Mr. Mike Yap, Vice-President for Product (Compliance Services) & Mass Market Sales at GeTS, shares how their U.S. eCommerce Import Programme has simplified work processes and trade compliance for eCommerce companies.
Q: What are some of the common problems companies face with shipping cross border eCommerce shipment into U.S.?
Mike: One of the biggest challenge companies face is customs clearance for high number of parcels in a shipment, where the data is voluminous, and customs reporting can be complex and time sensitive. For instance, a 20-footer container can easily contain twenty to thirty thousand parcels, each with a designated consignee. Companies must provide the details of each parcel to Customs before the goods can enter the U.S. at the house bill of lading level. Each parcel may also contain multiple commodities that might be categorized as controlled goods which requires additional approval from other government agencies. In addition, companies must also keep up with the latest changes in tariffs, legislations and compliance regulations that affects their importation processes.
Traditional fulfilment methods not only have less airport options, they can also become costly when considering costs such as ECCF fees, on top of the handling fees per parcel. From a seller’s perspective, other common challenges seen throughout the supply chain also include visibility and control of the shipping process, customer expectations, as well as longer compliance and logistics processing time.
Q: How does GeTS’ solution help companies?
Mike: Traditionally, eCommerce shipments imported into the U.S. were often shipped through express couriers or postal services. To promote greater visibility for effective control and to encourage greater flow of trade, U.S. Custom Border and Protection (CBP) introduced a new Customs reporting method for goods valued at $800 USD or less, to enter duty-free into the U.S. This provides an alternative for logistics service providers (LSP) and is offered through GeTS’ eCommerce Import Programme.
Our program is designed for LSP from exporting countries to easily stitch up their services at origin based. This allows for expedited shipping of parcels at a lower cost into the U.S. from anywhere around the world. With linkages to major airports and ocean ports, as well as automated customs filing, the US eCommerce Import Programme offers wider options with great rates.
Q: Can you share with us more about the US eCommerce Import Programme?
Mike: Sure. This programme is an all-in-one solution that supports:
- Unified compliance filing to U.S. Customs CBP for ISF/ACAS, ACE Section 321, Type 86 entry that is capable of handling high volume of transactions.
- Automated processing and smart tools to recommend the right HS codes for the importing products.
- Airport ground handling or Sea port clearance, shipment deconsolidation and last mile delivery service supported by our partners with preferential rates.
Our program leverages on CALISTA's supply chain orchestration capabilities which supports the transformation of trade and shipping data for compliance, coordination of the physical logistics and finally the ease of financing/payments for the shipment. We have also enhanced CALISTA to support eCommerce specific requirements such as last mile delivery, label printing and consumer-based track and trace.
In 2021, we will be expanding our programme to provide an alternative cost-effective fulfilment service that takes advantage of Mexico’s close proximity to US and the USMCA.
Q: What are the benefits of this programme?
Mike: By providing scalability using technology, brokerage assistance, container freight stations and logistics arrangements, it allows the fast release of high volume eCommerce packages.
With our extended port options and advanced technology, we can integrate and automate data from our buyers’ purchasing orders to their order fulfilments through a single unified data format. Companies can also track the entire process on CALISTA, our global supply chain platform, allowing them to quickly respond to and address any issues affecting the delivery period of the parcels.
For eCommerce players, this is a transformational solution that leverages on technology to drive efficiency and cost effectiveness. Through our programme, we enable businesses to scale up without huge cost investments. They are also able to participate more within the eCommerce space that was previously dominated by express couriers and postal services, by offering the same services with higher visibility and cost efficiency.
This is the last part of our series on powering trade connectivity. To view the rest of the articles, click here.
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