A customs bonded warehouse provides a secured place to store or manipulate any dutiable goods and inventory without payment of assigned duty fees. Used for import and export goods, bonded warehouses are regulated by the customs agency in the country where they are located.

What is a Bonded Warehouse?

A bonded warehouse allows the owner of goods and inventory to defer payment of duties, tariffs, or taxes until the goods are purchased. Conversely, in a non-bonded warehouse, importers are required to pay duty on received goods.

Importers can hold goods in a customs bonded warehouse until customs officials inspect them. Cargo in a non-bonded warehouse must be inspected immediately upon arrival at an international point of entry.

Customs bonded warehouses play an integral role in international trade, as they help shippers import goods and keep them in global locations that are strategically close to customers. Bonded warehouses facilitate improvements in international supply chains and processes.

What is bonded storage?

Bonded storage is another term for using a bonded warehouse.

What is bonded cargo?

Bonded cargo is a shipment with a foreign origin that requires charges like tariffs, duties, customs charges, and/or penalties.

What are bonded goods?

Bonded goods still need to have the customs duty paid, which requires them to stay in customs-supervised warehouses until it is paid.

What is a bonded shipment?

A bonded shipment goes through different countries before reaching the country that is its final destination. Customs clearance doesn’t happen until the final destination.

Types of Bonded Warehouse

Shippers can use different types of bonded warehouses to fit their needs in each situation. Types of bonded warehouses include:

Public Bonded Warehouse: A guarded warehouse owned by the state or port authority. Anyone can use this warehouse to store goods.
Private Bonded Warehouse: A privately owned warehouse used to store the owner’s goods or goods that the owner has allowed to be stored there by a client.
Special Bonded Warehouse: Some goods must be stored specially to remain fresh or safe. For instance, this may include deep freezing or special storage of bulk liquids.

Benefits of Using Bonded Warehouses

Within a global supply chain, shippers take advantage of numerous benefits when they rely on bonded warehouses to store imported goods. These include:

Deferred duties and taxes.
Storage flexibility.
Improved cash flow.
Simplified customs clearance.

Learn more about how Bonded Warehouses Can Benefit From TMS and ERP Integration in our white paper.

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Bonded Warehouse Regulations and Requirements

Bonded warehouses are regulated, but the regulations vary by warehouse type, location, and customs agency. In the United States, the warehouse proprietor takes on the liability of stored goods through a warehouse bond. This is then canceled under various circumstances, such as exported goods.

In the United States, the warehouse proprietor physically supervises the goods, and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) supervises the proprietor using the audit-inspection program. This includes things like determining the responsibility of the proprietor for the goods.

The proprietor of the U.S. Customs bonded warehouse is expected to carry out 1) recordkeeping related to the goods that comply with regulations and laws; 2) CBP audits to ensure this is being done.

How MercuryGate Supports Bonded Warehouses

MercuryGate TMS supports and integrates the warehousing and resource planning tools bonded warehouses use. MercuryGate TMS creates increased visibility into the international movement of goods in and out of these bonded warehouses. In addition, MercuryGate can help streamline the customs clearance processes.

The Case for ERP and TMS Integration in Bonded Warehouses

It’s beneficial for bonded warehouses to integrate enterprise resource planning (ERP) and transportation management system (TMS) solutions. This is because ERPs tend to struggle with the complexity of transportation models and the challenges of modern supply chains. Integrating provides a faster ROI, cost savings, better visibility, and improved adoption. MercuryGate can help facilitate this type of integration.

Gain the Benefits of Integration in a Bonded Warehouse

Bonded warehouses provide benefits and strategic positioning within global supply chains. For instance, they help shippers delay taxes and duties, help with cash flow, and create more flexibility for storing goods worldwide.

Bonded warehouses can better keep up with the complexities of modern transportation and supply chains by integrating their ERP with a transportation management system (TMS). The TMS-ERP integration provides support and creates increased visibility into the movement of bonded warehouse goods. This is how MercuryGate can help, as it offers innovative TMS solutions that can be integrated for maximum support.

Keep learning about the pitfalls of ERPs and improvements through integration with a TMS.