Freight Forwarder business licence

smetol

After preparing my business plan now I'm ready to start my own business.
Guys please tell me your opinion:
I want to run small freight agency located nearby the Dublin airport. The only assets needed is some office equipment and a car.I'll do freight forwarding- organizing paperwork for export/import,import permits for the receiving country/if needed.The job does not involve transportation to/from airport as I wish to outsource everything. This is one man company which I manage personally.
My idea is to provide service similar to travel agents but offering cargo instead of selling the holiday packages or airline tickets.
Now the tricky parts comes:What does the law says in terms of this business licence,are there any restrictions or any special requirements?
Lastly, how to obtain custom clearance licence?
I would be happy if someone with hands on experience would reply as I find this extremely helpful to me.
Many thanks.

RUDOLF289

Hello Smetol,

First of all, fair play to want to start your own business.

In relation to freight forwarding, bear in mind that you are entering a very crowded market. Therefore it is important that you figure out what niche you want to operate in. I trust you have addressed that in your business plan.

In relation to running a general freight forwarding operation in Ireland, there are no license requirements. Anybody in Ireland can offer service as a freight forwarder.

However, when it comes to operating airfreight exports for instance, you will need to obtain an IATA license. That is a long drawn out process which will involve training and obtaining the required classifications from IATA. It may be possible to handle airfreight without an IATA license but without a license you are unlikely to be accepted for CASS, the airline settlement service. About 85% of all airlines settle their billing through CASS in accordance with very strict criteria. Few booking agents and/or airlines are prepared to offer credit terms outside of CASS.

Also, in order to handle airfreight export as an agent you will be required to become a regulated agent. Have a look at the following website ; http://www.dttas.ie/aviation/AviationServices/aviationsecurity/air_cargo.asp?lang=ENG&loc=2411

In terms of working as a customs clearance agent, I would ask the question; have you worked in this field before ? Are you familiar with customs regulations and the customs tariff ? Have you done customs entries before ? How certain are you that you are able to act on behalf of your clients in your capacity as a Direct Representative ? Again, there is no legal / licensing requirement. However, you will need to acquire software in order to be able to submit your customs entries. Customs actively will discourage agents / importers from submitting paper entries (as they will effectively have to put those up on the system). Suggest to have a look at the following link ; http://www.revenue.ie/en/customs/businesses/importing/automated-entry-processing-aep-dti.html

You would need to set up a TAN account to be able to (get your clients) to transfer duty / vat payments direct to customs, to enable you to submit entries.

In terms of companies that would be able to provide you with a customs clearance system have a look at the following link ; http://www.customsmatters.com/

For what it is worth, my advice in relation to customs clearance is to outsource this function. Unless you are absolutely sure what you are doing, have previous experience and a reasonable volume of customs entries, I would steer clear of doing customs entries on your account. I suggest you develop a working relationship / partnership with a customs broker. Agree a reasonable fee and add something to that fee to cover your costs.

Hope this is of some assistance

Cheers,
Rudolf289

smetol

Dear Rudolf 289.

Many thanks for your comprehensive reply. I was looking for this kind of answer.
I have found your previous posts regarding shipping/forwarding for the different topics and can comfortably say you're a Cargo Guru.

Back to my post. I have done IATA Air Cargo Diploma, I'm just waiting for the results of tricky DGR and that's the basic requirement for the CASS , correct me if am I wrong.
I want to focus on animal/pets shipping mainly. 100% transport mode will be by Air.
To gain the further experience, would you suggest to me any literature/forums which could help with some more knowledge.I know the best experience is to work in the field but in this economic climate it's more than difficult to work even for free. Believe or not, I have encouraged many forwarders and asked vacancies.
Is there any way I could contact you(e-mail, telephone) to get more info if needed?

Thank you for your help again.

RUDOLF289

Hello Smetol,

For live animals I would strongly suggest to have a look at the following training course ; https://www.iata.org/training/courses/Pages/tcgp06.aspx

I am not 100% sure, but I think that CASS will only deal with registered IATA agents. Just doing the IATA Air Cargo and DGR courses do not automatically qualify you for your IATA license.

As far as I know there are a few specialists that handle live animals (primarily pets) ; Multi Caro and Air Sea. Suggest you look up their website and see what sort of services they offer.

Feel free to post again if you need anything else that you think I can help you with

Cheers,
Rudolf289