Understanding Custom Procedures

The custom department plays an essential role in international trade. Hence, it aims at controlling the regularity of international trade and exchange and to establish statistics for international trades. Every transaction between Lebanon and another country is subject to a custom declaration. In order to take advantage of the facilities offered and to develop their presence on the international scene, the companies stand to gain by fully understanding the custom rules and regulations and by knowing the services and procedures followed by the custom departments.

Partnerships between Lebanon and third countries

Lebanon signed several partnerships with the arab countries. These partnerships aims to abolish custom duties after a certain laps of time on national products.

The custom clearance modalities

The modalities of passing through the Customs include the presentation of merchandise to a custom office and to subject the same to a custom regulation. The administration of these custom offices admits only some persons for effecting the passage through customs. These are :

-        Merchandise owner

-        The professional declarant: the authorised custom commissioner who is in-charge of execution of custom formalities for his clients.

Submitting to Custom Department

-        After import, the goods are received, whatever maybe the mode of transport used, by a brief declaration of the goods (the manifest of the goods for air and maritime transport, Way Bill , Counterfoil of the TIR book for Road Transport), unloading (depositing in the warehouse) and taking into charge by the customs authority.

-        On export, the declarations of the goods must be registered right from the point of arrival of the goods at the office or in the premises indicated by the custom department.

Storing or warehousing

After presentation to the custom office, the goods are either passed through the custom or warehoused and they are put in the area of custom clearance.

Custom declaration

The Single Administrative Document (SAD) is the support document registering customs declarations with third countries.

In order to give effect to this declaration, the companies must compulsorily do the following:

The SAD is prepared by the professional opeator. It is send automatically to lebanese customs by electronic transfer.

A printed copy must be included within the file presented to the customs.

Other documents will be presented at the time of the operation of customs clearance such as:

-        Commercial invoice

-        Packing list

-        Transit papers covering transport

-        Certificates of circulation and origin (to obtain permission from the customs department)

-        Import licences (if required)

It is to mention that the invoice must specify the unit price, the currency, total number and kind of packaging, the origin of the goods, incoterms, …

Determining Custom Duties

Custom duties are different according to the value declared to the Custom. The parts of the declaration that are necessary for charging are value, the type of tariff and origin of the goods.

-        The value declared to the custom majority of the imported products are taxed on an "ad valorem" basis, i.e to say , calculated on the basis of reference which is the transaction value of the merchandise at the time of entry. The customs value is calculated on CIF basis (Cost Insurance and Freight).

-        Type of tariff: the imported or exported merchandise is classified into the types of tariffs attracted by them under the international nomenclature of "harmonised system of description and codification of merchandise" (code of 8 digits). The latter is going to define the rate of Custom Duty, the rate of VAT, additional charges, application of quotas, sanitary norms and controls. Determination is at times very complex because one must know the exact composition of the product. In case of doubt, the company consults the Supreme Council for Customs.

-        Origin: It is the country from where the merchandise is considered to have originated, and this should not be confused with the source of supply. Merchandises declared as having its origin in the country of fabrication. If, the fabrication took place in several countries, one has to take into account the country where the last processing of the goods took place (certificate of origin).

Procedures of Customs Clearance

Every goods circulating to and from Lebanon is subject to a customs declaration.

Customs offices at Beirut port and Beirut airport are equiped with the system called NAJM. It is a computerized system that handles electronic transfer customs declaration between the professional declarant and the customs office. This system allows to have relatively quick custom clearing.

This system will soon equip all custom offices.

The goods are brought to the Custom Office with a declaration in detail made by the company or its forwarding agent and sent via EDI to NAJM system. The folio of the document accompanies the declaration. The registration of a detailed declaration is not obligatory in the following cases:

-        the goods if the value of the content is not higher than 1,000,000.00 LBP at the point of import.

-        The export of a certain type of goods if the value does not exceed 100,000.00 LBP and the weight does not exceed 50.00 Kgs

Customs regime

There are different regimes wich can be applied to goods transiting to and from Lebanon. Depending on these regimes, goods will pay or not custom duties:

Definitive Import

This regime consist in importing goods to sell it on the local market. Custom duties and VAT are payed directly at the point of entry.

Temporary Import

Goods are imported to Lebanon with the intention to re-export it. This procedure is subject to the authorization of the head office of the customs.

Definitive Export

It consist in exporting goods to third countries without the intention of re-importing it. The customs declaration will be used also for the reimbursment of the VAT payed at the entry of the goods.

Temporary Export

It consist in eporting goods to third countries with the intention of re-importing it without paying custom duties and VAT.

Temporary type of economic arrangement

Type of Arrangement of Samples

This is the type of arrangement which facilitates temporary import or export of the merchandise meant for being utilised in the State (eg : International Fairs). This temporary admission requires an ATA notebook (combination of temporary admission - Admission Temporaire). The ATA Convention brings together hundreds of member countries.

The types of custom arrangement allowing processing of merchandise

This type of arrangement consists in importing raw materials from a third country in order to subject the same to processing. At the end of this type of arrangement, the goods or finished products are re-exported outside the country.

- Exemption from custom duties and VAT.

The types of Arrangement of transit

National transit

This type of arrangement consists in importing products from a third country. These latter circulate afterwards under transit on the National territory up to the site of the addressee company.
- Suspension of custom duties and VAT for merchandise circulating on the National territory. This type of Arrangement is convenient for all types of transport.

International transit

This type of management relates to the operations which take place between at least two countries. International transit came on the scene with railway transport, then air transport and finally road transport. As for the road transport the International Convention provides for use of a single document accompanying the merchandise. This document is a TIR/ IRT booklet(International Road Transport).
- The truck must carry the TIR registration plate indicating suspension of custom duties and VAT.

Interex Lebanon Services

Interex Services proposes to you to find the customs' classification number of your product of a given product; once this number is known, Interex Services can indicate custom duties applied to this product at the point of entry into the country of your choice.