Lack of a specific certificate, incorrect label or damaged goods – such situations may happen to you at the border. How to proceed in such a situation? It’s best to use the reparative procedure option! If you want to find out what it is and what requirements you must meet – read on.

Reparative procedure – DTA warehouses

Reparative procedure – what is it exactly?

The reparative procedure is nothing more than an action that enables repair or correction of goods under customs and tax control.

To put it in simple words: imagine that your goods were damaged during transport, or the labels contain an error and need to be corrected. In such situations, before the goods pass customs clearance, they may be moved to a customs warehouse and subjected to a ” reparative procedure” there.

Importantly, during this time you do not incur any customs and tax fees. You will have to pay the dues only when the goods are introduced to the market. We would also like to remind you that you can also use a bonded warehouse to store goods before placing them on the market. And if you want to learn more about this topic, we recommend our article “Customs warehouse – a solution thanks to which you do not have to pay customs duties immediately.”

Let’s go back to the topic…

When is a reparative procedure necessary?

When importing products from third countries to the European market, it may happen that the customs office will detain your goods. There may be many reasons. For example:

• when your goods fail inspection, it may be because you do not have complete documentation or it contains errors
• the goods do not meet safety standards
• there are formal deficiencies, such as the lack of the CE mark, instructions or importer’s markings

Then you need to use the reparative procedure. In Polish law, there are two types of this procedure.

Types of reparative procedures

The first is the processing procedure under customs control. It is used when the goods must be processed to meet EU and national requirements. Importantly, the actions taken as part of this procedure cannot change the type of product.

What is therefore acceptable? This might be: repairing damaged packaging, inventory taking, sampling, maintenance, pasteurization, irradiation, adding preservatives or removing corrosion. Moreover, while the goods are in a bonded warehouse, you can also improve the quality of the goods, e.g. change the packaging or label.

Examples of reparative procedure under customs control:

• using products against parasites and pests,
• sampling, measuring, weighing,
• removing damage, contaminated elements, removing dirt or corrosion,
• repairing damage,
• reconstruction or assembly,
• operations that increase the quality of products without changing their character.

The second type of reparative procedure is the bonded warehouse procedure. It is only used when the action does not affect the type of product.

Examples of the reparative procedure in a customs warehouse:

• dividing goods into batches,
• labelling,
• repacking,
• packaging

What happens after the reparative procedure is completed?

After completing the reparative procedure, either under customs control or in a bonded warehouse, the customs office re-assesses the imported goods. After review and positive assessment, your goods can be placed on the market.

If case the goods are not admitted to the market, they will be disposed of or sent to the country from which they came to Poland.

If you want to use reparative procedures and customs clearance, please contact us. We have been supporting importers for over 30 years, and in addition to customs clearance, transport and warehouses, our offer also includes customs warehouses.

phone: +48 693 298 777

e-mail: magazyny@dta.com.pl