Going forward, import corporations will be able to submit attachments related to advance tax amount reviews as electronic files. As a rule, tax amount reviews for imported goods take place after an import declaration is filed, but for some agricultural products that must clear customs quickly because freshness is critical, a tax amount declaration can be made in advance.
The Korea Customs Service said on the 20th that it had given advance notice of legislation for a revision to the Notice on the Handling of Import Clearance.
Previously, import corporations had to submit paper documents to customs if the documents to be submitted in relation to the advance tax amount review exceeded 20 pages. Going forward, they will be able to submit electronically regardless of length.
The document submission standard for goods re-imported such as e-commerce returns will be eased from an aggregates of $150 to $150 per line (per item). If multiple items are included in a single declaration, until now, when the aggregates threshold was exceeded, related documents such as export declaration certificates had to be submitted, but going forward, if the per-item price is $150 or less, a declaration can be made without separate documents.
Clearance regulations for ships for dismantling will also be eased. Previously, ships under 2,000 tons could have their import declaration accepted only after dismantling work was completed, imposing a large expense burden such as scrap storage fees. The revision is expected to reduce expense for recycling companies by allowing ships under 2,000 tons to have their import declaration accepted before dismantling, the same as large ships.
Standards will also be eased so that goods that, based on a tariff classification analysis result, could be cleared only at a specific customs office can be cleared at the same customs office with only approval from the head of the customs office where the first declaration was filed. This is expected to reduce unnecessary bonded transport and logistics costs.
Meanwhile, the Korea Customs Service said it would support expedited clearance by applying real-time electronic clearance review, starting today, to provisional price declarations for goods decided under ACVA (advance customs valuation arrangement for related-party transactions).
The revision is scheduled to take effect at the end of the year, and the Korea Customs Service plans to continue identifying additional regulations reflecting on-the-ground feedback.