Did you know that the term "customs agent" no longer exists? In fact, since May 1, 2016, the Union Customs Code (UCC) has replaced the Community Customs Code (CCC): it is now the registered customs representative (RDE) who is in charge of customs clearance formalities for imports and exports in France and internationally.
What is a registered customs representative?
According to article 18 of the CDU, the customs representative can be appointed under 3 conditions:
- The RDE must be registered with the customs services and the General Directorate of Customs and Indirect Rights.
- The registered customs representative must comply with the terms and conditions set out in the Order of June 14, 2018.
- The RDE must be established in a European Union country.
💡 Good to know: the registered customs representative can be a natural or legal person.
But what is the role of this customs specialist? They handle customs declarations, as well as the presentation of goods during import-export operations. They carry out customs formalities on behalf of third parties, and can act as their direct or indirect representative.
In the case of direct customs representation, the RDE's mandate enables it to handle all customs clearance operations in the name and on behalf of others. With indirect customs representation, on the other hand, the RDE carries out customs clearance operations on behalf of his client, while handling operations in his own name.
RDE missions
The RDE can be seen as an intermediary between the customs authority and its customer. Thanks to the RDE, customs formalities (registration and declaration of products for import or export) are carried out according to the rules of the trade, enabling goods to cross borders and move legally from one country to another within Europe.
Here are the various tasks that the RDE is called upon to carry out in connection with the import and export of goods:
- He checks that his customer's documents are valid and meet customs requirements: if the documents are not compliant, it will not be possible to import or export the products.
- If necessary, the customs representative sends additional supporting documents to the customs authorities.
- The RDE is the guarantor of the correct application of duties and taxes according to the nature of the goods, their country of origin and their country of destination.
- It can also carry out physical checks on imported or exported goods.
- It advises you on customs procedures and calculates in real time the economic performance of your customs procedures and the return on investment.
Of course, in addition to these operational missions, RDE is regularly called upon to advise its customers on their rights and obligations. This advisory role is of the utmost importance, as it is thanks to its expertise that RDE customers can carry out their import and export operations in compliance with customs formalities.
Fiscalead: your customs representative
Would you like to be accompanied by a registered customs representative for the transportation of your goods within the European Union? With 15 years' experience, the Fiscalead team can support you in all your export and import operations in the Member States of the European Union.
In addition to taking care of all operational tasks, we'll give your company the benefit of our VAT expertise acquired over the years. With Fiscalead, you can be sure that all your customs clearance operations are in compliance: your registered customs representative will guide you in asserting your rights and carrying out each customs formalities under optimum conditions.
Contact us to ensure the compliance of all your import and export operations on European territory, and to call on our customs representatives.