Six Import/Export Compliance Guidelines

By Neil Lenok, Managing Director, American River International, LTD

Below are a few of the key guidelines to help your company become a compliant importer/exporter.

1 Be Aware

Individuals involved in the supply chain must become aware of the issues and how they can affect the specific import and export supply chain. In addition, each individual must have a clear understanding of his or her responsibilities.

It is critical that the supply chain executives manage their responsibilities. For example, are you allocating as much as 15 percent of your time to reading trade publications, reviewing web sites, and attending conferences?

2 Get Senior Management Support

All corporations have profit and cost centers managed by individuals with personalities and egos. They all have their own interpretations and ideas on how various responsibilities should be managed.

When discussing issues regarding terrorism, compliance, and security with uninformed executives, there will be a natural resistance to any infrastructure change recommendations put forth by compliance and security personnel.

This is where the support of senior management is vital. Their support and advocacy of the compliance and security initiatives will break down the resistance and allow for constructive review and implementation.

3 Analyze and Review

Develop a process to determine the level of compliance at your company. You can do this by conducting a facility review, including a detailed analysis and mock audit of your supply chain and operations.

This is typically best accomplished by engaging an independent consultant. The consultant has no specific agendas that conflict with personnel or career matters and will have external reference points to utilize as “benchmarks” for where your company is.

This necessary review will then provide the “blueprint” for later actions that will make the company’s supply lines more able to manage the effects of terrorism, compliance, and security issues.

The review and scrutiny also respond to the government’s (Customs and BIS) doctrines of exercising due diligence, reasonable care, and supervision and control.

4 Determine Responsibility

Irrespective of the size of the corporation or supply chain, one person should be responsible for managing the risks of terrorism, compliance, and security. This person can be part of any profit or cost center — logistics, manufacturing, purchasing, legal/regulator — but should work within a team approach.

Gaining cooperation will be more easily achieved when all interests — manufacturing, purchasing, customer service, logistics, etc. — feel that they will have influence, their ideas will be heard, a nd they can constructively provide input.

5 Develop an Action Plan

Once the analysis is done and the compliance person chosen, a plan will have to be developed utilizing an excel spreadsheet.

The action plan will eventually lead the company and the individuals in charge of compliance and security into creating Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).

6 Create SOPs

The value of SOPs is threefold:

• They commit the process to a written format that clearly outlines how a company will function in its supply chain.
• They become a benchmark to meet the government’s requirements of exercising due diligence and reasonable care.
• They create a written guideline for new personnel, should supply chain personnel move on.

By simply applying these guidelines and adapting your processes, your company will create more efficient global supply chain management.