Commercial Services

Intertek provides commercial services to governments as a way of protecting import revenues for themselves and their citizens.

Governments implement Commercial Services to ensure that imports comply with their regulations. Non-compliance with these regulations can result in:

The loss of valuable duty and tax revenue
The loss of foreign exchange reserves (in countries where exchange controls exist)
The potential importation of substandard or prohibited goods

How It Works

A physical inspection of goods is carried out in the country of export pre-shipping, establishing the exact nature of the goods.
The invoice and other documents are then scrutinised and an accurate valuation, and customs tariff code, are assigned. These are used, in conjunction with, the client country's published duty rates, to calculate the correct duties and taxes payable.
An Intertek certificate is then issued to the importer. This is used to substantiate the payment of full duty, before clearing the goods.
The actual duty collected is compared with the Intertek certificates, and any shortages can be investigated and corrected.

Benefits

Intertek Commercial Services maximise duty collections. By undertaking duty assessment in the country of export, importers have no opportunity to pressurize customs to assign lower rates.

Compliance with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Customs Valuation is now mandatory for all members. Without Intertek Commercial Services, countries introducing the Agreement invariably experience a reduction in revenue collections. Intertek ensures that the Agreement is fully implemented as required by the WTO, and in a way that maintains duty revenue collections.

Trade facilitation: inefficient Customs administrations and the failure of importers to comply with import procedures can both delay trade. An Intertek certificate ensures rapid Customs clearance, by undertaking the necessary physical and documentary inspections before the consignment is dispatched.

Intertek Commercial Services deters capital flight in countries where exchange controls exist by preventing deliberately inflated invoicing. This can deplete foreign exchange reserves, which can also reduce the taxable income declared by multinational companies.

Intertek Commercial Services significantly reduces the incidence of illegal imports, such as radioactive waste, by inspecting shipments in the country of export before dispatch.

As Commercial Services take effect, so a vast database of vital trade information is created, which can be supplied to the Client Government in a variety of formats, as an aid to economic decision-making and to induce confidence in donors.