Power of attorney
Also known as: POA, authorisation
A power of attorney is the authorisation with which the importer or the owner allows you to file customs declarations on their behalf. Without a POA you may not declare, even if all the papers are there.
What is a power of attorney for customs?
A power of attorney is the written or digital authorisation of the person in whose name you file the declaration. In Dutch this is a machtiging. Customs requires a representative to be able to show that they may act. Without that proof you are a third party declaring someone else's goods, and that is not allowed. The POA sets out who may declare, for which acts, and whether it is direct or indirect representation. That last distinction determines who bears the customs debt. Under direct representation the client is the declarant. Under indirect representation you are yourself, next to the client. A missing POA is one of the most common reasons a file stays on not complete. Invoice, packing list and B/L are there. The EORI number is there. The declaration does not go out, because nobody has signed that you may do that.
What must stand in the power of attorney?
The identity of the principal (name, address, EORI), the identity of the representative, the nature of the representation, the acts that are allowed (import, export, transit, warehouse), and the validity. A POA without an end date runs until it is withdrawn. A POA with a date stops on that day, even if shipments are still on the way. Distinguish a general POA from a POA per shipment. In volume the general form is the default: one document that covers all declarations until withdrawal. In automotive and with private owners the POA is often per vehicle or per shipment, because the principal changes. The POA is not a blank cheque for every fiscal act. Fiscal representation for VAT is a different authorisation, with a different liability. A customs POA covers the declaration. It does not automatically cover article 23, a warehouse authorisation or the filing of a repayment request, unless that is in it.
Direct or indirect representation?
Under direct representation you file the declaration in the name and for the account of the client. The client is the declarant and bears the customs debt. You are the authorised representative. That is the usual form if the client is established in the EU and has an EORI. Under indirect representation you file the declaration in your own name but for the account of the client. You are yourself the declarant, next to the client, and you share the liability for the debt. That form is needed if the client is not established in the EU, or if they do not want or cannot act as declarant themselves. The POA must make that choice explicit. A form that only says you may declare, without direct or indirect, is incomplete. On a check customs asks for the form of representation on the declaration and for the POA that covers that form. Those two must say the same.
When may you declare without a new power of attorney?
If a valid general POA already sits from the same principal, for the same acts and the same form of representation. Check those three things per new client, not only whether a PDF sits somewhere in the archive. A POA for import does not cover a T1. A POA until last year does not cover this year. You recognise existing customers on EORI or, for private persons, on name and address. A second POA for the same party creates a duplicate master. A missing POA for a known name is not an exception. Companies merge, EORIs change, and the old authorisation hangs on a number that no longer exists. On a third-party POA the owner signs, while you have contact with an intermediary. The intermediary cannot repair the POA themselves. Send the correction or the reminder to the person who must sign, and name the end customer so the intermediary knows which file it is.
Digital or on paper?
Both forms occur. Digital is the default in chains that run volume: the principal fills a form, signs, and the PDF lands with representative and client. Paper remains the exception, because it means manual entry and therefore delay. Customs requires proof, not a specific format, as long as the content is right. Approval of the POA is not the same as approval of the shipment. Someone can sign the POA while the invoice is still missing, classification is still open or the T1 is not yet discharged. Do not read a signed POA as a green light for the whole file. The status of the shipment sits somewhere else. Keep the POA with the client's master data, not only with one file. On a check afterwards customs asks for the authorisation that applied on the date of the declaration. A PDF that only sits in the handler's mailbox is then missing.
What goes wrong without a power of attorney?
The declaration does not go out, or it goes out while you were not allowed to act. In the first case the file stays on not complete until someone signs. In the second case you have filed a declaration without authority, and that is a problem larger than a missing document. Expired POAs are a silent variant. The authorisation applied, the shipment is on the way, and on the day of filing the date has passed. Build a reminder in before the end date, not after. A mail on the day of expiry is too late for a shipment that must be shot in that morning. A mismatch in the form of representation is the third trap. The declaration stands on direct, the POA on indirect, or the other way around. DMS cannot always catch that. Customs catches it on a check. Put the form in the master and let the declaration follow that master, instead of choosing the form per file.