Understanding Trade and Customs Regulations to Ensure Seamless Shipping

15/05/2025

Essential for the smooth international shipping and regulating trade flows worldwide, customs and trade regulations are a vital part of your business’s overall supply chain. Not only does adhering to all customs regulations help facilitate efficient border-crossings, but it also helps maintain legal conformity with international trade rules and avoid penalties.

Customs and trade regulations vary from country to country. Because different countries have different trade restrictions and governing laws, ensuring you remain customs compliant as a business can feel quite overwhelming initially.

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These include:

Understanding tariffs and customs duties imposed on imported and exported goods.
- You can access the World Trade Organization (WTO) database of applied tariffs through the Tariff Download Facility (TDF).

Non-tariff barriers (NTBs), that are other regulatory measures (including quotas, licensing requirements, technical standards, labelling, and packaging regulations) aside from tariffs that must be adhered to.
- These NTBs are provided by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTA) through the Trade Analysis Information System (TRAINS) database.

Customs procedures and documentation (customs declarations, invoices, packing lists, certificates of origin) that are required by customs authorities to facilitate international trade transactions.
- The World Customs Organization (WCO) provides standardized customs documentation and procedures through tools like the Harmonized System (HS) for classifying goods.

Exports control measures, that regulate the export of sensitive goods, technologies, and services. These controls protect national security interests and support compliance with international non-proliferation agreements.
Sanctions and embargos that prohibit trade, financial transactions, and other interactions with specific countries, organizations, or individuals.

By implementing standardized processes and documentation across your trade and customs procedures, as a business you’ll also be helping to optimize your supply chain for overall efficiency. This approach not only reduces the risk of errors but can also help simplify customs procedures and help you achieve faster clearance times.

ESG Regulations and the Impact on Your Supply Chain's Sustainable Future

Customs and trade regulations also form part of wider industry initiatives that contribute to sustainable and responsible business operations. Aligning your supply chain practices with Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) regulations is critical in ensuring your organization is as sustainable as possible. Equally, ESG is also an invaluable way of optimizing your overall supply chain management system, by guaranteeing your compliance with the three criteria:

The ‘environmental’ criteria focus on how your business’ supply chain protects the environment through your different corporate policies and strategies.
When looking at the ‘social’ criteria, your relationship with suppliers and stakeholders is examined as well as your company’s overall approach to being socially and ethically conscious.
The ‘governance’ criteria examine your business’ administration and ensure you choose a board of directors, and senior investors based on merit. Not only does this prevent illegal conduct, but also means that as an organization you’re working with the best possible stakeholders and investors.

ESG regulations also serve as a standard used by environmentally and socially conscious potential investors to monitor and analyse your business before making a decision. Not only does complying with ESG through your approach to the environment, trade regulations, worker healthcare, and choosing your suppliers make your supply chain more sustainable but also helps you stand out from your competition when it comes to finding new investors.

Did you know?

A PwC study indicates that 82% of employees are more likely to stay with their employer if ESG policies are enhanced.

Avoiding Repercussions: The Importance of Customs Compliance

Whichever country you are exporting or importing goods from, adhering to the specific trade regulations, or ensuring you are ‘customs compliant’, is a legal requirement.

Implemented by national and multinational authorities to govern international trade, as a business you must make sure that your cargo meets all documentation requirements, and that the correct duties and taxes are paid. Part of customs compliance also involves making sure that your shipment is labelled and packaged correctly and that you have the correct customs documentation for entry into other countries.

Customs compliance is a crucial part of international trade as it confirms all import and export regulations are met. Looking beyond this, customs compliance is also vital in preventing illegal or unsafe goods from entering a country and promotes fair trade practices worldwide.

As trade and customs regulations vary, making your shipment customs compliant can be challenging. Many customs or shipping partners offer dedicated customs management software to help you overcome this obstacle and maintain your compliance. Utilizing tools like smart automation also allows you to streamline your documentation by allowing you to compare multiple documents quickly and efficiently. Not only does this reduce mistakes, but it also aids your overall supply chain management.

Customs Regulations Complexities: How to Ensure Compliance

As a business, there are several things you need to be aware of to help navigate the complex world of customs compliance. These include:

Each country has its own import and export regulations, customs procedures, and documentation requirements, that can result in delays or penalties if not followed correctly.

From commercial invoices to bill of lading, and import licences, there are numerous documents involved in the customs clearance process all of which need to be compliant with customs regulations.

It’s important to be aware of the tariff duties and duty rates imposed on imported goods in different countries as this can impact the level of duties you pay overall.

As a business, you must also remain compliant with the latest security protocols and regulations. These security measures are designed to prevent the movement of any illegal or dangerous goods, while trade compliance encompasses everything related to export controls, sanctions, embargos and restricted items.

Top Tips for Mastering Trade Regulations

Beyond working with a trusted shipping partner, as a business there are several things you can do to ensure you navigate customs procedures effectively. These include:

Preparing accurate documentation including commercial invoices, packing lists, bill of lading, certificates of origin, and import licences before initiating the shipping process.
Accurately classifying your goods using the HS codes to avoid potential issues during customs clearance.
Remaining informed and updated about trade agreements and procedures around the world.
Utilizing customs brokerage services where appropriate to streamline your customs clearance process and reduce the risk of errors causing delays.

Beyond this, as a business, you can also minimize the chances of delays and penalties due to customs compliance failures by:

Establishing a robust compliance management system that makes sure all your processes are up-to-date and minimizes the risk of your cargo or documentation failing to meet trade regulations.

Installing customs automation systems to streamline the customs clearance process and improve the overall efficiency and accuracy of your supply chain.

Building a positive relationship with customs authorities to gain a better understanding of local customs procedures and facilitate smoother trade transactions.

Invest in regular training for your teams who are involved in international trade to develop their knowledge and skills when it comes to preparing and handling customs procedures and trade compliance.

Ask MSC

Whether it’s working with our local customs clearance teams for documentation support or to improve your understanding about local trade regulations, at MSC we pride ourselves on offer our dedicated customs compliance support and end-to-end shipping solutions.