The start of a brand-new year is a great opportunity to wipe your compliance slate clean and introduce positive actions to ensure a successful program. The main objective is to evaluate what’s working and what’s not, and the guide below should assist in keeping you on the straight and narrow. Resolution # 1: Your Own […]

What you need to know? HMRC are currently approaching both sellers directly and via the marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay searching for non-VAT compliant non-UK sellers. What are they looking for?  If you are a non-resident UK business and hold stock in the UK, either in a 3PL center such as Amazon FBA, you […]

Due to the popularity of The Nine Reasons that Buying Your Imports on CIF Terms is Too Good to Be True blog, we wanted to release an update covering why you should buy your imports on FOB terms. At first glance, it can be tempting to buy on a CIF (Cost, Insurance & Freight) basis. You don’t […]

Participating Government Agencies, more commonly known as PGAs, regulate commodities imported into the United States. To avoid problems in the clearance of your merchandise, we strongly recommend that you familiarize yourself with policies and procedures prior to importing your goods. Unfortunately, figuring out if your specific product is regulated by one of these agencies can […]

If U.S. Customs decides to pay you a visit, will you be prepared? If you’re not complying with applicable laws and regulations, you could be facing some hefty monetary fines, seized shipments and maybe even jail time. No one wants to be in that situation, and now more than ever it’s imperative that importers and […]

Freight quote. Check! Duty rate. Check! Commercial Documents. Check! As importers tick items off their shipment checklist, one of the most important tasks is purchasing a Customs bond – and setting it up right. Customs bonds are required for all importers and are necessary for you to act as the importer of record for your […]

When 20’ and 40’ full containers make up 90% of all goods shipped around the world, a common question arises with newer shippers: “What if I don’t have enough freight to fill a full container?” In this case, LCL (Less-than-Container-Load) may be right for you. Don’t judge a shipper by their carton count LCL offers […]

Importing set breakdowns to the United States comes with its own set of customs requirements; Shapiro is set on making this easy for you! See what we did there? Customs requires importers to not only declare the set within their Customs entry, but also each component of the set. Shapiro needs to know the weights […]

If you’ve been living under a rock since 2005 or aren’t fluent in compliance geek, you’re likely not aware of the International Standards of Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM 15) Regulation of wood packaging material in international trade, which we wanted to bring to your attention as U.S. Customs has plans to start issuing lofty violations against […]

Essential Online Presence Amazon is the largest internet-based retailer in the world. They have retail websites for 15 different countries and the ability to ship worldwide. With that kind of exposure, it only makes sense for retailers to have their products listed on the website. Brick and mortar appeals to local consumers and independent websites […]