Page 26 - Hafen Hamburg | Port of Hamburg Magazine 4.2021

■ W O R L D T R A D E
toms Agents is one of the those that support compa- nies in the various processes needed for Customs clearance as their products travel the world. “Keeping track of the requirements in the clearance process can prove a challenge. To satisfy requirements vary- ing from country to country requires a high degree of specialization and product knowledge based on expe- rience,” stresses Thorsten Porath, proprietor of Po- rath Customs Agents. To counter this problem and the growing administrative complexity of the market, last year Porath restructured his separate depart- ments. Specializing for specific customers or fields of industry, small teams collaborate on exports and im- ports, as required, to find individual, specific answers for the products needing to be processed.
SHORT-DISTANCE COMMUNICATION CHANNELS THANKS TO DIGITAL TOOLS
It is not only structurally that the company is adapting to the market. In addition, digital tools are to help sim- plify communication channels and network individual players together. For this, Porath has created a digital platform that accompanies the shipment. With access to Eazy Customs, customers can digitally scrutinize the status of their order, download documents, and com- municate in this way with intermediate service provid- ers and authorities. Moreover, it is also possible to in- vite others involved to join in the order, and in so doing to supply required data rapidly and without complica-
tions. “Eazy Customs functions in much the same way as a what’s-app group chat. Customers may invite any parties involved in the transport process. We are cur- rently in the process of further enlarging the tool so that for specific questions, suppliers too can be invit- ed,” says proprietor Porath.
In parallel to developments at the firm specializing in imports and exports, the authorities have also recog- nized the trend towards digitalization and coopera- tion. The Customs, Veterinary and Import Office Hamburg, plant health control office and the Federal Office for Agriculture and Nutrition have set up BOSS – a Border One Stop Shop as a central handling centre in the Port of Hamburg for more rapid exchange of documents, even at digital level.
Yet if the recently created digital tools are also to se- cure advantages, companies need to enter speedily. “Everything depends on when we are switched on, for if the appropriate tools are not deployed in good time, but only when the goods have arrived, then digitaliza- tion of the processes is no use,” emphasizes Melanie Al-Marji of Porath Customs Agents. ■ Birte Hirsch
Before a salmon lies in a deepfreeze,
it has often covered a long trip through Europe
Porath Customs Agents
Founded by Jürgen Porath in Hamburg’s Speich- erstadt – Warehouse City – by Jürgen Porath in 1985, at the beginning Porath Customs Agents was a traditional forwarding company
The company grew rapidly and after the early years, concentrated on its core competence: Cus- toms clearance.
In 1996 Jürgen’s son Thorsten Porath, a trained forwarder, took over as CEO and set the family company on an international course: He inaugurat- ed the first airfreight branch at Frankfurt Airport, opened a further base in Bremerhaven, and on ac- count of heavy demand, expanded to the port city of Gdynia in Poland in 2011 and to Rotterdam in 2013. The most recent location in Zielona Góra was added in 2016.
Re-launch as Porath Customs Agents GmbH fol- lowed. The Customs agency now employs over 90 staff and offers a catalogue ranging from con- sulting to professional clearance to complete Cus- toms management.
26 | Port of Hamburg Magazine | December 2021
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