Customs agent as a profession

Who is the customs agent? What is its main task and how appropriate is the involvement of this specialist in its activities? How difficult it is for them to become and what is needed to do this. We will try to answer all these questions in this article.

First, let's define the term itself. A customs agent (or customs customs broker) is a specialist professionally engaged in providing the necessary documents to customs and tax organizations in the field of foreign trade. This person representing you or your organization in the field associated with the payment of duties, excises, taxes. The work of the customs agent is to organize the registration of imports and exports, to provide advice related to various economic procedures, legal documents, sanitary, veterinary, pharmaceutical and other requirements. He must understand the rules of electronic customs declaration of ECS and ICS, as well as in NCTS documents related to transit.

In the event of a legal action related to the difficulty of transporting goods across the border, the customs agent feels in the process and may be authorized to act as a direct or indirect representative. Direct representation consists in the fact that the customs agent acts on behalf of the customer, indirectly - on his own behalf.

We briefly listed the main duties of a specialist in this field. Naturally, all the nuances can not be covered and absolutely all the pitfalls will be able to tell only people who have been occupying this post for a long time. Now consider how to become a customs agent.

For work by a customs agent it is necessary to have the appropriate permission, which can be obtained by passing the exam to the state committee of the Ministry of Finance. However, before the candidate is admitted to the exam, it is necessary to file an application for entering his name in the list of customs agents along with a certificate of absence of previous convictions and other documents.

How difficult is it to pass the exam? Your listening time is approximately 20 minutes, but during this period you should demonstrate knowledge of economics, accounting, geography of foreign and domestic policy of transportation of goods of the state of which you are a citizen. It's not a simple task, is it?

Naturally, the exam will not be made immediately from the candidate by the customs agent. Then practice is necessary. In order to become truly independent in the customs agent's business , it is required to feel the whole difference between theory and reality from several months to six months. It depends on what environment the new specialist comes in, the higher the load - the faster the result will be felt.

As for specialized education, it does not play a role here, an applicant with any higher education is suitable. Of course, graduates of relevant universities have the advantage of knowing the information, but nobody prevents you from getting an additional refresher course. Very useful skills are knowledge of basic office programs and knowledge of foreign languages. In any case, you will have to master both.

And finally, the last question is how appropriate is it to involve a customs agent to solve their problems? Here it's up to you, but once again, it's a job for people who are able to maintain composure, who have good concentration and adaptability. The customs agent should easily find all the necessary documents, know the principle of the customs authorities. This is a tense and responsible work that requires knowledge and responsibility. Are you ready to cope with all this yourself or instruct the case specialist - the choice is yours.