C1 · 43 words

Customs and foreign trade

Declaring goods, classifying them, proving where they come from — and settling who pays for what.

Customs German has a verb that looks like a misprint: gestellen. It means to notify customs that goods have arrived and are available for inspection, and nothing else can happen to a consignment until that has been done. The ge at the front is not a participle marker but part of the verb itself, and it never splits off: Der Spediteur gestellt die Sendung bei der Zollstelle. Since German never adds a second ge to an inseparable prefix, the participle is gestellt — letter for letter the participle of the everyday stellen. So Die Ware wurde gestellt has two possible readings, and in a customs file it almost always means the formal one. The noun is die Gestellung, and without it there is no Überlassung, the release of the goods.

The words

Verb (3)

verzollento pay duty on, to declare (at customs)VerbC1

Am Flughafen fragte der Beamte, ob wir etwas zu verzollen hätten.At the airport the officer asked whether we had anything to declare.

Inseparable: verzollt, with no ge-.

gestellento present (goods) to customsVerbC2

Die Sendung ist unverzüglich bei der Eingangszollstelle zu gestellen.The consignment must be presented at the office of entry without delay.

Official term. The participle is gestellt, like that of stellen. Noun: die Gestellung.

einreihento classify (goods in the tariff)VerbC2

Der Zoll reihte die Geräte als Messinstrumente ein, nicht als Computerzubehör.Customs classified the devices as measuring instruments, not as computer accessories.

Separable: reiht ein, eingereiht. Noun: die Einreihung.

This list belongs to Work, money and trade — 53 lists and 2069 words that can also be practised as a whole.

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