Advanced Guide to Completing Customs Declarations

This advanced training course will closely guide you through the decisions that led to the arrival of HMRC’s CDS (Customs Declaration Service) platform.

You will achieve a comprehensive understanding on how the different operating models of the UK’s ports affect the clearance process, what documents and pre-requisites are needed to begin the process of submitting an entry and we will demonstrate how to complete import declarations in a live demo system. This will show you the steps you need to cover and showcase a “real-life” application.

This course is suited to both importers and exporters, and will have a core focus on imports due to their greater complexity around valuation.

By the end of this course you will gain an understanding of how a customs declaration software can be laid out, and how identify solutions to common CDS error codes.

*The course will demonstrate the use of an e-customs platform, however this knowledge and skill can be applied to any customs platforms.

Course content

Learning outcomes

  • Understand why customs declarations are required and why CDS (Customs Declaration Service) implemented
  • Understand the steps required to begin lodging customs declarations
  • Learn how to extract key information from commercial documents
  • Learn how to refer to gov.uk guidance to assist in completing declarations
  • Follow a step-by-step example of completing an import declaration in CDS


Pre-requisites

Assessment

More details

Who should attend?

This course is suited for individuals or businesses that are looking to upskill their team on the process of completing customs declarations in HMRC’s CDS, either in-house or by instructing intermediaries.

Prior knowledge of importing and exporting processes will benefit the learner, but are not required. This course is designed to give a working, practical knowledge of customs clearance processes that can be applied in isolation, or as part of an individual’s wider learning programme/experience.

Professionals suited to this course include:

  • Customs agents
  • Freight forwarders
  • UK traders
  • Export and import administrators
  • Export and import sales administrators
  • Distribution specialists
  • Import/Export compliance officers
  • Trade and compliance officers