A Customs Broker such as Cap International, Inc. is a company licensed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. A Customs Broker is a company that will deal on your behalf with the Government agencies, clearing your freight through Customs. And also through all of the other government agencies that deal with import shipments. In other words, while you concentrate on your business, we will concentrate on clearing your shipments. And make sure they are in compliance with Customs regulations, and other government agencies regulations.
To be able to comply with the government agencies, we are highly trained and up to date with their regulations and trade agreements. The trade agreements are international trade agreements with many countries. The purpose of the agreements is to lower the duty from the qualifying countries.
Lower Duty
Besides being up to date with the agreements we try to lower the duty on products. To do so we are very knowledgeable with the U.S tariff schedule and the ever changing regulations. As part of our job, we classify the imported products and try to get the lower duty. In order to properly classify the products we will research the product. In researching the product we ask the importer to describe the item as to how it works, what it is made of, and so on. If we are still in doubt we will research the product on the web and also see if there are any rulings for similar products in the Customs website.
Expedited Customs Clearance
As a Customs Broker we feel that it is our responsibility to get your shipment cleared as fast as possible. What we do is submit the information for the shipment electronically to Customs. Customs will then clear the shipment paperless or ask for the paper documents to be submitted. Our program then will automatically send you the answer from Customs. You will know the status immediately.
Most of the shipments we clear are cleared within 24 hours. That is 92% of all the shipments we handle are cleared within 24 hours. The time starts when we receive all of the documents and the freight is either available or en route. When the shipment is en route and manifested in the Customs computer we can submit the information to Customs to clear the shipment. A big part of these shipments are cleared by us before they even arrive at the city of destination in the USA. Which means the shipment can be picked up as soon as the carrier has the freight available for pick up. And the freight can then be delivered saving you time.
Nationwide Customs Clearance
Cap International has a nationwide license from Customs to clear merchandise. So if you have freight in other cities around the country we can clear them from our offices in Houston. Clearing shipments nationwide is possible since we are licensed for that through a Customs program called Remote Entry Clearance. With remote entry we submit all of the documentation for the shipment electronically to Customs in the city the freight is located. Customs in that city will review the documentation, and most of the time they clear the freight within minutes on a paperless release.
We have been Investigated and Licensed
Since we are a licensed Customs Broker, we have been investigated and tested not only by Customs for our skills, but also by the FBI, that does a background check on us. The investigation is to make sure we don’t have any criminal background. Cap Intl has joined the fight against terrorism and is committed to help keep our borders safe. To do this we have joined and are partners in a government agency called Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT). By being partners in C-TPAT our security measures are checked and we have to update our profile yearly.
Contact us if you have a shipment or you have any questions about importing @ 281-548-1003 or email us at Logistics@cap-customs-broker.com
