In recent times, logistics has become a strategic factor of the first order for companies. The changes in international trade are evident and there are signs that indicate more congestion and delays. The question that arises is whether companies can do something about this.

Diario del Puerto, in its July 27 issue, echoes an opinion article by our Customs director Alex Hormaechea. We literally transcribe the publication.

Supply chains are out of balance and many industries have disrupted production due to supply shortages. An imbalance caused in the first instance by the COVID-19 pandemic, then by transport congestion and now by the war in Ukraine. The objective fact is that the manufacturing capacity has decreased and is subject to factors more typical of geopolitics than of the commercial strategy of the companies.

The majority of companies include logistics in their strategic plans as a determining factor for the growth of their activities and consider that logistics shortage is having a great influence on their growth.

From 2022 it was expected to be a continuation of 2021: high freight rates but with a tendency to stabilize the escalation. But inflation shot up, a war with unpredictable consequences was declared and the price of oil rose.

Businesses are wondering how long they can wait for transportation rates to drop and space availability to improve. The answer is… in 2022 not yet.

AND IN THIS ENVIRONMENT, CAN WE DO SOMETHING?

We cannot change the market or predict the future, but there are other ways of working and customs figures that help create greater resilience and agility in the international trade landscape.

THE NEARSHORING

In this environment, measures emerge in the production chain, such as nearshoring, which once again has production and storage centers closer to the end customer and with the ability to offer more immediate responses. These types of measures do not have the lowest production costs in the Far East, but they avoid congestion and high transport prices, have greater control over their production chain and minimize risks.

EUROPE CUSTOMS AUTHORIZATIONS

In the same way, now is the time to take advantage of the tax advantages offered by customs regulations and balance cash flows. The community customs regime contemplates customs authorizations, which are of great help in the current international trade scenario.

The ADT (Temporary Deposit Warehouse) allows storage and conservation under a suspension regime where neither customs nor tax debt is settled for a period of 90 days, a period that is more than enough to regulate or manage the demand for imported products without the need for to pay taxes and duties before the sale. The ADT authorized for joint storage also allows the temporary storage of goods destined for export.

If the imported goods require more than mere storage in Spain, the figure of the Customs Warehouse allows usual handling operations (division or separation, addition, substitution of components, packaging, etc.) Unlike the previous authorization, this special customs regime allows the storage without time limit of non-Union goods in a suspensive regime.

In the case of the import or export of goods subject to futures markets, such as cereals, raw sugar, cocoa beans, etc. or metals such as aluminum, tin, copper, lead, etc. The most advantageous figure is the DDA or Deposit Different from the Customs. In this regime, the applicable tariff is accrued but import VAT is suspended and it will be the final buyer of the merchandise who self-assesses the corresponding VAT at the time of delivery.

The said authorizations can be requested for the facilities of economic operators as well as those of a logistics partner as long as the customs office where they have their fiscal domicile perceives the existence of an economic need and customs surveillance is not compromised.

The solutions can be within the reach of any company and only knowledge, experience and creativity are needed to solve problems. Now it’s imperative to have a logistics partner to help you redefine traditional ways of working.