Duties and Importance of Forwarding and Clearing Agents

by Armstrong Louis HR

Nowadays it has become essential for every business organisation to hire the professional services of clearing and forwarding agents. That is because export-import processes are both complex and time-consuming. These agents are experts in the fields of custom and excise protocols, and other freight management logistics. Exporters these days are dependent on the services of clearing and forwarding agents for the organised shipment of goods. The following are the essential duties of freight forwarders in Cape Town:

1.    They are responsible for the storage of their client’s cargo at their warehouses. Most reputed forwarding agents have their own warehouse facilities.

2.    They arrange the distribution of cargo in accordance to the instructions of the client. This is mostly done through regular routing.

3.    They are responsible for negotiating freight rates with the shipping line in a way that would cater to the interests of their clients.

4.    Forwarding agents are responsible for booking the cargo with the shipping line as per the requirement of the clients.

5.    They also have the duty of preparing the bills of lading and accessory negotiation/shipping document like the F178, Certificate of Origin etc.

6.    They have the duty of dispensing the approved house bill of lading as valid.

7.    It is optional for forwarding agents to participate in customs clearance

Clearing agents are essentially responsible for the aspect of customs clearance in shipping businesses. The following are the essential duties of clearing agents:

1.    The clearing agent is a company that is ascribed with the border authorities, local custom agencies and ports.

2.    They make arrangements for passing the pertinent documents at customs

3.    As per requirement, they are responsible for making arrangements for custom inspections

4.    Clearing agents also have the responsibility of verifying and processing duty and VAT payments as when they are feasible.

5.    These agents can issue own bills of lading only when they are registered or are acting as a freight forwarding agent in an official capacity.

The above are the essential tasks but the following are some of the additional services occasionally provided by clearing and forwarding agents:

·         In case of the cargo shipment losing its track, the agents should be able to trace the cargo by communicating with his international counterparts.

·         These forwarding and clearing agents often assess any kind of damage suffered by the cargo.

·          In case of a situation where the importer refuses to accept the delivered shipment on any account, these agents should have storage facilities and warehouses to store the shipment. This kind of a situation often happens in major international markets.

The following are the different types of forwarding agents found in freight management services:

·         Consolidators/non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCC)

·         Multimodal/intermodal  transport operators

·         Customs brokers

·         Port(sea port, cargo terminal or airport) agent

·         Air freight/air waybill  agent

·         Road haulage brokers

·         Loading brokers

Each type of forwarding agent has its own specific functions. The current global economic scenario has made forwarding and clearing agents a crucial part of freight management.

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Created on Apr 17th 2018 04:41. Viewed 285 times.

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