Customs broker or checking tool: which one to choose?

What a customs broker does

A customs broker is a professional who carries out the formalities for you: they lodge the declaration and deal with customs. They can act in direct representation (in the name and on behalf of their client) or in indirect representation (in their own name, on behalf of their client), which does not share responsibility in the same way.

• They know the special regimes, the controls and the procedures specific to each operation.
• They can provide a guarantee and handle the authorisations required.
• Their fees are not regulated and vary with the complexity of the file: ask for a quote.

What Customs Check does

Customs Check checks your file before it is lodged: formats, consistency between fields, expected documents. The file checker and the tools (EORI, VAT, AEO status, commodity code and import duties, customs value) are free and send nothing to customs.

• A score, the blocking issues and the warnings, with an explanation of each error.
• A PDF report to send to your forwarder or to keep.

Customs Check does not classify your goods, does not replace a professional's advice and guarantees neither the acceptance of a declaration nor the absence of a control.

When a broker is the right choice

• A first import, or a product you have never declared.
• A special regime: warehousing, processing, transit.
• Goods subject to licences or specific controls.
• You want an intermediary to hold the relationship with customs and provide a guarantee.
• A volume too small to justify learning the procedures.

When a tool is enough, or complements

• You already file yourself, or your broker does, and you want to avoid rejections for errors of form.
• Your flows are regular and simple: same suppliers, same codes.
• You want to check what your provider prepares: EORI number, code, value, documents.
• You check a partner's VAT number or EORI before dealing with them.

Both together

Sending your broker a file that has already been checked, with its report, cuts the back-and-forth over missing information. The tool prepares; the professional puts their signature on it.

What neither of them replaces

• A binding tariff information decision when the classification is uncertain: only customs commits its services.
• The proof of origin your supplier must give you to benefit from a preferential rate.

Anyone who provides information to customs remains responsible for its accuracy and completeness (Article 15 of the Union Customs Code).

Frequently asked questions