Invoice: Commercial/Pro-forma : Sanders Brokerage

Invoice: Commercial/Pro-forma

Posted by stevelsanders98230 on Thursday, January 2, 2014 · Leave a Comment

A Commercial Invoice is an actual copy of the bill of sale (sales transaction) between a seller and a buyer. In fact CBP (Customs) would prefer to have a copy of the actual “commercial invoice”, however many times additional content must be added to the commercial invoice to bring it to an acceptable format for the importer, the broker and, of course CBP. Such additions might include:

Country of Origin of the goods,
Currency used,
Shipping Weight,
Tax number of the U.S. consignee or buyer
Dollar amount of any assists applicable (assists is a CBP regulatory phrase)
Dollar amount of any freight costs that might be included in the value
If duty and brokerage is prepared and included, a statement to that fact
Name of the U.S. Broker to notify for entry
Port of entry / arrival

A Pro-forma invoice can be used in lieu of the actual commercial invoice (when the commercial invoice is not available). The pro-forma invoice needs to represent all of the facts of the commercial invoice.

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Value Information Tips

When you ship or send goods to the U.S.A., the question of "valuation" may arise. What you need to know is that the issue of how to value your goods for export to the U.S.A. are part of a very complex law in our U.S. Customs Regulations (CBP).
The U.S. valuation law is very similar to the valuation law first developed and implemented by Canada Customs. The basic bottom line concept on most imports deals with the goods being valued (appraised) at the actual transaction value. That is, the price paid or payable for the merchandise. Transaction value is commonly used in arms length (unrelated) sales where a specific relationship did not impact the price paid or payable for the goods.
The term Related means within the sale of the goods, that actual family relations are involved, or that there are mutual owners in the selling company and purchasing company. CBP feels that family relationship or mutual owners in the seller and the buyer could impact the value paid or payable for the goods..
In related sales, transaction value can still be used, provided it can be proven (via a test case) that the relationship did not impact the price paid or payable for the merchandise.
Further protocol flow of the valuation law is a bit more complex and deals with terms and concepts such as "Transaction Value of Identical or Similar Merchandise", "Computed Value", "Deductive Value", and "402f" (Customs last method of appraisement) when other valuation concepts determined.
The bottom line in this law is making sure that the U.S. Government is receiving it's full amount of duty money's and fees. Undervalued importations could result in a loss of revenue to the U.S. Government to which the government could pursue full reimbursement and penalty actions.
Please remember that declaring a proper value on your shipment for U.S. Customs purposes is a matter of law.

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