Traders have trusted Strong & Herd for 26 years in all matters related to customs and international trade. We have been involved in the system testing of CDS and already use it for customs entries alongside supporting companies who are using CDS today. The CDS Community incorporates the OneCall® Helpline support services and benefits while introducing a faster response helpline email address for when your customs entries don’t go through first time. 

CDS COMMUNITY Level 2 - A 12-month subscription to Level 2 membership of the CDS Community works in a similar way to Level 1 but provides additional time, at a reduced hourly rate, and free access to attend the CDS Clinics. Membership connects you to our CDS technical team for CDS enquiries as well as all your other import, export, and international trade questions. Standard questions will be addressed within a maximum of 24 hours, as per out OneCall® helpline service, but specific CDS questions will be set as Priority 1 and will be addressed immediately (during working hours). Via the CDS Community we will guide and support you and your business to the correct places for information, reinforce your understanding of procedures and be there if/when things don’t go right.

CDS Community Level 2 Additional Benefits

• Covers 24 hours of email helpline support for CDS and other customs and trade questions
• Ability to call off four 60 minute sessions with a CDS specialist one-to-one
• 4 free places on CDS Virtual Learning training session
• Free places on our CDS Community Clinics and access to the recordings via the CDS Community Area of our website

Also includes:

• Invitation to join our CDS dedicated Briefings, as well as the UK Customs & Trade Briefings
• Discounts on all other S&H public training sessions, in-line with OneCall® membership
• Regular information emails such as the Did You Know updates and specific CDS Updates
• Access to S&H Members’ Area of the website plus the CDS Community Area where specific CDS guidance along with the recordings of the CDS clinics and CDS briefings will be available

What’s included in the package?

CDS Helpline Service - Priority Response

Have the Strong & Herd expert team available on tap to answer your CDS queries. Whether you need assistance with a declaration, you are unsure of how to read the CDS Tariff or you are stuck with one of the new document codes, our team is ready to assist. Send an email to our dedicated address, and your query will be automatically assigned to an available expert. CDS enquiries are automatically given high priority.  You can also use the helpline for none CDS related import, export, customs, and international trade questions as the CDS community incorporates all the OneCall® services which means you don’t have to subscribe to a separate helpline service. Strong & Herd will support all your international trade and customs requirements within the CDS Community.

CDS Specialist One-to-Ones
At S&H our aim is to share knowledge and know-how. As a member of our CDS Community, you will be able to access specialist one-to-ones, where we will answer your questions on specific scenarios. If you prefer, you can share your screen and we will assist you with live declarations on the system you are using, be that TSS, your own software or the HMRC CDS Export portal.

CDS Training
Whether you are an experienced declarant or totally new to this sector, you will find an appropriate course for you in our catalogue. You can start with our introduction to import and export courses, attend the CDS modules and finally complement your knowledge with specific modules on declaring complex commodities. Choose which modules are most relevant to you and use the free places included in your CDS Community subscription.  CDS Community members also receive the OneCall® member discount on other import, export, and international trade public training courses.

CDS Briefings
You will be invited to join regular CDS briefings, as well as our normal UK Customs & Trade Briefings, where we share the latest news on CDS with the members of our community.  Questions and comments during the sessions are encouraged and we will be bringing information on the developments that may affect you the most. Briefings will be recorded and shared with all CDS Community members.

CDS Clinics
Available free to CDS Community Level 2 Members. There will be regular clinics, during which our experts will concentrate on different topics, with the aim to provide an opportunity to learn and understand the information needed to make customs declaration via CDS, to support you as a trader on understanding the new information required by the customs brokers and intermediaries and how to check the new customs entry documents and the new on-line reports expected to replace the MSS Reports. Bring real case scenarios or join to learn from other members’ experiences. Make sure you get the most out of your subscription.   CDS Community Level 1 Members can join the clinics at a discounted fee of £25.00 per session. All sessions will be recorded and available in our CDS Community area of the website.aragraph