Upgrade anyone?

Electronics are often the source of difficulty in international trade but aside from the obvious issues one that is often ‘forgotten’ is the problem that upgrades can bring.   

Having gone to enormous trouble to obtain a tariff classification and export licence for the original item, product development and customer feedback will often lead to the development of a new, improved version.

 

However, what appear to be improvements or extensions to existing functionality can in Customs terms change the classification and the export licence class of the product.  This can mean a change to the tariff code and an invalidation of the export licence.

The result?

An inability to export any of the product until a new export licence is obtained 
An increase in import duty and VAT
Delayed product launches
Unhappy customers

The solution?  Teamwork!


www.morley-consulting.co.uk

Rewards for some

I once had a consignment of ‘tombstones’ to import.

Now these caused trouble on many levels – was there a religious element, had someone died?

Made of marble, big and heavy but they were with a courier company?  Something did not add up.

A lot of phone calls and emails later I had some answers.

They were being imported for a party – in fact a rewards ceremony. Further investigation revealed that these tombstones were not made of marble but of plastic and were only 6cms tall. The names on the tombstones were actually the names of winners of a scheme intended to celebrate exceptional employees.

In international trade you learn something new every day!

www.morley-consulting.co.uk