoice, the concerned warehouse keeper will deliver the goods to the owner or the legal representative listed in the declaration. The goods are loaded from the customs warehouse and directed to the specialized customs exit gate for the final step.
In the storage account, in addition to the cost of keeping the goods in the warehouse, costs such as unloading, insurance, and palletizing are also added.
Final Step: Goods Release
At the customs exit gate, a final inspection of the goods is conducted. Finally, with the approval of the appraiser and the exit gate expert, the procedures for clearing this product from customs are completed, and the goods can be released without any obstacles.
In cases where goods are transported by non-Iranian means of transport, ten percent of the transport cost will be charged as a road tax at customs. If Iranian transport fleets (ship, truck, plane, train) are used, you will be exempt from paying ten percent by the Ministry of Roads.
Duration of Goods Storage in Customs
The permissible period for storing goods in customs areas is 3 months from the date of delivery to these areas.
This period can be extended for another two months if the goods owner submits a written request and if there is a justified reason for the customs disclosure.
If no action is taken to complete the customs procedures within this period, the goods will be subject to abandoned regulations. Also, if a clearance document is issued for a product and it is not removed from the customs warehouse within a month, it falls under the abandoned goods provisions.
