Someone Accountable for the Entry
What a Customs Broker Actually Does
A broker is not a courier for your paperwork. The job is to classify the goods correctly, value them correctly, file the declaration in your name, and answer for it if customs asks a question - which is a liability, not an errand. Cannata does this as one of its own services rather than subcontracting it, alongside storage and transport.
What the Broker Handles
Work Carried Out on Your Behalf
The point of using a broker is that these stop being your problem.
- Classifying goods and assigning HS codes
- Preparing and filing the declaration
- Calculating duty and VAT payable
- Responding to customs queries and holds
- Arranging inspections where required
- Keeping the records the entry depends on
Choosing a Broker
Brokerage looks like a commodity until something goes wrong. Four questions separate the useful ones.
Do they file, or forward?
Some intermediaries pass your paperwork to another agent and add a margin. Ask who actually submits the declaration - here it is us.
Can they hold the goods?
A query or an inspection means the cargo has to wait somewhere. A broker with its own warehouses can move it off the terminal; one without cannot.
Do they classify, or copy?
Reusing the HS code on the supplier's invoice is not classification. Getting it wrong changes the duty and is the importer's liability, not the supplier's. See duty and HS code assessment.
What happens after clearance?
Cleared cargo still has to move. If the broker cannot deliver it, you are appointing a second company for the second half of the job.
Who Uses a Broker
Typical Clients
Brokerage suits businesses that import regularly enough to care, but not enough to employ someone for it.
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Importers without a local entity
Overseas suppliers and manufacturers who need a UAE party to handle entries on their behalf.
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Traders with irregular volumes
Businesses importing often enough that mistakes cost money, but not enough to justify in-house customs staff.
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Companies with complex goods
Products where classification, permits or approvals are genuinely arguable rather than obvious.
Why Cannata
Broker, Warehouse and Fleet in One Company
Most brokers stop at the declaration. That is exactly where cargo starts needing somewhere to go.
We file in our own name
Declarations are prepared and submitted by our team rather than routed through another agent.
Somewhere to put the goods
Three Dubai warehouses of our own, so a hold or an inspection does not mean terminal charges.
Delivery included
Cleared cargo leaves on our own trucks, so clearance and transport are one instruction.
Rate Request
Get a price for this shipment
Give us the route and the cargo and we will come back with a rate, usually within one working day.
Our FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
What importers ask before appointing a broker.
