Ensuring trade compliance with United States and international laws can often be quite confusing. However, there are a few ways to cut through all of the headaches that traversing these laws can cause. The first, most obvious, way is to get a lawyer for your company that specializes in international trade law. However, this can get quite expensive, and unless you can afford an attorney that is dedicated to only working for your company, then your company may not be the only work that the attorney has.
The second, and less obvious, way to help you ensure trade compliance, is to invest in software that is specifically designed to manage your company’s imports and exports, as well as compliance with national and international rules and regulations. If you are not familiar with this type of software or wary of the software in general, then there are some benefits of investing in this type of software that you need to be aware of. These benefits are not the only benefits of having this type of software; however, they may be the most important.
Trade Compliance
Reliable import and export software can help ensure that your company is always in compliance with complex trade regulations. The most reliable software stays up to date in real-time with all rules and regulations in the companies that you plan to ship in and out of. This ensures that there are no accidental violations of recently updated laws and no unnecessary (and expensive) fines for rule violations.
One thing that you should keep in mind is that not all software updates at the same frequency. In order to avoid any delay in compliance, you should invest in import/export software that updates the most often. Check for a “real-time” update feature or daily updates if you can find affordable software with those features. If you are unable to find software with those features, then check for software with weekly updates. It is worth the extra money that you will spend on a faster update feature in order to avoid any accidental fines for not being compliant with trade regulations.
Decreased Shipping Times
The second benefit of having reliable import/export software that most people would not think of is the decreased shipping time that is often a secondary benefit of the software. Most people probably wonder how software can decrease their shipping time. The answer is relatively simple. If you ship an item that is in violation of any trade guidelines, then you will more than likely experience a shipping delay. There are two things that happen when an item is shipped in violation of trade regulations. The first is that it will be automatically returned to the sender, so the item will never make it to its destination in the first place. The second thing that can happen is that the country’s customs office will hold onto the item until the item becomes in compliance. The company that shipped the item may not even be notified that there is a problem, until they realize the item has not been received by the expected recipient.
If you have automated software that always ensures you have the proper paperwork and that your items are in compliance, you do not have to worry about these delays. You won’t have to worry about your items ever being out of compliance with trade regulations and your customers won’t have to wait longer to get their items, just because you accidentally shipped an item in violation of murky trade regulations. You’ll get faster shipping and improved customer satisfaction rates, which leads us to our final benefit.
Increased Customer Satisfaction Rates
The final thing that should be noted here (although, there are many more benefits of investing in import/export software) is that with effective import and export software, you will increase your customer satisfaction on a global scale. Improved customer satisfaction rates are an inadvertent benefit of investing in this type of software. You will decrease the amount of times that customers do not receive their products because of accidental violations of trade regulations.
The software can also dramatically reduce shipping costs, which can also be passed on to the consumer. If you are not being fined for accidental oversights of trade law, then you will not need to charge as much for your products or shipping in order to make up for lost profits due to those fines. A reliable and up to date import/export software can help you navigate the often confusing import and export laws so that you will not have to worry about any unnecessary fines that will often be passed on to your consumers.
Conclusion
If you are still on the fence about purchasing import/export software for your company or believe that your company cannot afford it, then I would suggest asking yourself two questions. The first would be “Do I ship products to any outside countries?” If you do, the second question you should ask is “Can I afford a fine for violating a trade regulations?” Fines for violating trade regulations can vary per country; however, there are violations that can bankrupt companies, especially if they are operating on a limited budget. Can you afford for your company to go out of business just because you accidentally violated a trade regulations?
Some violations of trade regulations may also include jail time for the person responsible for the violation. If this happens, then you also lost the trust of your customers as well as people within your own company. It is hard to rebuild after this, and this is an unnecessary risk that no company should ever be willing to take. The easiest way to avoid this unnecessary risk is to make an investment in a reliable software to manage your imports and exports. While the software is not a replacement for an attorney specialized in international trade; however, it can add an additional layer of security that will help protect your company from any accidental violations of trade regulations.