What is a bonded warehouse and what advantages it offers
A customs/bonded warehouse is a warehouse in which goods can be stored under a suspensive regime, pending their commercialization.
The suspensive regime allows import-export companies to store products, postponing the payment of customs duties (duties or VAT) until they are placed on the market.
MWM is an external warehouse authorized by the Customs Authority for bonded warehousing. MWM offers a bonded warehousing service within authorized spaces for the storage of all types of goods: from dry storage to cold and temperature-controlled warehouses.
The advantages of customs warehousing
The customs warehousing service generates multiple economic and fiscal advantages in all import-export operations to and from EU and non-EU countries.
Goods are stored without being subjected to incoming taxes. The payment of customs duties is postponed at the moment of their total or partial unloading down to the individual unit.
Imported goods may be unloaded in the warehouse even if they are not accompanied by health and CE conformity documents and certificates, as they still belong to the foreign country. MWM can request inspections of the goods in bonded warehousing from the various agencies responsible for obtaining release documents.
During storage, the goods are also inspectable; it is therefore permitted to carry out usual processing that does not alter the state of the goods from a customs point of view.
Pending their release onto the market, the goods are stored in secure, guaranteed and controlled spaces, remaining at the company’s disposal for delivery to the end customer.
Flexibility and benefits of the suspensive procedure
The customs warehousing service offers importing and exporting companies numerous financial and bureaucratic benefits.
Storage under the suspensive regime makes it possible to seize market opportunities at different times of the year, buying when the value of the goods is cheapest and selling at the best conditions.
The flexibility of customs warehousing also facilitates purchases in large batches, taking advantage of dedicated discounts, and then placing untaxed products on the market only when needed, even in small quantities.
For export companies, bonded warehousing makes it possible to reship the deposited goods abroad and sell them domestically at any time, choosing the most profitable time. Moreover, thanks to the deferral of taxes, there is no need to reclaim VAT and customs duties, thus avoiding complex procedures with long waiting times.
Products can be resold to the foreign country from the bonded warehouse to the end customer, who, being the importer, will be responsible for paying the duties due. The financial advantages of customs warehousing are also combined with excise and VAT warehousing services, which allow tax payments to be postponed until the time of sale.
