Customs | BSmart Company Registry

LAW OFFICE FRANCE Solicitors in France, English speaking lawyers in France experts in import and export law, criminal, civil, labour legislation and French property specialists.

LAW OFFICE SPAIN Solicitors in Spain English speaking lawyers in Spain experts in import and export law, criminal, civil, labour legislation and Spanish property specialists.

REAL ESTATE FRANCHISE International franchise opportunities. Consider franchising your business, become a new franchise business in France in residential and commercial property.

ONLINE CURRENCY Low cost currency. Import and export FX currency guaranteed low prices. Considering importing, buy currency FX online to simplify your business transactions with one of the oldest established FX companies.

SPANISH PLANNING SOLUTIONS Opening an overseas branch office in Spain? Buying a commercial building or residential property in Spain? We offer a full planning service in plain English from the experts - Spanish Planning Permission.

FRENCH PROPERTY COMPANY French property holding company - Societe Civile Immobiliere - SCI - Company incorporation to minimize inheritance and other French tax issues. Before you invest in or purchase a commercial property in France consider the benefits of an SCI incorporation.

SPANISH WINE IMPORTERS Cork & Bottle good food and wine store. Importers of Cava and Spanish wine to Ireland, UK, USA, Asia. Thanks to BSmart Import Company for their professional advise and for our success.

FRENCH WINE IMPORTERS The French Wine Company. French wine importers providing quality French wines imported into Ireland and the UK at the most competitive price. Import products were located with assistance from BSmart Company Imports.

OLIVE OIL IMPORTERS We searched to locate a great olive oil provider and a genuine product. We located an olive oil producer in Catalunya Spain with the assistance of BSmart Company the gap analysis experts.

IRISH IMPORT AND EXPORT Increase your sales and profitability, buy direct. BSmart Company can assist your company to locate products at the most competitive price.

Customs.

This is a diverse and complex area for importers and exporters. It is always advisable to engage experts to assist. The information below is simply a guide.

Possible Trading Scenarios.
Depending on trade agreements between your country and other countries, there are three situations that you might encounter when your business trades with another company located in a foreign country.

Trade within a customs union
Trade based on a free trade agreement
Trade with an independent third country

What is a Customs Union?
A customs union is an association formed when two or more sovereign states agree to eliminate or reduce trade restrictions among themselves and to adopt a common trade policy toward outsiders. For members of a Customs Union, no rules are needed to determine which goods inside the union can move freely and no origin rules are needed, therefore, no internal frontiers are needed for customs or external trade purposes.

Customs unions are designed to lower costs of imported goods and to enlarge markets. Member countries can thus concentrate on products that are easiest to produce in terms of their own resources and import other essential products at minimal expense.

The European Union (EU) was established on November 1, 1993. Under the Maastricht Treaty, European citizenship was granted to citizens of each member state. Customs and immigration agreements were enhanced to allow European citizens greater freedom to live, work, or study in any of the member states and border controls were relaxed.

The primary goals of the European Union are to

Reduce or eliminate trade restrictions
Standardize VAT (Value Added Tax)
Establish a common European currency.

In the EU, INTRASTAT (intra-European Union trade statistics) declarations are required for the trade of certain commodities between EU member states for statistical purposes.
For more information about the European Union, see http://europa.eu.int/
On January 1, 1996, the Customs Union between the European Union and Turkey was established creating the closest economic and political relationship between the EU and any non-member country. The primary characteristic of the union is that goods can move freely between the EU and Turkey without being subject to customs duties or quantitative restrictions.

What is a Free Trade Agreement?
A free trade agreement (FTA) between countries seeks to reduce or eliminate customs duties and restrictions to the exchange of commodities between them. Unlike a customs union, an FTA is binding for trading purposes only – there are no common political institutions involved and the sovereignty of member states is left intact. There is no intent to integrate the economies or to turn them into a single economy.
Examples of free trade areas include:

European Economic Area (EEA)
European Free Trade Association (EFTA)
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
Caribbean Community and Common Market (Caricom)
Mercado Comun del Sur (MERCOSUR)

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) involves the USA, Mexico and Canada. NAFTA eliminates tariffs and other trade barriers on approximately 10,000 goods over a period of 15 years beginning in 1994. Additionally, it promotes conditions of fair competition in the area of free trade and increases investment opportunities between the parties of the agreement. The NAFTA creates a free trade area, not a common market. Therefore, customs administrations still exist and goods entering Canada, Mexico or the United States must still comply with each country’s laws and regulations.
The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) was established in 1960 to remove trade barriers and promote closer economic cooperation throughout Western Europe.

MERCOSUR: Comprising Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil, the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) was initially established on March 26, 1991, with the Asuncion Treaty in Paraguay. It represents approximately 190 million individuals.
The objectives of MERCOSUR include

Free transit of production goods, services and factors between member states
Eliminating customs rights and lifting nontariff restrictions on the transit of goods
Fixing a common external tariff
Adopting a common trade policy with regard to nonmember states
Coordinating positions in regional and international commercial and economic meetings
Coordinating policies of member states relating to foreign trade, agriculture, industry, taxes, the monetary system, exchange and capital, services, customs, transport and communications to ensure free competition between member states
Commitment by the member states to make adjustments to their laws to strengthen the integration process.

For more information about MERCOSUR, see
http://www.americasnet.com/mauritz/mercosur/english/
Trade with a Third Country
When you trade with an independent third country (one with which your country has no free trade agreement or is not a member country of a customs union), your company is subject to all customs tax regulations and must make duty payments for goods transferred to or from that country. Duty rate schedules are provided by the customs authorities in each country and are assessed for certain goods listed in the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS).

The information above is simply a guide and is in no way legally binding and seeks to be as accurate as possible at the time of publication.Always seek expert advice from your local taxation / customs department.