Signing a customs broker authority: what to check
Signing authorises the broker to act for your business in the stated capacity. Direct representation normally leaves the customs debt with you; indirect representation makes you and the broker jointly liable. Check the scope, instructions and liability terms before signing. Cambridge China Bridge can help assemble supplier-side information.
Confirm what the signature authorises
HMRC requires written instructions stating direct or indirect representation, written confirmation of the terms, and a retained copy. Read the authority alongside every document it incorporates, including the broker's trading conditions. Ask for copies before signing.
Match the buyer's legal name and customs registration details to the intended importing business. Identify the appointed broker, covered shipments, start and end arrangements, and authorised signatory. Ask whether the authority covers a particular consignment or continuing imports. Our guide to the sourcing, freight and customs roles explains the wider division of work. For China orders, see our guide to keeping your own customs broker.
Understand the liability you retain
Under direct representation, the broker acts in your name and you normally carry the customs debt. If you give clear instructions and the broker makes a deliberate or unreasonable error, it may become jointly and severally liable. Under indirect representation, it acts in its own name for you; HMRC may seek payment from either party for the whole debt.
Ask the broker to explain any indemnity, meaning a clause asking you to reimburse it for specified losses. Check whether it covers the broker's own mistakes, subcontractors, interest, penalties or legal costs. Ask how liability caps, exclusions and claim deadlines interact with that promise. For the separate importer and VAT evidence questions, use who is the importer of record.
Attach shipment instructions to the authority
A standing authority should be supported by shipment instructions. Supply the goods description, invoice, packing list, proposed commodity code, origin and valuation information. Identify the intended customs procedure and any supporting permissions. Name the person who approves disputed or missing information.
Ask the broker to flag inconsistencies rather than copy the supplier's paperwork without query. Specify which decisions need your written approval, including changes to classification, value, procedure or VAT accounting. Agree whose payment account will be used and how advances and clearance charges will be approved.
Control delegation and changes
For direct representation, HMRC says the agreement must allow delegation if the broker wants to use a sub-agent. Ask who will actually submit the declaration, how your instructions reach them, and who handles questions and corrections.
Ask for wording that requires your written agreement before changing the representation type or widening the authority. Agree how you withdraw or replace instructions, who acknowledges the change, and what happens to declarations already in progress. Keep signed versions and shipment instructions together.
Agree checks and correction support
Appointing a broker does not remove your responsibility for customs declaration due diligence. Request a draft entry where practical and the submitted declaration afterwards. Compare it with the approved instructions, and agree who investigates discrepancies. Our broker declaration checklist covers the entry review.
Before signing, ask who handles amendments and HMRC enquiries, what support is included, and how additional work is charged. Record a contact for urgent clearance questions. Cambridge China Bridge's staff in China can help obtain product and shipment information from the factory; give the broker an agreed information pack rather than scattered messages.
Frequently asked questions
Does signing a broker authority transfer my customs liability?
Direct representation normally leaves the debt with you. Indirect representation makes you and the broker jointly and severally liable, so HMRC may seek the whole debt from either party.
Should I sign an authority covering all future imports?
Check which shipments and services it covers, how shipment instructions are approved, and how you end or change it. Ask for narrower wording if the scope exceeds what you intend.
What if the broker's authority includes an indemnity?
Ask which losses you would reimburse, whether the broker's own errors are included, and how caps and exclusions apply. Seek a solicitor's review if the financial exposure is unclear.
Can my customs broker use another agent?
For direct representation, the agreement must allow delegation. Ask who files the entry and how your instructions, approval controls and correction requests reach that agent.