WHAT IS ON-SITE CUSTOMS CLEARANCE IN IMPORTS?

Remzi AKÇİN
Chairman of the Board

On-site customs clearance in imports, which the Ministry of Trade introduced to the public with the slogan “each facility is a customs”, is the most extreme example of facilitating customs procedures granted to the authorized obligor certificate holder. However, in order to explain on-site customs clearance in imports, we have to explain the facilitation of customs procedures and the authorized obligor certificate.

I- WHAT IS ON-SITE CUSTOMS CLEARANCE IN IMPORTS?

When we look at the import process of goods coming by sea, the import process goes through many stages such as; submission of summary declaration, arrival notification, risk analysis, x-raying of the container, unloading of the goods, temporary storage, registration of the declaration, inspection of the goods, analysis, obtaining import permits, product safety control, payment of taxes.

In fact, these stages are not that easy. For example, even filling out the customs declaration requires expertise and effort. There are 54 boxes in the customs declaration, and each box contains a lot of information, from the codes and the nature of the goods to the payment method. Moreover, a mistake made in this information can result in paying a high customs fine, facing disciplinary action, or even being tried for smuggling.

Facilitating customs procedures involves skipping one or more of these stages or the content of these stages or completing them later. Therefore, the right to facilitate customs procedures is given to companies that are reliable, have reliable and traceable commercial records, have financial capacity, and have complete safety and security measures in their building facilities. These companies are subject to inspection by the Ministry of Trade in the specified aspects, and those who are found to meet the conditions are accredited by issuing an “authorized liable certificate (AOP)”. Those who receive this international document benefit from the facilitation of customs procedures.

Companies with AEO can benefit from the following conveniences without any additional conditions: incomplete declaration procedure, partial collateral application, green line application including on-board transaction, being subject to less and priority document control and inspection, submitting summary declaration consisting of reduced mandatory information, reducing and prioritizing safety and security checks regarding summary declaration, priority passage right at border gates. In addition, they can benefit from more advanced facilitation upon application and fulfillment of certain special conditions. One of these conveniences is the “on-site customs clearance in import” application.

As a result of these explanations, we can explain on-site customs clearance in import as the goods passing through the border being taken directly to the company’s facility without being taken to the customs directorate and the transit and import transactions being completed here within the framework of a simplified procedure.

II- WHAT CONDITIONS ARE SUBJECT TO ON-SITE CUSTOMS CLEARANCE IN IMPORTS?

In order to have on-site customs clearance authorization in imports, the following conditions must be met.

• Being a manufacturer. (Except for group importers operating in the automotive sector.)
• Having an AEO-I.
• Having a secure storage area or using the warehouse of an authorized recipient. (In the application, the authorized obligor certificate holder can convert the Type C warehouse belonging to himself or the group manufacturer into a secure storage area.)
• Having provided a cash guarantee or letter of guarantee in the amount of €500,000 to the customs administration.
• We find it useful to provide detailed information on some of the conditions sought in on-site customs clearance in imports.

Guarantee

Although the guarantee is given in EURO, it can also be given in Turkish lira. If the guarantee is given in TL, the guarantee amount in EURO is determined based on the TCMB foreign exchange buying rate on the date the guarantee is given. Again, if the guarantee is given in Turkish lira, the guarantee amount is updated every year.

If the guarantee is given as a letter of guarantee instead of cash, the letter of guarantee must be in accordance with the specified sample and must be indefinite.

If it is desired to have lump sum guarantee authority together with on-site customs clearance authority in imports, the guarantee amount to be given is €2 million.

Facilities

The main theme of on-site customs clearance in imports is that import transactions are carried out at the permit holder's facilities. Therefore, it is useful to briefly touch on the subject of facilities.

• Facilities consist of secure storage areas and secure parking areas.
• Facilities to be used within the scope of the permit are specified in the application form.
• Application is required for transactions to be carried out at a facility other than the facilities specified in the permit.
• Facilities that will not be used or have lost their conditions must be reported to customs.
• Facilities that have been removed from the scope of the permit can be included in the permit again upon application.
• In cases where facilities that have been previously examined and have not passed 3 years are requested to be included in the scope of the newly obtained permit or added to the permit as a new facility, whether or not the facilities meet the required conditions is not considered.

Out-of-scope goods

On the other hand, it is not possible to perform transactions within the scope of the permit for all kinds of goods. On-site customs clearance cannot be applied for the following items in imports.

• Goods whose import or transit is prohibited or restricted by law, general regulatory procedures and international agreements,
• Goods whose import to Turkey is left to certain institutions and organizations,
• Agricultural products processed with bulk chemicals that must be subject to analysis,
• Goods included in the list numbered Annex (I) of the Special Consumption Tax Law,
• Goods subject to specialized customs application,
• Goods outside the scope of the permit holder's field of activity.

Goods whose import is subject to the permission of a public institution or organization are subject to on-site customs clearance upon import, provided that permission is obtained.

III- OPERATION OF ON-SITE CUSTOMS CLEARANCE IN IMPORT

The period in which the goods located in the secure storage area or secure parking area to be imported within the scope of on-site customs clearance in imports will be declared is determined by the regional directorate. This period cannot exceed two hours. However, this period does not include the period in which the goods will be kept waiting for inspection.

The declaration regarding the import of the goods is registered electronically at the customs directorate authorized for the facility. During the registration of the declaration, the necessary permits, licenses and documents regarding the goods must be obtained and recorded in the declaration. The documents that must be present during the registration of the declaration are not included in the annex of the declaration and are not presented to the customs administration, but are kept to be presented when requested.

The permit holder notifies the customs directorate electronically that the registered goods are ready for import. From this notification onwards, the goods are kept in the secure storage area or secure parking area for the control type notification to be given by the customs administration for the control type notification period.

At the end of the period, the customs administration;

• If it is reported that the goods will not be inspected, the taxes are paid and the goods are imported after the exit approval from the system is given.
• If it is reported that the goods will be inspected, the goods are kept waiting until the officer in charge of the inspection arrives. If it is determined that there is no situation contrary to the declaration as a result of the inspection, the taxes are paid and then the goods are imported.

If the import is intended to be carried out without unloading the vehicle, the declaration is made electronically and is kept waiting for the control type notification to be given by the customs administration for the control type notification period. At the end of this period, the procedure is carried out as explained above depending on whether the goods will be inspected or not.

If a situation contrary to the declaration is detected during the inspection of the goods, the responsibility of the on-site customs clearance permit holder for import is assessed.

The inspection is initiated by going to the facilities belonging to the permit holder within a maximum of three hours following the end of the control type notification period specified in the permit. If this period cannot be complied with due to the workload of the customs directorate or force majeure reasons, the relevant customs director may extend the period. In this case, the inspection procedure is initiated within three hours at the latest from the beginning of the next business day.

If the goods are subject to inspection, the procedures related to the transit regime are also carried out by the officer in charge of the inspection in accordance with the transit legislation.

If the import is intended to be carried out without unloading the goods from the vehicle, the vehicle is removed to be unloaded in a place other than a secure parking area. At the destination outside the facility, after unloading from the transport vehicle, the transit declaration and import declaration and their attachments are compared by the on-site customs clearance permit holder. If no irregularities are found as a result of the control, the situation is reported to the customs directorate electronically and transit procedures are carried out. The import procedures of the goods are completed by paying the taxes.

If there is a irregularity or if there is an item other than the declaration, the situation is reported to the customs directorate electronically. The goods are kept waiting by taking the necessary precautions until the officer assigned to control arrives. Transit procedures are carried out in accordance with the transit legislation. Import procedures are completed after the taxes are paid.

IV- ISSUANCE, SUSPENSION AND WITHDRAWAL OF THE PERMIT

In the following cases, the certificate holder is warned in writing at the first attempt and a penalty for irregularity is applied.

• Acting contrary to the provisions determined by the regulation regarding on-site customs clearance application in imports,
• Lack of a secure storage area or secure parking area within the facility or adding a new area without obtaining the permit or changing the location of these areas,
• Loss of one of the features of the existing secure storage area or secure parking area,
• Detection that the goods imported within the scope of the permit are in violation of the declaration or attempts are being made to import goods that are not declared,
• Lack of one or more documents that are not required to be added to the declaration but must be kept,
• Detection during subsequent control that goods that are not in the company's field of activity have been imported,
• Carrying out transactions outside of working hours without requesting the customs directorate.

If the above-mentioned violations are repeated within 3 years, on-site customs clearance permits for imports will be suspended for 3 months and a penalty for irregularity will be applied

If the certificate holders whose permits are suspended commit one of the violations that would require suspension within 3 years, the permit will be suspended for 6 months and a penalty for irregularity will be applied.

If the certificate holders whose permits are suspended for 6 months commit one of the violations that would require suspension within 3 years, the permit will be suspended for 2 years and a penalty for irregularity will be applied.

In the following cases, the on-site customs clearance permit for imports shall be suspended until these conditions are re-established.

• Loss of the conditions for granting on-site customs clearance permit for imports,
• Loss of the conditions for having the necessary equipment and hardware for storing, unloading, examining and sampling the goods,
• Not having the necessary mechanism for weighing the goods within the scope of the permit when necessary,
• Insufficient collateral or failure to update the collateral.

The on-site customs clearance permit for the person whose on-site customs clearance permit for exports is suspended shall also be suspended for the duration of the suspension.

On the other hand, if the certificate holder renounces the on-site customs clearance permit for imports, the on-site customs clearance permit for imports shall be revoked.

If the on-site customs clearance permit for imports that has been revoked is requested again, an application form must be submitted for the on-site customs clearance permit for imports.