HuseyinIsteal@ups.com.tr
Sent: 11 July 2008 10:42:45
To: ef@hotmail.com
Dear Mr F,
The shipment sent from ACE PHOTO AND DIGITAL under the UPS tracking number 1ZR265V10471499357 was
held as a formal entry due to the high value. As per Turkish Customs law and regulations , the low value limit is 100EUR
which means the non-commercial shipments declared under this value , can be released by the customs as low value
shipments without formal entries. Of course there are also physical inspections on the packages and determined by
the type of commodities , quantities etc, the customs authorities have the right to hold any shipment for a formal entry.
I know that providing a notarized power of attorney has a cost as you will have to pay a fee to the notary ; what is more
if you are not able to speak Turkish , you will need an authorised translator but without a notarized power of attorney we are
not allowed to submit a clearance declaration to the customs on behalf of you. Power of attorney is given once and is valid
untill the expire date ; 1 day to 5 years. Unfortunately there is not an alternate option that will allow us to submit customs a
clearance declaration on behalf of a customer without a power of attorney.
The reason of your being given approximate charges for clearance is that , the total customs charges are certain only on the
day of clearance. Duty is paid on CIF value of the goods and VAT on all expenses and determined by the exchange rates on the
day of clearance, there can be little differences on the duties and taxes also the storage fees may show differences.
You were informed about these charges during your telephone conversation with our customer service staff upon your wanting
to know.It was just to make you have an idea about the approximate costs for clearance. After your giving final decision about
accepting the shipment or giving a power of attorney , the clearance process would start. Even we had your power of attorney , we
would still inform you about the exact charges and get your confirmation in advance (you could either pay by a bank transfer or at delivery)
so you do not have to worry about being charged much more than you were informed.
If we have a power of attorney from a customer in file , we certainly inform the customer about the arrival , get authorisation to
start clearance and then another confirmation for the payment of the customs charges as our having a power of attorney from a customer,
does not mean that the customer has to accept every shipment sent to her/him and pay the charges. Customers have the right
to refuse the shipments or the charges.
I would also like to correct your thought about the Turkish Customs officers' charging what they think and without any official guidelines.
The rates are not flexible ; every item has a customs tariff number (GTIP) and the duty / tax rates , import regulations , additional
documents / permits / approvals if any etc are all according to the the law and regulations the customs tariff numbers refer to.
After determining the harmonized cutoms tariff numbers and providing the required information like payment for the value of the goods
etc , it takes minutes to calculate the exact charges.
Customs has a computerized system ; we first send the declaration to the customs system through EDI system then the paperwork
is sent to the customs office for the approval of the officer , the declaration is then transferred to a line (red,blue,yellow ) and then
by paying the customs charges the shipment is released. Determined by the line, a physical inspection might be needed before release.
For example ; the customs tariff number of the commodity sent to you is 8471.30.00 , subject to 18% VAT , requires CE standards and
the importer needs to provide service warranty and maintenance certificate. ( As it is only one and for personal use , an exemption
letter could be provided )
We have a very new notice (No 2008/65) of Ataturk Airport Customs Directorate about the clearance of the goods sent to private individuals as
gifts or for their/families own use and not having commercial values or not in commercial quantities which will enable us clear such goods exempt
from some regularions like CE and with a fixed tax rate , without VAT. We will still need power of attorneys from the receivers.
I hope the explanation above answers all your questions. I would like to inform you that we are ready to give any assitance on clearance of the shipment
so please do not hesitate to contact me for any questions. But I hope you also understand us and our being liable to follow the clearance process
according to the existing law and regulations. Without a power of attorney , we will not be able to clear the shipment. The sender was also informed about the
reason of shipment's being undeliverable but UPS in US has not received shipper's instructions yet. I would like to speak with you about all these details,the clearance and power of attorney so that we can clear and deliver the shipment instead of its' being seized by the customs but I haven't had a chance to contact you since yestarday morning as the telephone number we have in our files (02526134664) is not being answered. When you receive this e-mail if you let know an
alternate telephone number or give me a call , I hope we can find the optimum solution.
Thanks
Sincerely,
Hüseyin İşteal
