South Africa EPR: Why the Importer Is Usually the Producer
A shipment of servers clears Durban. Duty paid, VAT settled, the NRCS letter and the ICASA certificate both in the file. From a customs perspective the job is finished. From a regulatory perspective it has just started. By placing that equipment on the South African market, somebody became a producer, with registration, reporting and recycling […]
EOR and IOR on the Same Shipment: Which One Are You Missing?
A quote request lands: “Please quote incoterms DDP + EOR + IOR from Denmark to Brazil.” Three acronyms, one shipment. Most people reading that either think it is redundant, or quietly wonder whether they have been missing one of them on every shipment so far. This page exists to settle that question and nothing else. […]
Your Small Shipment Already Has an Importer of Record
Six access points. One box, fifty by fifty by forty-five centimetres, twelve point eight kilos. Total value under three thousand dollars. Going by courier from Denmark to Brazil. Almost nobody asks whether they need an importer of record for a small shipment like that, because it does not feel like the kind of shipment that […]
Importing Equipment With No Sale: Customs Value and the IOR
A US IT provider ships eleven company laptops to client employees in Canada. The laptops stay the client’s property, on long-term loan for several years. Nothing is sold. The client does not want to register with the customs authority, and that is the entire reason they are looking for help. Importing equipment with no sale […]
How to Compare DDP Quotes: 11 Things the Price Does Not Tell You
Two suppliers quote DDP into the same country. Same equipment, same destination, same week. One is meaningfully cheaper, and the obvious question is why. The dangerous assumption is that both quotes are offering the same thing. One may include import VAT while the other leaves it undefined. One may have a legally recognised importer behind […]
WEEE Producer Obligations: When the Importer Becomes the Producer
CE marking asks whether a product meets the applicable EU product requirements. WEEE asks a different question entirely: who is responsible for its end-of-life obligations. And the answer, more often than importers expect, is you. The word doing the damage is “producer”. In ordinary usage it means the company that made the thing. Under the […]
CE Marking Importer Obligations: What You Are Responsible For
Most explanations of CE marking are written for manufacturers. That is understandable, since the manufacturer does the engineering work and signs the declaration. It is also why CE marking importer obligations are so often misunderstood, and why so many importers arrive at the subject believing their part is simply to check the mark is there. […]
NBTC vs TISI: Which Thai Approval Your IT Equipment Actually Needs
A rack-mounted server with no wireless may need one Thai product approval. Add a wireless management module and the regulatory route can change entirely. Ship equipment that will later be re-exported and a separate trade-control question can arise. The hardware barely changes. The path to market does. The NBTC vs TISI question gets asked constantly, […]
Import VAT and the Importer of Record: Who Can Reclaim It?
If you ship IT hardware at volume, you already have people who handle import VAT. A finance team, a tax adviser, a recovery process that works. This article is not about doing their job. It is about the thing that sits upstream of them and quietly decides whether their process can work at all: how […]
Customs Enforcement Executive Order 2026: New IOR Bond and Vetting Rules for US Importers
If you import into the United States, one date matters more than the one being talked about. Since 18 September 2026, CBP may void an importer of record number where the information on CBP Form 5106 is inaccurate or incomplete. That enforcement is already running, and it started before any of the headline changes in […]