What is Customs Data and how is it used in 2024?
![cargo ship](https://www.gotchafast.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/customs-data-cargo-ship.png)
If you’re considering entering the foreign trade industry, possibly to become an importer or exporter of goods, then you’ll likely hear the term “Customs Data” many times. For seasoned foreign traders, this term is a familiar one, but for many just entering the industry, it may be a bit of an unknown. This article will outline what Customs Data is, where it comes from, and the value that it brings to those working in foreign trade and other industries that rely on international shipping.
Table of Contents
What is Customs Data?
When goods move from one country to another, there are four general choices available. Those choices are: air freight, rail freight, sea freight, and trucking. Since many countries are not connected by rail, and may even be located on different continents and separated by massive oceans, rail freight and trucking are just not feasible for shipping large quantities of goods in many instances. Additionally, air freight, while very fast, is too cost prohibitive to be a feasible option for most goods. For this reason, the vast majority of goods move via sea freight. In fact, according to the OECD, maritime trade accounted for 87% of all trade in 2011.
Since most trade across borders happens via sea freight, knowledge of what’s being shipped from where, to where, and by whom, is essential information. The good news is that shipping companies require anyone who wants to ship goods to fill out a document called a Bill of Lading. The Bill of Lading is an essential shipping document that outlines a lot of important information, most notably who is shipping the goods, where the goods are being shipped to, who will receive the goods, and what the goods are.
![](https://www.gotchafast.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Simplified-bill-of-lading-1.png)
When the cargo ship arrives at the destination country, it must pass through the new country’s customs process. This process exists in all countries, and ensures that only legal goods enter the country, and that any necessary taxes are paid. During this process, most governments will make a digital record of the BoL, and in many countries this document is in the public domain, which means it can be accessed by anyone with the right resources. For example, in the United States, Bill of Lading data can be accessed via a Freedom of Information Act request. However, the cost of gathering and delivering the data to the entity that requested it must be paid for by the requesting party, and as such is extremely cost-prohibitive for most individuals or companies.
For this reason, the data is often organized and distributed by professional business data companies, who get the raw data, digitalize it, develop it into a usable product, and deliver it to those who need it via a easy-to-use online tool such as GotchaFast’s Customs Data Search.
How do you use Customs Data?
Once you’ve found a good tool for searching customs data, you can generally search based on several different criteria. For example, on GotchaFast, you can search via product description, HS Code, country of origin, destination country, and date.
![](https://www.gotchafast.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/firefox_Jetpzz8qIC.png)
With these search criteria possible for searching customs data, an individual can achieve several different business objectives:
Find Potential Importers
To find potential importers with customs data, you’ll need to either search by product description or by HS code. HS code is a unified code system for product classification (you can find your product’s HS code here). Searching by HS code is a more standardized method for finding the import/export records of a particular product, so is the generally recommended method for searching customs data.
For example, say an exporter wants to export thermowells (a randomly chosen product), and wanted to find potential importers of this product. They would isolate the HS Code, which is 903300, and then perform a search including the product description “thermowells”. After performing the search, the importer would be able to see a list of all of the transactions that fit the search criteria (i.e. searching “thermowells” with HS Code 903300). Below is an example of an actual trade that fits this criteria.
![](https://www.gotchafast.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/customs-data.png)
From this data, an exporter can see that a firm imported thermowells on May 14th, 2024, going from China to the USA. Examining the details of the record reveals even more important information such as importer address, quantity imported, and on other trade data.
From this data, a exporter can then contact the importer and attempt to develop them as a client for their product.
Find New Suppliers
Another great use of Customs Data is for a import company to find new potential suppliers. Finding a reliable supplier is critical for the success of many businesses, and fortunately, customs data can go a long way in helping a company find new potential suppliers.
To find a supplier with customs data, you follow the same procedure as when finding potential importers: search HS Code, then evaluate the suppliers that are exporting the product. View their website, and contact them for a sample product.
Spy on Competitors
Another great use of customs data is to keep an eye on what a business’ competitors are doing. Using customs data, a company can follow how much goods a competitor is importing/exporting, and what goods they’re importing/exporting, giving you advance notice of what they may be planning in the future. Additionally, for importers, they can see who the clients of their competition is, and potentially convert them into clients for their business.
To perform this kind of search, one would simply need to input the name of their competitor and perform a search. For example, using the supplier listed in the example above, performing a supplier search shows us multiple other trading partners of the supplier from China.
![](https://www.gotchafast.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/supplier-search-1024x574.png)
With this information, a company can very easily keep an eye on what their competitor is selling, who they are selling it to, and how much of it they are selling. This is all critical information for any business.
In conclusion, customs data is the records of the goods that are shipped between countries, and can be used by business for many different purposes such as import / export prospecting, and competitor research.
If you have any questions about Customs Data or how to use it, please feel free to reach out to us!
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