Everything that is Essential You Should Know While Delivering Imports to Amazon
If you are using the Amazon market place, all your inventory that are shipped to Amazon fulfilment centres needs to meet any of their requirements as furnished and described in the help section of their inventory requirement section. You can learn and perform the requirement yourself or can engage an amazon customs broker to act and perform on behalf of you.
Your shipment necessarily requires Importer of Record or IOR which is mandatory for any merchandise that is entering the United States. The IOR ensures your imported goods fulfil all the necessary laws and regulations, filing duty entry and associated documents, and paying the customs duties and tariffs as well as any other taxes on your goods. Amazon, as well as any fulfilment centres, never act as IOR for any shipment irrespective of size, value, country of origin of your goods of FBA.
If you are a non-resident importer or your entry of goods into the US is done by a non-resident or foreign IOR, you can still do that as a non-resident importer provided you meet certain requirements. In order to become a non-resident IOR, contact your carrier or customs broker to know how you can meet the requirements.
The customs brokers are independent and private firms or individuals with a valid license from the CBP who act on behalf of the importers. They help the importers in preparing and filing the essential customs entries, make necessary arrangement for the payment of customs duties and arrange to release your goods from the custody of CBP. The customs brokers engaged by the importers represent the importer in all customs-related matters in the border.
You need to find and engage an appropriate customs broker who should be reliable and from the area of your port of entry. You can find the list of customs brokers on the CBP website. While searching for the appropriate customs broker in the CBP website, you can select the state you will be importing your goods, then click the city to find the list of brokers. If you are new and do not know which port of entry you are going to use, check with DHL or Fedex, or Expeditors International, or UPS for assistance. These agencies are familiar with the policies of Amazon and can help you effectively. In addition to this, besides engaging a customs broker, you can also contact your courier or freight forwarder to know their fees and service charges in advance.