Using a freight forwarder? What remains your responsibility as an importer

Direct or indirect representation

The Union Customs Code (Articles 18 and 19) provides two ways of acting on behalf of a company:

• Direct representation: the representative acts in your name and on your behalf. You are the declarant and the debtor of the customs debt; this is the most common case in France
• Indirect representation: the representative acts in their own name, on your behalf. They become the declarant, and you remain jointly and severally liable with them

The representative must hold a mandate from you. Check the type of representation in your contract and in the declaration: it determines from whom customs can claim the duties.

What remains your responsibility

Anyone who provides information to customs is responsible for its accuracy and completeness, and for the authenticity of the documents (Article 15 of the Union Customs Code). The forwarder declares on the basis of your invoice, your packing list and your instructions: if they are wrong or incomplete, the error is yours first.

• Tariff classification: the code determines the duties, anti-dumping measures, licences and CBAM
• Customs value: the price actually paid, freight and insurance up to the EU border, royalties and ancillary costs
• Origin, and in particular the proof of preferential origin that justifies a reduced rate
• Required documents: health certificates, licences, authorisations, CBAM or EUDR references
• Import VAT, which in France has been self-assessed on your VAT number since 2022

Post-clearance audits

Release is not a clean bill of health. Customs can audit a declaration afterwards and notify additional duties for three years, longer in the case of a criminal offence (Article 103 of the Union Customs Code). Late-payment interest and, where applicable, fines are added.

Under direct representation, the assessment is addressed to you: you can only turn to your forwarder if the error was theirs, under your contract. Keep the supporting documents (invoices, proofs of origin, transport documents) for at least three years.

What to check before approving the declaration

Ask your forwarder for the draft declaration, or at least its main data, before it is lodged. Check in particular:

• Your EORI number, not the forwarder's, as importer, and the type of representation
• The 10-digit commodity code of each item, compared with your own classification and any BTI you hold
• The declared value: invoice amount and currency, Incoterm, freight and insurance added where needed
• The country of origin and, if a preferential rate is claimed, the proof of origin that supports it
• The procedure code: 4000 for a standard release for free circulation, 4200 with an exempt intra-EU onward supply, which requires the VAT numbers
• Quantities, masses and numbers of packages, compared with the packing list and the transport document
• Document codes: certificates, licences, BTI, CBAM or EUDR references

After clearance

Get the accepted declaration and reconcile it with the invoice. In France, self-assessed import VAT is pre-filled in your VAT return from the customs declarations: a discrepancy often points to a value or EORI error.

Report any error quickly. A declaration can be amended after release, or invalidated in some cases, and a voluntary correction is always better received than an error found during an audit.

Warning signs

• The forwarder uses “the usual code” without knowing your product
• The declaration carries the forwarder's EORI instead of yours
• The declared value is an ex-works or FOB price, without the freight to the Union
• A preferential rate is applied although you never sent any proof of origin
• You never receive copies of the declarations made in your name

How Customs Check helps

Customs Check reviews your file before your forwarder lodges the declaration: missing fields, EORI and VAT numbers, commodity codes and TARIC measures, country of origin, value and Incoterm, consistency of weights and totals, expected documents.

You get a score, the list of blocking issues and a PDF report to send to your forwarder. Errors are fixed before lodging, not after an audit.

Customs Check does not classify your goods and does not replace your forwarder: it helps you check what will be declared in your name.

Frequently asked questions