Documents arrive already moving toward a declaration
Connect a mailbox or use the API and invoices start flowing into Customs Declare automatically -- classified, checked against preferential trade agreement and CITES rules, and ready for your review before anyone has to go looking for the paperwork. You review and approve every declaration before you submit it.
Where forwarding work actually slows down
Chasing documents, not moving cargo
A shipment sits while someone waits on an invoice or packing list that already exists in an inbox or an ERP system somewhere.
Manual re-entry between systems
Declaration results get retyped by hand into QuickBooks or NetSuite, which is where transposition errors come from.
Rules that differ by transport mode
PSI requirements, licensing, and prohibitions can depend on whether goods move by sea, air, road, or multimodal -- easy to apply the wrong corridor's rule.
A quote that's short a levy
MFN or preferential duty alone can still miss a community-bloc levy (ECOWAS, WAEMU, AES) or a vehicle-specific levy (South Africa, Nigeria) charged on top -- Customs Declare calculates both automatically wherever they apply, so the number in your quote matches what customs actually charges.
How Customs Declare helps
A connected mailbox or an API call brings documents in without anyone uploading a file by hand; from there it's the same classify/validate/review-&-approve/declare pipeline every shipment goes through -- your review and approval is never skipped. Approved declarations can then sync to QuickBooks Online or NetSuite, or notify your own system by webhook.
- 1
Upload
Upload an invoice or packing list, send it through the API, or connect a mailbox so emailed documents come in automatically.
- 2
Classify
Each line item is read and matched against the full HS2022 nomenclature to propose an HS code.
- 3
Validate
Checked against rules of origin, CITES-protected species, country-specific import and export licensing and prohibitions, MFN vs. preferential duty rates across 20 trade agreements, and additional charges like community-bloc and vehicle import levies where they apply -- AfCFTA, USMCA, RCEP, the EU, and more.
- 4
Review & approve
You approveEvery declaration comes back to you first -- HS codes, duty figures, every flagged detail. Nothing leaves your workspace until you've reviewed it and explicitly approved it, no matter how confident the automated classification is.
- 5
Declare
Customs Declare produces the completed declaration document for the destination's own form and authority, in that country's required language -- 59 languages supported. You submit it to the customs authority yourself, or hand it to your broker.
A real example: peanuts into the United States
Prepared peanuts (HS 2008.11) shipped from Mexico into the United States carry a standard MFN duty rate of 65.9% -- but qualify for 0% under USMCA. On a $10,000 shipment, that's a $6,590 difference riding on one classification. CBP's own Entry Summary (Form 7501) needs the right HS code and origin claim to reflect it -- Customs Declare checks USMCA eligibility automatically as documents flow in, rather than after a forwarder has already quoted the wrong duty.
Inbound email polling and the document API bring invoices in; QuickBooks Online, NetSuite, and signed webhooks send approved declarations back out -- set up once per client workspace.
Check what a destination requires before you quote the corridor, or compare duty rates for a shipment you're pricing out.