Import Customs Clearance Process, Step by Step: US, EU, UK, Canada

Who clears the goods, and what they must register

Import clearance is done by the importer of record (IOR): the party that declares the goods to customs, itself or through a customs broker, pays the duties and import taxes, and answers for the classification, value and origin declared. It keeps the entry records and receives any refunds. A broker or forwarder normally acts only as its agent, and the IOR is not always the company the goods are shipped to (see Triplicate's note on the importer of record).

Under Incoterms 2020 the buyer clears the goods for import and pays duties and taxes under every rule except DDP. Under DDP the seller does, so it or a party it appoints must be allowed to act as importer, which some countries restrict: ICC lists Brazil, where a foreign seller may not arrange import clearance, and notes that non-EU sellers need an EU-established representative. ICC advises sellers that cannot meet these obligations to use DAP or DPU. Each country also sets its own registrations:

• United States: the IOR must be the owner or purchaser of the goods, or a licensed customs broker designated by one of them, and duties are its personal debt even if a broker fails to pay them (19 CFR 141.1). It needs an importer number (IRS EIN, or a CBP-assigned number via CBP Form 5106), a power of attorney for its broker and a customs bond for formal entries: a single transaction bond, or a continuous bond of 10% of the last 12 months' duties, taxes and fees, at least USD 50,000. A nonresident corporation also needs a resident agent for service of process and a bond with a resident corporate surety.
• European Union: EU law uses the declarant, which must normally be established in the EU, so a non-EU seller on DDP uses an indirect representative that declares in its own name and also owes the duty. Every business established in the EU needs an EORI number; a non-EU business needs its own only to lodge declarations or entry summary declarations itself or to act as a carrier. A VAT number is not an EORI, so check numbers in the European Commission's EORI validation service.
• United Kingdom: a GB EORI usually requires premises in the UK; HMRC issues it at once unless it makes checks, which can take up to 5 working days. A business not established in the UK imports into Great Britain only through someone acting indirectly for it, who holds the EORI.
• Canada: the importer needs a nine-digit Business Number with an import-export (RM) program account, opened and managed in the CBSA's CARM Client Portal, where it also delegates authority to its customs broker. A foreign company can import as a non-resident importer, posting its own financial security in CARM and keeping records in Canada or with an agent there.

Documents, permits and advance cargo data

The broker builds the declaration from the exporter's documents. The commercial invoice names the seller and buyer, describes each line in plain trade language and gives the quantity, unit price, total, an ISO currency code, the Incoterms rule with named place and the country of origin, with freight, insurance and other charges shown separately. Destinations add their own rules: the US lists the required contents in 19 CFR 141.86, in English or with an accurate English translation, and Canada wants the data of its Canada Customs Invoice (CI1), in English or French. The packing list gives the contents, weights and dimensions of each package, and its totals must agree with the invoice and the bill of lading or air waybill (see Triplicate's note on commercial invoice requirements).

A preferential duty rate needs proof of origin in the exact form the trade agreement sets: a certificate such as a EUR.1, Form E or Form RCEP, or a statement or certification of origin made out by the exporter, producer or importer. Under EU agreements, exporters without REX or approved exporter status can make such statements only for consignments up to EUR 6,000. Canada needs no certificate for commercial imports valued for duty at CAD 3,300 or less, but the importer must keep records proving origin. Without valid proof, expect the standard rate.

Advance cargo data is filed before arrival, sometimes before loading. For US-bound ocean cargo, the ISF importer files the Importer Security Filing at least 24 hours before the goods are loaded at the foreign port, covered by a bond; a late or inaccurate ISF can bring liquidated damages of USD 5,000 per violation. For the EU, the carrier, or sometimes a forwarder or postal operator, files an ICS2 entry summary declaration for all modes, with some data due before loading for air cargo, so give it the consignee's EORI or, if it has none, its full address. Regulated goods often need another agency's permit, registration or notice as well, for example:

• US food: the foreign facility registers with FDA, and every shipment, commercial samples included, needs FDA prior notice at least 2 hours before arrival by road, 4 by air or rail and 8 by sea.
• US cosmetics: no FDA approval, but under MoCRA the factory registers with FDA and the responsible person lists each product.
• EU and UK cosmetics: a Responsible Person established there notifies each product before sale, through CPNP in the EU or SCPN in Great Britain.
• Canada cosmetics: the manufacturer or importer in Canada files a Cosmetic Notification Form within 10 days after the first sale; sunscreens need a DIN or NPN before they are imported for sale.

HS code, customs value and origin: how the duty is worked out

Duty depends on three things declared on the entry: the tariff code, the customs value and the country of origin. The first 6 digits of the code are the Harmonized System, used by more than 200 countries and economies; each adds digits, so the entry uses the destination's full code: 10 digits in the US HTSUS, 8 in the EU Combined Nomenclature and 10 in TARIC, and 10 for UK imports. Classification follows the General Rules of Interpretation in order, and a binding ruling, from CBP under 19 CFR Part 177 or as EU binding tariff information valid for 3 years, gives certainty before you ship. HS 2028 takes effect on 1 January 2028.

Under the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement, customs value is normally the transaction value: the price actually paid or payable, plus costs the buyer bears that the price leaves out, such as selling commissions, packing, assists and royalties paid as a condition of sale. Each country decides whether transport and insurance count. The EU and UK add them up to the point where goods enter their territory, a CIF-type value, as do Japan, China and India; the US leaves out international freight and insurance, and Canada and Australia also use FOB-type values. If the transaction value cannot be used, customs applies the other methods in order, and none may use minimum or arbitrary values.

Origin decides the duty rate, any extra duties and any preference. Non-preferential origin is usually the country of last substantial transformation, so repacking or relabelling in another country does not change it. In the US, chapter 99 adds duties to the general rate by product and origin, such as the Section 301 duty of 10% or 12.5% on most goods of 60 economies since 24 July 2026 and the Section 232 duties on metals and other listed goods. Formal entries also pay the Merchandise Processing Fee of 0.3464% of value (from 1 October 2026 at least USD 34.58 and at most USD 670.86), and sea cargo the Harbor Maintenance Fee of 0.125%.

Paying duty and import VAT or GST, and release

The broker files the declaration, the importer of record pays, and customs releases the goods, letting them leave its control, once the declaration is accepted and any checks are done. In the US the broker files the entry and entry summary (CBP Forms 3461 and 7501) and pays duty and fees at the rates in force on the date of entry. A formal entry, generally over USD 2,500, needs a bond on file before release; an informal entry, generally up to USD 2,500, is paid when it is presented. If the commercial invoice is not ready, a pro forma invoice can be filed under a bond and the invoice must follow within 120 days.

In the EU, the UK and Canada, import VAT or GST is due on top of duty, and who can recover it matters when you price DDP:

• European Union: import VAT at the rate of the country of import. A VAT-registered business buyer can usually deduct it; a consumer cannot. A non-EU seller that owes the import VAT on a DDP sale is treated as making its onward sale in that country, so it usually needs a VAT registration there.
• United Kingdom: import VAT, 20% on cosmetics for example. A UK VAT-registered importer can account for it on its VAT return through postponed VAT accounting; a non-established importer must instruct its agent in writing and be entered as consignee. A non-established business has no registration threshold and must register for UK VAT once it makes taxable supplies of any value in the UK.
• Canada: the CBSA collects 5% GST on the duty-paid value; in HST provinces the provincial part on commercial goods is generally self-assessed on the importer's return. The broker files the release and the Commercial Accounting Declaration (CAD); without release prior to payment security posted in CARM, duties and taxes are paid at a CBSA office before release. A GST/HST-registered importer can recover the tax as an input tax credit; an unregistered non-resident importer cannot.

Examinations and holds, and how to avoid them

Most holds come down to data: documents that disagree, descriptions customs cannot classify, values it doubts, or a missing filing, number or permit. Customs compares the declaration with the invoice, the packing list and the carrier's manifest, so a different package count, weight, description or consignee is a common trigger. Generic words are a problem too: US vessel manifest rules refuse terms such as "general cargo", and EU ICS2 keeps a list of stop words that must not stand alone as a description. Write what the item is, its material and use.

There is no global standard for how long checks take. Document checks can clear within hours once the documents arrive, and HMRC aims to clear arrived air and road imports within 2 hours of receiving the documents it asked for, while physical exams or agency reviews can take days. In the US, CBP must decide on release or detention within 5 working days of the goods being presented for examination, and no decision within 30 days counts as an exclusion, which can be protested. After an FDA detention the importer normally has 10 business days to respond, and refused goods must be exported or destroyed within 90 days.

Holds cost money: US examination stations bill their fees to the user, and goods in EU temporary storage must be placed under a customs procedure or re-exported within 90 days. In the US, most imported articles must be marked with the English name of the country of origin, and unmarked goods pay an extra 10% duty unless they are marked, exported or destroyed under CBP supervision. The exporter rarely files the entry but supplies most of the documents, so stay reachable until release (see Triplicate's note on why customs holds shipments).

After release: records, corrections, refunds and low-value parcels

Keep the records: in the US for 5 years from the date of entry, in Canada for six years, and origin evidence for as long as the trade agreement and national law require, typically three to five years. Customs may check a declared value and ask for evidence such as the contract and proof of payment, so keep them with the entry. If you find an error, correct it: in the US, duty lost through a false or careless entry must be paid whether or not a penalty is imposed, and a prior disclosure made before a formal investigation starts cuts a negligence penalty to interest on the unpaid amount. In the EU, the person lodging the declaration is responsible for its accuracy.

Refunds go to the importer of record named on the entry. A US entry is liquidated when CBP finalises the duty, and within 180 days after liquidation the importer can file a protest. After the Supreme Court held on 20 February 2026 that IEEPA does not authorize tariffs, CBP refunds those duties with interest through its CAPE tool in the ACE Portal: since 20 April 2026 for unliquidated entries and entries liquidated within the last 80 days, and, as CBP announced, from 6 October 2026 (Phase 3) for finally liquidated entries covered by court-ordered reliquidation (see Triplicate's note on US tariff refunds). Section 301 and 232 duties are not refunded through CAPE, but Section 301 duties can be recovered through duty drawback if the goods are later exported and the drawback rules are met. Under many trade agreements the importer can also claim a refund after import, within the period its law allows.

Low-value parcels no longer skip clearance. The US USD 800 de minimis exemption has been suspended for all countries since 29 August 2025, indefinitely since 24 June 2026, and by law ends on 1 July 2027, so low-value shipments need an entry, informal up to USD 2,500; bona fide gifts up to USD 100 stay exempt. In the EU, from 1 July 2026 to 1 July 2028, distance sales in consignments up to EUR 150 pay a EUR 3 customs duty per item, meaning goods that share a tariff classification, and a separate EUR 2 handling fee per item is due to start by 1 November 2026; confirm the date. In the UK, no import VAT is charged on consumer consignments of £135 or less, because the seller or marketplace charges VAT at the point of sale. Samples still need a realistic customs value: zero is not accepted.