In support of an international purchase made by a buyer, a customs broker will typically provide customs documentation to a local customs authority upon the entry of purchased goods into the buyer's country. This customs documentation, which typically will be in either paper or electronic form, contains customs information. The customs information normally includes transaction information, such as the identity and location of the buyer and seller, and the type of goods being sold. The customs information also includes other information such as both a customs classification and a customs value for the imported, purchased goods. Traditionally, customs brokers generate a significant portion of the customs documentation using a commercial invoice that accompanies the goods, along with supplemental documents such as a shipping manifest. The seller of the goods generates the commercial invoice, which they include with shipping documents that accompany the purchased goods during transport.
The buyer is legally responsible for the content of the customs documents, including being responsible for noting special requirements such as increased, “antidumping duties” on certain goods, setting the appropriate classification of the goods, and determining the correct value of the goods. The commercial invoice sometimes lacks significant information for making these determinations. Additionally, the commercial invoice will not reflect individual buyer-corporation's policies regarding valuation and classification of goods. Procedures and apparatus are therefore needed to ensure customs documents are generated in conformance with both import/export laws and individual corporate policies. Additionally, procedures and apparatus are needed to identify errors in such documents, and the sources of these errors when they are repeated.
Presently, a customs broker and/or buyer can use customs database software to store customs information identifying goods that they purchase internationally, along with the identities of the buyer and the seller, and each of their countries. The software can also store classification and valuation information. A customs broker can access such customs database software and use that customs information in generating customs documentation.
Separately, customs documentation auditing software exists to audit transactions of a single buyer. To use this auditing software, after a customs brokerage completes the filing of customs documentation on products purchased by that buyer, the customs brokerage either manually enters the customs information from the customs documentation, or downloads it from separate in-house software operated by the customs brokerage. The auditing software takes the entered customs information and audits it against a predetermined set of criteria, including verifying it with a database of the buyer's preferred classifications. This preferred classification database might include antidumping information.
While this auditing software can be useful in catching errors, it is frequently time consuming, and it can be subject to both delays and data entry errors. Additionally, it only audits information on the final state of the customs documents, rather than tracking information sources and identifying sources of processing errors.
Accordingly, there has existed a need for procedures and apparatus to ensure customs documents are generated in conformance with both import/export laws and individual corporate policies. Additionally, there has existed a need for procedures and apparatus to identify and locate the sources of repeated filing errors and remedy the errors and/or their causes. Preferred embodiments of the present invention satisfy various combinations of these and other needs, and provide further related advantages.