WHAT WE DO
Opening the doors to global markets
IOR Global provides an IOR solution covering multiple countries through a single interface, allowing clients to expand into new markets with ease.
In the majority of countries, it is essential that you have a fiscal presence in that country in order to import goods. The IOR Global service assists companies that do not have such a corporate presence, via the use of an IOR Global entity or one of our established agents.
IOR Global will:
- Act as the importer of record /exporter of record for customs and taxation declaration purposes at the time of import/export;
- Be responsible to Customs, Tax and other regulatory authorities;
- Apply for necessary import/export licenses or permits;
- Maintain records for the minimum duration required under local law; and
- Complete all regular filing requirements associated with the payment of duties and taxes.
Critically IOR Global does not normally take title to the goods, and these remain with the Client or their end customer.
The model is particularly suited to situations where a Client requires that goods are on-site in a country where they do not have a legal/fiscal presence, and the goods are not on-sold in that country. Thus it is particularly suited to:
- Warehousing of warranty spare parts
- E-Commerce / internet sales;
- Establishment of data centres.
As our Clients only needs to deal with IOR Global’s regional offices they do not need to have direct contact with the operations in the receiving country, thus reducing corporate tax exposures.
IOR Global Services:
- Simplifies the clearance of shipments;
- Saves Clients from the costs of establishing legal entities in countries; and
- Reduces their exposures to corporate taxes.
Solutions
A Client has sales of finished goods to end users in a country – using the end user as the Importer for the initial shipments.
The Client needs to establish a stock of spare parts in-country in order to meet warranty obligations. These spare parts will not be on-sold and will remain the property of the Client until potentially passed to the end user.
Solution
IOR Global will:
- Screen all goods for compliance requirements
- Assist in completion of all paperwork to support the shipments
- Act as IOR (Importer of record) in order to facilitate the import of the goods into the country
- Apply for any product specific licenses/permits
- Liaise with the Client’s selected Logistics Service Provider (regional and in country)
- Be responsible to the authorities as required
- Retain all documents and remain responsible for the importation in line with country audit requirements (eg up to 10 years)
- Act as EOR (Exporter of record) for exports of defective items if required – or assist in scrapping
Scenario
Recent years have seen a boom in eCommerce / internet sales and an ongoing shift from ‘bricks and mortar’ retail sales to online retail sales. In many cases the simplest solution is to have the buyer take on the role as importer of the goods. However, there are some situations where the injection of an independent third party (IOR) may assist:
In some countries, all importers must be registered or otherwise accredited with the relevant regulatory authorities to be able to engage in import or export activities.Often there are additional requirements for such registered importers to provide a letter of authority or power of attorney to the clearance agent – use of an IOR can remove these impositions from the buyer.
For certain specified products in some countries, there is a need to obtain import licenses/permits by an individual importer or at a shipment level – use of an IOR can remove these impositions from the buyer.
Some Sellers wish to ensure that the buying experience is as close as possible to a local purchase, and the buyer should never need to be a party to the importation process – use of IOR can create that premium service.
Where there are high volumes of sales, significant freight savings may be achieved by sending goods in a single consolidated shipment on a daily basis – an IOR can be the importer for those single shipments with multiple end customers.
Solution
IOR Global will:
- Screen all goods for compliance requirements
- Assist in completion of all paperwork to support the shipments
- Act as Importer Of Records (IOR) in order to facilitate the import of the goods into the country – individual or consolidated shipments
- Apply for any product specific licenses/permits
- Liaise with the Client’s selected Logistics Service Provider (regional and in country)
- Be responsible to the authorities as required
- Retain all documents and remain responsible for the importation in line with country audit requirements (eg up to 10 years
- Act as Exporter Of Records (EOR) for exports of defective items if required – or assist in scrapping
Scenario
A Client wishes to establish a data centre in a country in order to provide data services to various clients in that country or region.
The Client will not be trading in goods (ie selling physical products) but will be selling intangible services to customers.
IOR Global will:
- Screen all goods for compliance requirements
- Assist in completion of all paperwork to support the shipments
- Act as IOR in order to facilitate the import of the goods into the country
- Apply for any product specific licenses/permits
- Liaise with the Client’s selected Logistics Service Provider (regional and in country)
- Liaise with the data centre managers as required
- Be responsible to the authorities as required
- Retain all documents and remain responsible for the importation in line with country audit requirements (eg up to 10 years)
- Act as EOR for exports of defective items if required – or assist in scrapping
Engagement
The first step involves the Client completing an IOR questionnaire – potentially after implementation of a mutual non-disclosure agreement.
The content of the questionnaire enables IOR Global to gain a better understanding of the Client and the commodities that would be covered by any agreement. It also allows us to review matters such as a preliminary review of import restrictions, permit requirements and any historical issues that may have arisen between the authorities and the Client or their agents/affiliates.
The review of the questionnaire and then discussions with the Client on the operational model are vital in our risk management process and also feeds directly into the provision of a full service proposal.
Concurrent with this activity would be the Client reviewing the standard contract arrangements that have been developed by IOR Global. IOR Global, does not charge any set-up fee, and thus would look to finalise contract arrangements before moving to the next stage of implementation.
Implementation
This phase mainly consists of a broad range of activities including:
- Development of shipment paperwork;
- Review of product compliance, including any control requirements (licenses, permits etc);
- Agreement on Product Master List of the goods covered by the agreement;
- Review of the overall business model and the valuation principles adopted by the Client;
- Completion of Shipping Instructions / Workbooks for each country – in conjunction with the Client, IOR Global and the relevant logistics service provider; and
- Development of reporting and billing arrangements.
The Implementation phase can be quite thorough and intense. The aim is to establish a robust and sustainable process so that Clients can have the highest possible level on confidence in the service delivery.
Operations
Once the process has been agreed by all parties, we move into the operations phase which may still involve the review / quality control of shipments by IOR Global regional offices and our appointed agents.
Our regional offices will also play a vital role in the continual review of operational arrangements with the Client and regular business reviews of service levels.