We regularly provide our members with customs and compliance information in our exclusive e-newsletter, "Edge Customs & **Compliance Express".
The person interviewed in this issue of "Style Record" (column) is Ms. Luo Danyue, who is the compliance manager of Burberry (Shanghai) in Asia Pacific. Ms. Luo Danyue has been specializing in the field of customs and compliance for more than 10 years, and has served as the legal compliance manager of parts and after-sales service for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in Asia Pacific, and the head of China Customs and Taxation of Ford Motor (China)**.
All the roads you have traveled will become your 'muscle memory' ......Ms. Luo Danyue said this about her own growth, accompanied by hearty laughter.
On November 23-24, 2023, FungSon Global held the 8th China Customs & Tax Summit, bringing together hundreds of customs and compliance professionals to discuss hot topics such as customs compliance, customs, and risk prevention.
At the summit, Ms. Luo Danyue, Compliance Manager of Burberry (Shanghai) Asia Pacific, once again came to the event as a keynote speaker, sharing the core skills that the customs team needs to have, how to work as a team, what information needs to be paid attention to, and the training of team members. On the second day of the summit, he served as the moderator of the summit panel discussion, communicating with the guests and sharing the perspectives and visions that customs officers need to have, which won rave reviews.
Luo Danyue (Sally), who studied at the School of Business Administration of Shanghai Wai Chinese University, decided to apply for PricewaterhouseCoopers (hereinafter referred to as "PricewaterhouseCoopers") after listening to his work experience in the Big Four accounting firms when attending the alumni sharing session of B&Q CEO Wei Zhe. At that time, she was inclined to work in financial auditing, thinking that she would enter the audit or tax department, but after the interview, she accidentally entered the customs department.
Although more than ten years have passed since the interview, she still clearly remembers the question asked by one of the interviewers: "China's customs is changing very fast, and you need to keep learning and growing when you enter this group, can you do it?" Sally was confused, but replied firmly, "It can be done!" ”
The School of Business Administration seems to be a "jack-of-all-trades" major, but the school's high language requirements also bring many advantages to Sally's work.
When they first joined PwC, they were joined by New Zealanders.
At that time, the customs policy was updated very quickly, and whenever there was a new regulation, he would send me an email to translate it. But you know, ** reports, announcements and other documents are all in paper, and there was no translation at that time, but I am in a hurry, and I hope that the work given to me will be completed as soon as possible. Although the process is painful, it is very emotional. Now, if there is a new regulation, I will do it! Sally explains the importance of English.
At the same time, Sally remembers an experience at PwC and says she feels a great sense of accomplishment. They were once approached by a top luxury brand, whose imported finished products are rare skins and are limited worldwide. The finished clothing products involve imported licence A, the inspection requirements of color fastness and pH, but the inspection needs to be destructive, that is, the finished product is destroyed.
At that time, unlike now, there may only be one or two imported products, and if they were used for testing, it would be imported for nothing. Moreover, the brand is also reluctant, and hopes that PwC can communicate with the customs on behalf of the brand. ”
Sally led the team to actively communicate with the commodity inspection department, and the commodity inspection department finally agreed that the brand could send a piece of leather instead of the finished product for testing, and said that if the valuable finished product is imported in the future, the fabric can be sent over in advance for pre-inspection. In this way, not only the finished product was protected, but the speed of customs clearance was also accelerated, which was the first in Shanghai at that time. As a result, Shanghai Customs has established a whitelist system, and luxury goods and clothing enterprises have joined the whitelist to enjoy dividends.
At the end of 2012, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) promulgated the Administrative Measures of the Customs of the People's Republic of China for the Inspection and Acceptance of Import and Export Commodities (Order No. 259 of the General Administration of Customs).
Sally says this is very important for businesses because Burberry is coming in from Shanghai as well as Shenzhen. At that time, Shanghai's fabric inspection report was not recognized by Shenzhen Customs. The introduction of the national regulations has broken the geographical barriers, and at the same time, the inspection can no longer be limited to the official commodity inspection department, and another 66 companies can do pre-inspection, speeding up the speed of reporting.
It means a lot to me. In the past, I was always running around from department to department, and it was very rewarding to finally see the regulations implemented," she said.
After leaving Ford, Sally's former colleagues told her a lot of things: "One moment it was hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes and taxes, and the other time the customs came to inspect ......."You seem like a mascot and don't seem to be busy at work, but none of these things have ever happened! ”
Sally smiled and said, "I'm not a mascot, and it's not the customs that gives me face." What they encountered was only the problem of risk management and control in the early stage. Something goes wrong and solves a problem is not a good ability. Being able to operate smoothly and without major problems for a very long period of time is the ability. I don't seem to be busy just because I solved the problem when it was very small, communicated with the customs in time or made adjustments accordingly, otherwise the snowball will get bigger and bigger, and it will be troublesome. This is also a special feature of compliance management, which needs to be prevented. ”
When Sally joined Burberry in 2018, Trade Compliance was only a global team with no Asians on the team. Operation belongs to the logistics department, and the workflow is to find the best business in logistics, and then find the customs broker, so there is no direct contract between the company and the customs broker, and the customs broker cannot be directly managed, but the company does not attach importance to it.
Coincidentally, the tax rate on clothing products was lowered that year, and Sally wondered whether the management of customs brokers would create risks. "We can't control its KPIs, we can't set SOPs, we can only 'interfere'. Including the classification and evaluation of the case, it cannot be determined. Therefore, Sally transferred the customs clearance from the logistics department to her own department in two years, and actively hired personnel with customs clearance experience to optimize the process.
Today, the team consists of 5 people, who are responsible for the customs broker's reporting and day-to-day matters, including customs challenges, pre-classification, management report billing, Hainan Island duty-free program, AEO program, general compliance operations, etc.
If you don't donate, all the roads you have traveled will become your ......'Muscle memory'"!
Thank you Ms. Luo Danyue for accepting our interview, through the journal of Fengxin Global, let more people know you as an elite in the field of compliance, and hope that we will have more cooperation in the future.