According to research by Deloitte of Procurement Leaders, just over half of businesses consider import duties as an area to increase savings. Since import duties are being overlooked, it is clear that the opportunity to minimize costs sits in the filing of the customs entry itself, where goods are declared based on HS number as well as qualified for any eligible free trade agreements.
Often times, importers and brokers are not working from the same parts database when creating the filing and have not provided correct or consistent information, enabling only 10% of entries to be audited. An average company that only audits 10% of its entries under a regular random audit is likely to be losing millions of dollars due to misclassifications and missed opportunities. Therefore, utilizing an entry visibility system to correctly classify products can lead to savings with free trade agreements, free trade zones, and other special programs!
