Who is a customs clearing and freight forwarding agent?

Derrickson Systems Limited is a licensed clearing/customs and freight forwarding agent company in Kenya.

Freight Forwarders and Clearing/Customs Agents play very important roles in the supply chain. Below is a brief overview of some of their roles:

Freight Forwarder's role in the supply chain

Traditionally the Freight Forwarder's role has been confined to arranging transport and preparing documentation as an agent of the shipper (importer or exporter depending on the INCOTERM).

With new developments, the roles of the freight forwarder have drastically changed due to containerization and multimodal transportation. Instead of acting as an intermediary only, some become transport operators offering container services, as well as multimodal inland and international transportation.

The Freight Forwarder can fulfill one or more of the below services:

1. Act as a shipper's agent arranging transport services and preparing documentation.
2. Act as a transport specialist advising shipper on the most cost efficient and best means of transport.
3. Act as a multimodal transport operator (MTO) with direct contractual responsibility for carriage of goods door to door.
4. Act as a specialist service provider in packaging, container packing/unpacking, customs clearances and raising marine insurance claims.

Clearing/Customs Agents' role

Clearing/Customs agents act on behalf of the shipper (importer or exporter depending on the INCO Terms) and arrange for the customs clearances of goods at the customs entry or exit points.

Their main roles include but not limited to:

1. Determining the correct harmonized system tariff codes (HS CODE) of goods for customs duties.
2. Value goods in accordance to the East African Community Customs Management Act (EACCMA) and calculate import duties and taxes payable.
3. Facilitate clearance of goods through all the relevant government agencies and ensure all necessary documents are prepared and availed on time.
4. Facilitate remittance of taxes to the relevant Customs Authorities.
5. Facilitate physical customs verification of cargo with the relevant government agencies.

Cargo delivery processes

After cargo is cleared for release, various processes need to be followed:

• Air: Draw cargo from ground handling agents and deliver to consignee.
• LCL: Goods are collected from specialized customs licensed warehouses and delivered.
• FCL: Release notice/delivery order arranged depending on the shipping line depot and transport agreement.
• Road freight: All depends on the INCO terms and limitations of the vehicle/site.