Moving electronics between countries is a complex task that requires meeting international standards, but also a thorough understanding of each country’s traits, bureaucratic procedures, and cultural aspects. What you need to know before shipping your product.
The growth of telecommunications and software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions has ushered in a new phase of globalization. However, in the context of that expansion, companies from around the world are facing challenges to deploy their services to Asian, Latin American, and African countries, developing nations that have not yet built an adequate tech landscape. How can corporations reliably bring their technology to these nations where they do not even have legally established entities in some cases?
Importers of Record such as Aerodoc are a solution. Their mission basically is getting imported products to meet every legal and customs requirement. To do so, we at Aerodoc have local entities in several locations or agents to cover more than 160 destinations around the world. We not only handle legal procedures, but also ensure consistency thanks to our knowledge of every location in terms of security, storage and even equipment installations.
If a company needs to export tech to provide services to a foreign country without having a physical presence there (or even with that), an Importer of Record can help. Import procedures are very complex, particularly for tech or electronics. Aerodoc has more than two decades’ experience helping move critical goods such as servers, screens, racks, PCs and laptops, antennas, and specific components for telecommunications industries.
Our experts have identified six critical aspects for importing tech and electronics without having locally established branches in the destination:
1) Keep local traits in mind
International organizations have spent decades trying to consolidate customs criteria to streamline trade, but full standardization is simply impossible for one reason: each country has its own peculiarities, including different ways to act in different territories of the same country. Culture can affect trade relations and logistics due to customs, languages, and ways of life. ‘This is why you always need a “local” to speak to local agents in their language,’ explains Estefanía Sisatzky, Sr. VP of OPS & Customer Service at Aerodoc, which provides local shipment tracking in over 160 territories.
2) Beware of excess red tape
Some level of bureaucracy is necessary to provide adequate public services, but excessive levels of red tape can be detrimental. This is what happens in many nations. Paper-intensive procedures and slow, non-digitized management can slow down imports. In some countries, procedures must be carried out in person. The need to deal with in-person management overseas is a good reason to hire an expert Importer of Record such as Aerodoc.
3) Pay attention to the nature of tech products
Cutting-edge electronics such as servers, graphics cards, racks, and telecoms equipment such as antennas are often included among the ‘highly intervened’ goods category. In other words, it’s much easier to import primary goods than electronics. Protectionism is not always the culprit – sometimes, trade barriers are erected even without local-supply options, or local legislation is slow to adapt to technological progress.
4) Check import controls
Besides their complexity, tech and electronics are also frequent targets of governmental distrust in multiple instances. ‘In regions such as Asia and Latin America, tech and electronics imports are being impacted by regulations from Telecommunications, Industry or Development ministries. Even economic authorities such as central banks may intervene to protect a country’s trade balance and current account balance,’ says Dan Zonnenschein, Aerodoc’s COO.
Many companies ship their products thinking that they have covered the paperwork they need, only to find that a ministry has imposed new regulations a few days earlier.
‘That is precisely our job as an Importer of Record at Aerodoc: Ensuring that when the product comes, it fully complies with the regulation chain and can pass random inspections, which are very frequent for these products,’ adds Sisatzky.
5) Ensure your product is correctly classified
This seems like a simple question, yet classification issues are among the biggest factors leading companies to waste time, lose money due to taxation issues, undergo inspections and even get their products rejected. The Harmonized System (HS) has been a major step toward standardizing the merchandise classification system, but there is still a lot left to do. Companies must have perfect knowledge of how each country classifies their products, which can only be achieved with top-tier workers in each territory.
6) Do not underestimate the Last Mile delivery
Logistics does not end when a product reaches its country of destination. Once there, a new process begins: Sending the product to its destination. Knowing the best carriers to handle that is essential.
‘Importers often overlook that domestic logistics are a huge issue in developing countries,’ explains Estefanía Sisatzky. ‘We have dealt with issues such as roads that were narrower than the trucks, theft, and the situation in Costa Rica, where most streets famously have no names or numbers. Many customer relationships are sealed after we solve those issues, due to our knowledge of local carriers,’ adds Aerodoc’s specialist.
An Importer of Record is much more than the ability to import merchandise. It is a comprehensive solution that provides an end-to-end process to ensure goods reach their destination in any country, no matter what happens.
