After the goods arrive at the port, the customer does not pick up the goods, and the shipping company requests to return the goods and let us bear all the expenses.
At the end of July 2019, two shipments were delivered to Port Klang, Malaysia. The two shipments arrived at the port in mid-August, but the customer did not pick up the goods until mid-September. Before the goods arrive at the port, we have reminded the customer that the goods are about to arrive at the port. After arriving at the port, we remind the customer to pick up the goods.
In mid-August, the freight forwarder told me that the customer still did not pick up the goods. I have been urging the customer to pick up the goods, and the customer always said that he would pick up the goods on the same day, but it was delayed until mid-September. Customers do not communicate with us because they do not pick up the goods for any reason. It will always be "I will pick up the goods today."
At that time, the LCL company was impatient, and gave us an ultimatum. Let us notify the customer one last time. If the customer does not mention it, it will be returned to us, and the demurrage fee and other expenses incurred will be paid by us.
Analysis suggestion
If the foreign customer’s company goes bankrupt or the goods are not picked up after arriving at the port, it has been more than a month since the arrival of the port and incurred a lot of costs. The customer will obviously not pick up the goods. We ask the freight forwarder to explain to the shipping company that we abandon the goods, but the forwarder says at least Only half a year can be abandoned.
So here comes the problem. The port cost in half a year is estimated to be an astronomical figure, and domestic factories will definitely not be able to afford it. The value of the goods is also very low, and the future cost will definitely be much more than the value of the auction. The specific questions are as follows:
1. Will the shipping company pursue these demurrage fees, demurrage fees, and terminal fees?
2. Is it recourse to freight forwarders or foreign customers or domestic factories?
3. If they cannot pay, will the shipping company go through legal procedures?
So, how to deal with export abandonment?
1. Take the initiative to abandon the goods.
First, ask your freight forwarder to seek help from the agent at the port of destination, first change the consignee to the designated agent, and then abandon the goods in the name of the agent. Why has to be this way? Because if the consignee is not changed, it should be difficult for the consignor to abandon the goods unilaterally. But after such a change, the agent at the port of destination will have to bear a lot of responsibilities, including the cost and responsibility of abandoning the goods. This condition must be negotiated with the freight forwarder. People are willing to help you do this. How much you need to bear.
2. Resale.
See if you can find other buyers in the destination country, change the consignee of the bill of lading and then sell them to them, of course, there will be a discount. There are also major constraints in doing so. One is whether the products are customized and difficult to resell, and the other is to find customers who are willing to take over.
3. Ignore it.
Then don't care about anything, and all the liability costs will be borne by your freight forwarder. This is the most embarrassing thing. Maybe you are all right, but the freight forwarder and the company who picked up your shipment are in bad luck. The key is that this matter is not the responsibility of others. Of course, the other party may also go to court with you. According to Article 86-88 of the Maritime Law, if the consignee has a problem, the consignor must bear the cost.
4. Return shipment.
You can return to the domestic bonded area for storage. If there is a new order that is sent abroad or is undergoing inspection and maintenance, replace the package and bonded warehouse for simple processing such as packaging, relabeling, and shell replacement. Sent abroad. The bonded area is equivalent to foreign countries, and the return of goods to the bonded area for inspection and maintenance does not require import declaration, so there is no need to apply for the return of the goods to the customs, and there is no need to pay taxes or pay a deposit to the customs.
Domestic export goods, especially electronic products, small household appliances, etc., have a high repair rate. The traditional way of returning to the factory for repair requires multiple cumbersome procedures such as customs, commodity inspection, and national tax. Using the advantages of the bonded area and outside customs can quickly solve the repair problem.
The bonded area has a policy of "outside customs within the country", that is, it is within the national border but not under the jurisdiction of the domestic customs. Goods entering the bonded area from the country are equal to export, and entering the country from the bonded area is equal to import (import customs declaration). same.
Therefore, returning the goods returned from abroad to the bonded area means that the goods remain abroad and the import declaration has not been processed, so there is no need to apply for the return of the goods to the customs, and the returned goods to the bonded area are tax-free and can be re-exported.
Below we analyze the advantages of returning to bonded warehouse storage for repair:
a. Simple procedures : free deposit, tax exemption, exemption, exemption from commodity inspection, exemption from customs declaration, only need to provide us with the packaging, number of pieces, amount, net gross weight, and then the QP system can apply for entry maintenance and entry maintenance.
b. Fast timeliness : After the goods arrive at the Hong Kong/Shenzhen terminal, our company can arrange transportation and pick up the container and pull it back to the bonded warehouse for repairs. Workers can enter and leave the processing area freely without a visa for repairs. Shenzhen re-export.
c. Low cost : The cost of workers and maintenance site costs are much lower than those in Hong Kong or overseas.
Case two
The customer is bankrupt, the creditor controls the goods, and the freight forwarder asks for storage fees
We have a batch of goods that we did CFR with our customers. The goods arrived in Hong Kong in July last year. Because the customer went bankrupt and disputes with creditors, the goods have not been able to withdraw. Our payment has been received in full. The agent requests for warehousing, detention fees and other fees, and our agent charges us these fees.
The domestic agent has our export tax rebate receipts, and the other party does not deliver the receipts accordingly, and the tax rebate will be declared immediately. This matter has not been resolved yet, which is very difficult. Now foreign agents threaten to auction the goods, do they have this right? Is this legally true?
Analysis suggestion
analysis:
First of all, make it clear that, as SHIPPER, you are indeed obligated to pay the storage fee for the batch of goods (the second responsible person, as long as CONSINEE does not pay, you have to pay);
Second, after the goods arrive at the port, the ownership of the batch of goods belongs to CONSINEE. If the goods are to be abandoned, CONSINEE should write a written statement before SHIPPER’s turn to write;
Third, there is no law that supports that freight forwarders can withhold your verification form. As long as they go to court, they will definitely lose the case;
Fourth, after a certain amount of storage fees are incurred at the terminal, the port of the other party does have the right to auction the goods, but the auction proceeds are paid to other creditors after the storage fees are paid. (Of course, if the auction proceeds are not enough to pay the storage fee, SHIPPER and CONSINEE are obliged to make up for it.)
Finally, if, as you said, the goods have been controlled by the customer's creditor, then the creditor should pay the warehouse rent as CONSINEE's principal. (Theoretically, if your client, as CONSINEE, does not receive the goods first, his creditor has no right to control the goods. If he has received the goods, then the owner of the goods is him instead of you. Of course it may be different. National laws are different, so only your customers will know how the local laws are)
Suggest:
After the goods arrive at the port, how can the customer return the goods or sell them to others without paying?
Most countries in the world have this regulation. When the imported goods arrive at the port, the jurisdiction of the goods will be transferred to the customs. In order to protect the interests of buyers, the customs will not allow anyone other than the consignee to move this. Batch of goods.
This has brought a lot of trouble to the seller. When the seller fails to collect the full payment and wants to control the rights of the goods, he finds that he may face a shortage of money and goods.
Because whether you want to return or resell, you must meet any of the following two conditions:
The original consignee gives a declaration of abandonment;
The original consignee clearly informed the seller to refuse to pay for the goods!
As a result, some buyers will keep dragging, and they will never say that they will not pay, so that you can't get the evidence. Don't even think about it!
As a result, the seller can only watch the time passing day by day until the goods are auctioned by the customs!
So I gave two methods:
1. Find a very capable freight forwarder. I mean the destination port forwarder. They can help solve some problems. I have a friend who has successfully solved the cargo problem in Turkey.
2. Looking for counsellors, some people have succeeded, but most of them can hardly be contacted.
In fact, these are dead horses as horse doctors, because there is hardly any better way.
However, today I want to tell you the good news that another method has proven effective in practice.
I suggested that a friend write this paragraph in the contract:
The payment method of this contract is to pay the balance upon seeing a copy of the bill of lading. If the buyer (specific name) has not paid the balance within 10 days of seeing the copy of the bill of lading, it is deemed that the buyer has voluntarily waived the right to the goods, and the buyer agrees to the shipper to dispose of the goods independently.
or:
If the buyer (specific name) fails to pay the payment within 10 days of seeing the copy of the bill of lading, the clause is automatically activated: the buyer (specific name) voluntarily waives the right to dispose of the goods on the ticket, the shipper is free to dispose of it, can be returned or Resell to any other third party!
Remember, you must ask the customer to sign back!
Many people will say, how can a customer sign it?
If the client is a serious businessman, he is not deliberately deceiving you, he will definitely sign it, because this is a normal contract clause and does not harm any interests of the client.
Therefore, when the customer has not paid for the goods, the contract will work. The friend gave the contract to the local agent, the agent showed it to the customs, and the Turkish customs released it.
I don't know if all customs will recognize this contract model, but since there is hope of success, it must be 100 points.
Someone may have said, why do you have to pay at the copy of the bill of lading? Wouldn't it be better to do 100% TT before? Who doesn't want to do a risk-free business? If you can do the TT before, who will do payment at the copy of the bill of lading, who will do the letter of credit, who will do the DP or even the OA?
Due to competition, helpless! It's like a big brother commenting on my face of slavery, because I said that I must express first, and then ask questions, because I said that even if the customer's information is incomplete, we must first deliver the value, and then ask about the specific configuration, if at the very least Foreign trade business can also be regarded as a minion, so are those who accept these non-former TT payment methods also a minion?
Persevere in self and only do TT; adhere to self and only do high value; adhere to self and wait for customers to take the initiative, and never take the initiative! Maybe this is the real hero, but I can't do it now. Apart from a few top players, how many people can do it?