Post clearance audits

Businesses witness constant changes in laws, regulations, and their related guidelines at global, regional and local levels. This poses a significant challenge for companies as they strive to manage risks related to trade compliance. It is the Customs Authorities’ mission to guarantee that businesses subject to customs controls comply fully with relevant legislative requirements. We are therefore seeing an increasing number of Post-Clearance Audits (PCA) in the UAE, making it of paramount importance for companies to establish improved processes for trade compliance.

Why does your business have to be prepared for customs audits?

• Customs authorities are developing new and more complex ways to assess companies and identify breaches in compliance, which leads to PCAs becoming increasingly common.
• As part of a permanent duty suspension scheme, companies in Free Zones are usually the focus of customs audits.
• Guaranteed compliance will save your company time and money when going through a formal audit.

• Where errors or noncompliance are assessed, companies may be subject to penalties and fines that could hinder their business operations.
• Non-compliance and lack of proper processes for trade risk management can have a negative impact on overall business performance.

How KPMG can assist clients

Our team of customs experts can assist your company navigate the complexities of complying with customs and trade compliance obligations. This will allow you to proactively mitigate inherent customs duty non-compliance risks.

Our specialists can help you through:

• Reviewing the current compliance structure
• Examining transactions and preparing audit trails
• Addressing areas of improvements
• Providing guidance on the way forward
• Analyzing potential scenarios as per the Customs Audit Standards
• Assessing customs audit cases
• Assisting businesses in settlements and appeals
• Representing clients before the authorities