What does a consignment need to go smoothly through the clearance procedure? If you expect a consignment that will have to undergo clearance, please read the following information carefully. It is really important. 

1. Submission of complete data and necessary documents

 We need all necessary data and/or documents in order to be able to submit your consignment on your behalf for clearance procedure without contacting you.

 In particular, it means submission of the following data:

• Evidence of the price of the goods contained in the consignment (invoice, pro-forma invoice with identified price in case of goods imported free of charge, or another kind of document such as sale contract, etc.);
• Czech Post's Authorisation Form signed by you;
• Goods liable to veterinary examination: the original copy of common certificate of veterinary examination;
• Goods liable to phytophatological examination: the original copy of certificate of phytophatological examination;
• Goods that may be subject to relief from duty/VAT: data required by the Council Regulation (EC) No. 1186/2009 or Art. 563 of the Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 2454/93, as amended. 

2. Correctness and completeness of submitted data

Fulfilment of this condition is of equal importance: if it is not clear what a consignment contains (e.g. the content of the consignment has not been declared), we cannot submit the consignment to be released into free circulation regime and the entire process will be inadequately delayed.

 It is therefore necessary to observe at least these principles: 

• Always give a precise description of the goods contained in the consignment and/or its use; if possible, give also the code of the goods according to the Customs Tariff;
• The best way is to also describe the character of the goods, i.e. whether it is intended for private use or for commercial purposes. If you have larger quantities of the same kind of goods sent in one consignment, you may face questions from customs officials regarding the character of the goods, leading to a useless delay;
• Always give a true price of the consignment, without undervaluing it. Any discrepancy found will mean that the actual value will have to be determined and proved to customs officials.

This information clearly does not cover all difficulties of the importation process. It is a selection of key principles that, once observed, will lead to a standard clearance procedure for normal consignments without useless delays.