Can I declare imported goods, purchased simultaneously from multiple overseas suppliers and received in one consolidated shipment, using only the representative supplier's information without individually listing all overseas suppliers? Released

You have inquired about a situation where you need to import and customs declare goods purchased simultaneously from multiple overseas suppliers and received in a single shipment. To start with the conclusion, you must declare all overseas suppliers' information individually, and it is generally not possible to declare using only representative supplier information.

Import declaration is a legal obligation to submit accurate information to customs in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, including Article 241 of the Customs Act and Article 246 of the Enforcement Decree of the Customs Act. These regulations not only specify the name, specifications, quantity, and price of imported goods, but also stipulate that important matters prescribed by Presidential Decree, such as the taxpayer's trade name and overseas supplier code, must be declared without omission. This is a key requirement to ensure the transparency and accuracy of customs clearance procedures.

If you proceed with an import declaration for goods purchased from multiple overseas suppliers using only the information of a representative overseas supplier, the information of other suppliers will be omitted from the declaration. Such an omission of information goes beyond simply missing a single declaration item and can lead to various legal and practical issues as follows.

• Violation of Customs Act and Administrative Sanctions: A declaration that does not provide accurate information can be considered a violation of the Customs Act, leading to administrative sanctions such as the imposition of fines. This is interpreted as a breach of the duty to declare truthfully.
• Impairment of Accurate Trade Statistics Management: National trade statistics are compiled based on import performance from each overseas supplier. The omission of overseas supplier information can impair the accuracy of statistics, potentially causing confusion in the formulation of national economic policies.
• Issues with Origin Verification and Application of Preferential Tariffs: The origin of certain goods is often determined by a specific supplier. Discrepancies between origin certification documents and import declaration contents when applying preferential tariffs under free trade agreements (FTAs) such as the Korea-U.S. FTA can lead to tax reassessment and serious issues during subsequent customs origin verification.
• Difficulty in Verifying Safety and Legality of Imported Goods: It becomes difficult for customs to ascertain whether goods imported from a specific overseas supplier comply with domestic safety standards, environmental regulations, or other laws. This is an important issue in terms of consumer protection and national safety management.
• Disadvantages during Post-Clearance Audit: If errors or omissions in the declared information are discovered during the customs post-clearance audit process after import declaration, it can lead to additional tax burdens, such as the imposition of surcharges, as well as a decline in corporate credibility.

Therefore, even if goods are imported simultaneously from multiple overseas suppliers, the information for each supplier must be accurately recorded and declared. In practice, this is handled by entering the corresponding overseas supplier information for each item within a single import declaration form, or by registering multiple overseas supplier details in separate fields provided by the system. Most electronic customs clearance systems are designed to efficiently input such multiple overseas supplier information.

Advice for Successful Import Declaration of Goods from Multiple Suppliers:

• Accurate Document Preparation: You must clearly prepare all import-related documents for each overseas supplier, such as Commercial Invoice, Packing List, and Bill of Lading (B/L) or Air Waybill (AWB). These documents serve as the most crucial evidence for the import declaration content.
• Maintain Information Consistency: The information entered in the import declaration form must be consistent with the contents of all attached documents. In particular, the item name, specifications, quantity, price, and overseas supplier information for each item must exactly match the documents and the declared content.
• Sufficient Communication with a Customs Broker: For complex import cases, it is crucial to transparently provide all relevant information to the customs broker handling the clearance and communicate sufficiently to ensure an error-free declaration. Customs brokers possess specialized knowledge and practical experience in such complex declaration cases, enabling them to prevent potential issues in advance.

Occasionally, even when receiving small-value samples from multiple suppliers and processing them as a single shipment, the principle is to declare all supplier information. However, if the individual amount is very small and the total amount falls within the small-value duty-exempt range, and it is processed through a specific simplified customs clearance method, there might be a possibility for the overseas supplier information input method to be somewhat simplified compared to a regular formal import declaration. Nevertheless, such cases are limited and do not apply to formal import declarations for general commercial purposes.

In conclusion, for accurate and lawful customs clearance, it is essential in all cases to declare all overseas supplier information related to imported goods without omission. We would like to inform you that this is the wisest and safest way to fulfill the importer's compliance obligations and prevent unnecessary customs delays, penalties, and additional tax burdens.