Our first time importers face a lot of new information about customs rules and regulations. They have to learn to navigate customs and other government agency requirements in order to comply with the appropriate import documentation and permits. This can be overwhelming at times. We understand. We started small, and as all small businesses do, we faced out set of challenges and roadblocks that we had to overcome.
Since the beginning when we started operations in 2012, we have been blessed to work with great logistics partners. We received guidance and support right from the start, and we are lucky to be able to do the same for many first time importers. We continue to be surrounded by great teams in all our areas of operations, including partner freight forwarders, dispatchers, CBP customs agents and other areas of logistics.
Our corporate philosophy is based on the Golden Rule. We strive to be a positive part of all our importerās logistics team. We like to contribute in a positive way through the entire import process.
Importing for the first time can be intimidating, there are several pieces that must come together in a timely way in order to ensure that the shipment is processed on time and without penalties. At Doral Customs Brokers, we are aware of these challenges, we take our time with our first time importers to explain the import process. We participate in all the steps in between purchase and delivery to ensure that the shipment clears customs and is delivered on time and on budget.
If you are a first time importer, it is important that you involve your customs broker early on in the purchase process. We can guide you on the import requirements for your particular import shipment, and we can give you the estimated customs duties and fees so that you can be prepared once the shipment arrives to the US. Most of our first time importers start to copy us on their email communication to their suppliers prior to ship date. From here we guide the suppliers on the Bill of Lading instructions and we request the documents required to proceed with customs.
For ocean shipments we coordinate with the supplier to make sure that we have the ISF data for transmission a few days prior to ship date. From then on, we ensure that the customs documentation is complete, and we follow the shipment to make sure that all parties are aware of the up to date arrival date. About a week prior to arrival, we clear customs and issue our invoice and the customs documents. We then proceed to deliver the shipment to itsfinal destination or you as the importer can pick up the shipment at the warehouse location as well. We provide detailed instructions on how to proceed at every step of your import shipment.
The timing for air shipments must be precise, especially now that many airlines are charging storage after 24 hours of arrival, including weekends. We ask our first time importers to provide us with the complete shipment documentation package as soon as the documents are available. For most air shipments we initiate the customs clearance process before the shipment leaves origin.