Customs Declarant
The role of customs declarant is a highly technical and detailed one, which is essential to maintaining the flow of goods in the logistics and freight forwarding sectors where cross-border goods shipments are being made. You’ll be checking consignments before they have left the factory or warehouse, whether that’s in person or via local teams charged with ensuring everything is in order.
As a customs declarant, you’ll find yourself dealing with customers, overseas departments of your own company and suppliers on a daily basis. You’ll also be dealing with the HMRC in the UK regularly, or the equivalent customs, duty and taxation bodies in foreign countries. In some roles, the job can be much deeper, visiting manufacturers and buyers to check up on their processes, stock and paperwork and making sure it’s compliant for the proposed contracts. Often, it is all done remotely, however, and this can open the role up to hybrid working arrangements for certain declarants.
The skills required
Primarily, you’ll be experienced in customs and duty procedures, but since that is a huge subject, some companies are looking for talent that’s experienced in a certain field, for example chemicals, pharmaceuticals or aviation. The number of years’ experience desired varies from business to business, but most are looking for at least 2 years, while others want as much as 5 years in the job.
You’ll be knowledgeable in customs classification, and should know your own jurisdiction’s rules inside out, while being a fast learner when it comes to getting to grips with the rules in other nations and specialised sectors. Your attention to detail and accuracy will be second to none, and you’ll be able to communicate complicated legal concepts succinctly and unambiguously.
Customs Declarant Jobs in West Sussex
A scenic county in southern England and, according to the Met Office, the sunniest county in the UK, West Sussex shares borders with Surrey, East Sussex and Hampshire, as well as Brighton and Hove. It also has an expansive coastline on the English Channel.
The county town of West Sussex is Chichester, while other major settlements in the area include Crawley, Bognor Regis, Horsham, Burgess Hill, Littlehampton and Haywards Heath. Indeed, the region offers a variety of options for anyone seeking Customs Declarant positions.
Various large companies are based in West Sussex or have operations in the region. These include Rolls Royce, Roche Diagnostics, Network Technology, BOC Edwards, Novartis and RSA Insurance Group. The Body Shop was founded here in 1976, and is now part of the L'Oreal group.
The local economy also relies on tourism, with visitors coming to enjoy the sunshine and sea air, while the service sector and retail are important as well.
What's more, Gatwick Airport is located in West Sussex. Situated less than 30 miles from central London, it's the capital's second largest international airport and the country's second busiest in terms of passenger traffic. It serves a variety of airlines, including BA, Aer Lingus, EasyJet, Virgin Atlantic and Thomas Cook and processes a significant amount of cargo as well.
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Customs declarants needed now
Nothing can be left to chance with customs declarations, so logistics and import/export businesses are always looking for the most experienced declarants, and very competitive salaries are available for the right candidates.
If you’re looking at customs declarant jobs and have the skills and the experience, why not leave your details with us by registering below? We will get in touch when a relevant opening becomes available – it could be a life-changing decision.
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