Unblocking 43 shipments for TekstylLublin
We detected an error in the certification of fabric origin. After a 4-day audit, the goods moved forward without additional penalties.
In March 2024, the company TekstylLublin faced a sudden halt of 43 semi-trailers at the customs terminal. The office questioned the raw material's origin documents, which threatened huge delivery delays to Germany.
The challenge
The main problem was the absence of a single entry in the declarations of suppliers from Turkey, which undermined the right to a zero customs rate. TekstylLublin faced a penalty of 14,000 PLN and the necessity to pay full duty on goods worth 342,000 PLN.
The atmosphere was tense because the contract with the foreign recipient provided for high penalties for each day of delay. The owner called us on Thursday at 3:45 PM, when the situation already seemed hopeless, and officials refused to listen to telephone explanations.
Our approach
We sent a two-person team of auditors, Marek and Anna, to the site, who spent 14 hours analyzing 112 invoices and 16 certificates. Numbers do not lie, so instead of asking for mercy, we looked for hard evidence in TARIC customs codes.
We contacted the thread manufacturer in Turkey directly to obtain the missing statement in a format accepted by Polish services. We check facts, not promises, which is why we personally verified every field in the new documents before they reached the customs officer's desk.
The solution
We prepared a correction for all 43 customs summaries and delivered it to the office on Friday at 8:15 AM. We attached a precise legal analysis proving that the error was a clerical mistake, not an attempt to avoid fees.
Additionally, we trained 2 employees from TekstylLublin's logistics department on how to check papers from non-EU suppliers before shipping. The border is not just a line on a map; it is a bureaucratic barrier that must be overcome without fluff about theory.
Results
Thanks to quick intervention and hard data, the shipments were released within 4 business days without any financial penalties being imposed.
Timeline
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Thursday, 3:45 PMFirst call from the client and quick online document analysis.
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Friday, 08:15 AMSubmission of the set of 112 corrected invoices to the customs office.
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Monday, 10:00 AMOfficial release of goods and departure of the first 12 trucks.
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Tuesday, 2:00 PMCompletion of training for the client's logistics employees.
"Initially, I was afraid that the audit would take weeks. Lublin Union GR & Audit acted quickly, even though they required us to work late on the papers. Ultimately, the shipments started moving on schedule."