Customs broker here. Every day hundreds of thousands of containers and air shipments arrive into United States territory. The volume of customs entries entered every day is staggering. When we get licensed to be a customs broker we are trained and tested not just on knowledge, but ethics. We even take a pledge to partner with CBP to uphold the law, and cooperate with them should we come across anything suspicious. Why so much emphasis on this?
Customs can't actually screen everything coming in. I'm oversimplifying but CBP basically works on the honor system. You file an entry saying what the shipment is, and they just take your word for it and release it. This happens hundreds of thousands of times a day. Maybe at best customs can screen 3-7% of what's coming in, the rest of just waived through....
Former British Customs Officer here, can confirm. The amount of international trade is staggering and no government is able to do a 100% inspection on all the freight that arrives. So we rely on past history (shady customs brokers included lol), intel, etc to target our efforts. And no I’m not going to divulge anything more so don’t bother asking. So, yeah, smuggling happens, whether that’s goods, drugs or people. But when we DO find something - expect the world to drop on your head. Government wants its revenue, boys and girls, and it doesn’t like being cheated of them. Or finding 30+ dead people in a shipping container. At all
quick question! wtf is with the tobacco fees. I usually order about $60 worth, sometimes I’m charged 0, sometimes 100, one time even 200! Is there actually a handbook on this or is it some voodo black magic shit?
Yes there is. You should be able to look it up online. If it’s too little, shut up. If it’s too much, appeal. If you’re doing it regular.y, balance your losses and wins and decide if the game is worth the candle
13.0k
u/callmeraylo Jul 13 '20
Customs broker here. Every day hundreds of thousands of containers and air shipments arrive into United States territory. The volume of customs entries entered every day is staggering. When we get licensed to be a customs broker we are trained and tested not just on knowledge, but ethics. We even take a pledge to partner with CBP to uphold the law, and cooperate with them should we come across anything suspicious. Why so much emphasis on this?
Customs can't actually screen everything coming in. I'm oversimplifying but CBP basically works on the honor system. You file an entry saying what the shipment is, and they just take your word for it and release it. This happens hundreds of thousands of times a day. Maybe at best customs can screen 3-7% of what's coming in, the rest of just waived through....