Customs delays ?

Hope not secondhand parts

I normally use freighforwarding company as they clear it customs and I only pay about 10$ per kg

Most times I import under my registered company here but on this occasion as it was unrelated and personal items I didn't. As the parts are specialised I even made sure the shipping details/description etc were in both English and Vietnamese in case they had no idea of what the parts were which has caused problems before. And of course not second hand 

Actually I have been having better than normal luck moving everything inbound in customs since they came back to work after Tet.  Before Tet, even a couple of months leading up, it was terrible with every shipment being hung up for a few days.

My last three shipments this week and last week that came FedEx International Priority all arrived in 3-4 days.

SteinNebraska wrote:

Actually I have been having better than normal luck moving everything inbound in customs since they came back to work after Tet.  Before Tet, even a couple of months leading up, it was terrible with every shipment being hung up for a few days.

My last three shipments this week and last week that came FedEx International Priority all arrived in 3-4 days.

Guess I have just been unlucky this time. There is no rush as such, I just feel better when the components are in my hands. If they get 'mislaid'  it would be a disaster.

I did have a scare right before Tet, but out bound.  Monday before Tet, still plenty of time, we sampled several new molds and machined die castings.  I wanted them in my company's hands over Tet so they could review them internally and with the customers and hopefully give me direction over Tet so we could ship ASAP. 

Well, the package sat at Fedex in HCMC until Thursday for some reason and then ended up on a plane to Singapore.  I think it might have been the last flight out for freight and they just wanted to get it anywhere.  It then went to Japan and sat for more than a week.  We are now approaching two weeks and we are back from Tet and I'm getting ready to have to ask all of the suppliers to sample everything again as this shipment appeared to be lost which would have been an extreme pain.  Finally on the Saturday after Tet they "found" the package in Japan and got it to the US on Monday.

SteinNebraska wrote:

I did have a scare right before Tet, but out bound.  Monday before Tet, still plenty of time, we sampled several new molds and machined die castings.  I wanted them in my company's hands over Tet so they could review them internally and with the customers and hopefully give me direction over Tet so we could ship ASAP. 

Well, the package sat at Fedex in HCMC until Thursday for some reason and then ended up on a plane to Singapore.  I think it might have been the last flight out for freight and they just wanted to get it anywhere.  It then went to Japan and sat for more than a week.  We are now approaching two weeks and we are back from Tet and I'm getting ready to have to ask all of the suppliers to sample everything again as this shipment appeared to be lost which would have been an extreme pain.  Finally on the Saturday after Tet they "found" the package in Japan and got it to the US on Monday.

That must have been a worry. For the most part over the years I have only had the odd problem and thankfully have never lost an item although they have occasionally arrived damaged. The parts I tend to ship are extremely rare and the particular components I am waiting for have taken almost two years to source, hence my concern.

Indices wrote:

That must have been a worry. For the most part over the years I have only had the odd problem and thankfully have never lost an item although they have occasionally arrived damaged. The parts I tend to ship are extremely rare and the particular components I am waiting for have taken almost two years to source, hence my concern.

Two years, so rare, and you decided to ship them.

Anything that's not replaceable I would have brought them back in my suitcase, no matter where in the world I was living at the time.

Wxx3 wrote:

Indices wrote:

That must have been a worry. For the most part over the years I have only had the odd problem and thankfully have never lost an item although they have occasionally arrived damaged. The parts I tend to ship are extremely rare and the particular components I am waiting for have taken almost two years to source, hence my concern.

Two years, so rare, and you decided to ship them.

Anything that's not replaceable I would have brought them back in my suitcase, no matter where in the world I was living at the time.

Good point but at 210 kilos and with all sorts of customs permissions needed it just wasn't possible in the time frame I had to purchase and ship.

Yes. I have like 20 packages in customs. All kinds of items from clothing to accessories and electronics, some came from China but most from Europe, so it's not a country-based delay. None have changed any status in a long time. Some of them have been in customs since Jan 15th, so a month. I don't think it was being unlucky.

I've read somewhere that they were ordered to disinfect a lot of facilities which would account for some delays, but a month is outrageous in my opinion. Unfortunately unless you're fluent in Vietnamese there isn't much one can do but wait. I asked a few locals too to see if they were having issues and all confirmed same (delays delays delays).

Odd timing I guess with coronavirus and Chinese New Year.

Good luck.

clairehadley wrote:

Yes. I have like 20 packages in customs. All kinds of items from clothing to accessories and electronics, some came from China but most from Europe, so it's not a country-based delay. None have changed any status in a long time. Some of them have been in customs since Jan 15th, so a month. I don't think it was being unlucky.

I've read somewhere that they were ordered to disinfect a lot of facilities which would account for some delays, but a month is outrageous in my opinion. Unfortunately unless you're fluent in Vietnamese there isn't much one can do but wait. I asked a few locals too to see if they were having issues and all confirmed same (delays delays delays).

Odd timing I guess with coronavirus and Chinese New Year.

Good luck.

I have been along to customs and speak Vietnamese but the answers were all vague with everyone blaming everyone else and sending me in different directions. The best I could get was check back in a few days.

re: "I have been along to customs and speak Vietnamese but the answers were all vague with everyone blaming everyone else and sending me in different directions."

Thanks, good to know. In that case I won't even bother with talking to them.

clairehadley wrote:

re: "I have been along to customs and speak Vietnamese but the answers were all vague with everyone blaming everyone else and sending me in different directions."

Thanks, good to know. In that case I won't even bother with talking to them.

I'll keep you updated if I get any news.

I have been shipping things from us to hcm, since 5 years ago, by my service- ofcourse it always take arround like max 14 days by air cargo. If any one interest on doing business between Us-VN, then feel free to contact me, i have my own company in Us and Viet Nam. About shipping things from Us to VN, better using the Cargo service for quickly and uncomplicated things for you.

Johnimee,

I'm always interested in options.  Normally I ship boxes that weigh 25-27kg.  I use FedEx International Priority.  It takes on average 3-4 days either way, not 14 days.  Cost is higher going VN to US for some reason - about $180 to the US, $155 from the US to VN, both of those are current prices for 25kg.  Do you offer faster service than 14 days?  I generally can't wait that long to get materials here or samples shipped out to the US.

Stain,
Definitely shipping by Fedex ll be faster, but sure price + tax ll be higher. My way is like “hand carry” way; using the relationship with Custom Officers then can avoid some tax - here we call 50 - 50 (50% tax for Officer, 50% tax we keep). Some time it takes 5-7days; some time it last longer than.

Johnimee wrote:

Stain,
Definitely shipping by Fedex ll be faster, but sure price + tax ll be higher. My way is like “hand carry” way; using the relationship with Custom Officers then can avoid some tax - here we call 50 - 50 (50% tax for Officer, 50% tax we keep). Some time it takes 5-7days; some time it last longer than.

If the fees are claimable on tax, I'd stick with Fedex.

I didn't get an idea of cost from you yet.  What would a 25kg package coming from US to VN cost to send with you?  Right now I'm paying 3,575,000VND to ship it in 3-4 days.  Valuation of package 4,000,000VND.  It's normally injection molding plastic resin pellets for sampling a new mold so low value but heavy.

Service charge by lbs; normaly around 3.5$/lbs; if ur things just that, then better keep using Fedex; my stuff is some luxury things (cosmetics, watch, shoes, clothing...)

$3.5 per lb is very high.  More than double my cost.  When I ship outbound air freight instead of FedEx it is $3.3 per KG.  Outbound molds are usually 300-400kg.

Customs in any countey globally have their own 'hang ups' and will go to sometimes extreme lengths to check the legitimacy of the goods and reason for import

I recently worked for a comapny that managed the logistics for a well known road car and F1 team. Most countries they ship to are fine, China on the other hand decide any brochure for the cars they sold count as propaganda and would reject them.. then next time around they would clear customs no issies.

Hear i beleive also any form of printed matter is subject to very close scrutiny also.

Whag you have to remember is that customs are there to ensure the goods coming into the country are not prohibitted items and then once accepted for import that the value is justifiable. Remember declaring an item below 50USD to avoid paying duties when the real item value is much higher.

So assume you buy a used motorcyle part in  the US for 200USD, and have it shipped. If you declare the value artificially low and customs get suspicipus - they will hold the consignment to see if the same item is available domestically here and look to compare the true value.

This happens everywhere, not just VN

Previously mentioned customer makes hugh end hyper cars - sold one to an aussie guy for £2 million plus taxes. Had it shipped an dhe paid full import duties in Sydney. Then decided he like da very ni e set of hand made italian lether specifically designed for th3 car - cost £67,000 but didnt eant tk pay the odd £3,000 on taxes based on its value (can afford the car but wants to save on luggage). Asked to ship at a lower value which the manufacturer did. Australan cusms got hold of it and demanded true cost and he had to pay plus a small fine. So yes you can get caught. But also consider if the item goes missing in transit and you declare for 50USD that is the maximum you will get back from the courier - who will use the volumetric weight to calculate the reimbursement figure. If you ship anything of value or hard to replace it might be better to pay for additonal insurance.

Customs officials have a lot of tools at their disposal to stop tax avoidance and smuggled items.

Indices wrote:

clairehadley wrote:

re: "I have been along to customs and speak Vietnamese but the answers were all vague with everyone blaming everyone else and sending me in different directions."

Thanks, good to know. In that case I won't even bother with talking to them.

I'll keep you updated if I get any news.

Just had some good news, my shipment is ready to collect. Just need the insurance guy to fly down later today so that he can witness it being opened and check for damage.

Yay, thanks for letting me know and I hope your shipment is intact.

One of my packages just left customs as well, so I guess they finally started to work again, vacation is over Weirdly enough I still have packages sitting in customs from Jan 15th, but the one that entered customs on Feb 15th just left 2 days later. No rhyme or reason, but at least things started to move forward.

clairehadley wrote:

Yay, thanks for letting me know and I hope your shipment is intact.

One of my packages just left customs as well, so I guess they finally started to work again, vacation is over Weirdly enough I still have packages sitting in customs from Jan 15th, but the one that entered customs on Feb 15th just left 2 days later. No rhyme or reason, but at least things started to move forward.

my package has been held up since Jan. 1st I had to get an import license for books (8) from the Communications Dept. and now I have to get an import license for bath soap and hand lotion from the Food & drug Admin. all these are items for personal use. I have been here for 5 years and this package business has been getting worse and worse.

How did you get the import licenses?  I tried to order contact lenses and was told an individual could only import 30 pairs.  So I had a friend bring some over.

Books will always get inspected - often printed matter gets stopped to check for any banned content.

Not sure why the soaps etc got stopped.
Who did they ship with ?

you have to apply at the Information and Communications bureau

FedEx

FedEx / TNT can be super fussy on clearance. They often seem a cheaper option but comes at the expense of speed.

If you manage to get hold of the local office they should be able to give you a good reason why it is taking so long

In the case of books to VN they will be thoroughly checked to see if anything inside is  considered inappropriate for import to VN. Ultimately the final decision lays with VN customs.

If the other items are in the same parcel then they will be delayed until the books are (if at all) cleared for delivery.

We have similar issues with China delivering brochures for a car manufacturers... Chinese customs deem the brochure to be propaganda. Worst case they dispose of them... But often return to sender.

FedEx can be brutal with returns, often return for the smallest thing

I hope it goes well.  If you need more info let me know

Quick update on my end: 2 days ago customs started processing my packages that have been sitting there since first week of January and slowly but surely they're all clearing one by one. Yay, finally.

Have shipped many gifts to friends in Vietnam. My experience is Vietnam customs is significantly corrupt in addition to just not being remotely expedient. Many things I have sent have vanished after being in the possession of customs officials. Shipping method or service is of little impact per avoiding this reality. I have tried them all. Proceed at your own risk would be my advice. You can also pretty much disregard published duty fee information. They tend to assess any value the want regardless of actual value. Published 10% duty fee somehow turns into 100%.

Brooky wrote:

Have shipped many gifts to friends in Vietnam. My experience is Vietnam customs is significantly corrupt in addition to just not being remotely expedient. Many things I have sent have vanished after being in the possession of customs officials. Shipping method or service is of little impact per avoiding this reality. I have tried them all. Proceed at your own risk would be my advice. You can also pretty much disregard published duty fee information. They tend to assess any value the want regardless of actual value. Published 10% duty fee somehow turns into 100%.

I receive on average 2 packages per week from all over the world and so far none disappeared (knock on a wood).

In terms of timing I did notice a difference based on a shipping company. When using DHL packages clear customs immediately, similar with UPS Global. I also ask people to lower down value of sent goods and/or mark it as a gift which helps as well.

Everything I have sent was a gift. I am not a commercial vendor. As I posted, several items have disappeared, including items shipped with DHL. Also, items shipped USPS. I receive notices items are awaiting clearance with customs...meaning in the possession of customs agents. I receive notices customs has released my item a d should be delivered shortly...then begin receiving subsequent notices of "clearance events" and "customs delay" every day for several days. This can go on for a couple weeks or more. Contact to DHL results in a. Inquiry by them but they never give me any definitive reason or information. Contact customs directly a d never receive any response. This is identical to my experience shipping USPS on occasion as well. On other occasions customs contacts my intended recipients and ask for information regarding contents. My recipient does not have the details they ask for and the details they ask for are all specified in customs forms attached to parcels. They have the info they claim to require. It's a scam. Designed entirely as a.n excuse to confiscate the goods. If they were on the up and up they would answer the calls to the number provided that my recipients makes...respond to the email inquiries to the email they provide.  They don't.  As many as 30 calls and no answer. Sending a notice that the recipient must travel from Tuyen Quang to Hanoi to receive the items is BS when on other occasions they were delivered to the local district post. Just relating my personal experiences.

I have even had things shipped from commercial entities, businesses in Europe that ship DHL exclusively and obviously provide all required, accurate, impeccable customs documentation...items verified reaching and in possession of clearance agents then never seen again. Never delivered and DHL is unable to get any info from customs agents regarding disposition or resolution. Vietnam customs is significantly corrupt. Customs corruption and stealing items passing through customs is not exclusive to Vietnam...just worse there than most other countries.

I'll have a search for the correct contact details. Bit in the case of DHL if you search DHL straight to the top for the region you are in, you will be able to find the contact email address for regional director of DHL.

Usually this would be a  last resort sort of thing, bit had to use this method when I was back in the UK and couldn't get a proper answer

If I find the address I'll DM you

Hey there,

I just needed one contact lens for my right eye. I ordered it from my doc in India.

Now it is stuck at the Vietnam customs and they are asking for an import license for one contact lens.

I was in the same situation with the prescription eyeglasses that I ordered on a VN website.  What a surprise when I found out that the prescription eyeglasses (1 pair) were coming from Hong Kong.

The first thing that happened was getting a notification from the local courier telling me that prescription eyeglasses were on hold by customs. An import license was mandatory to clearance the product.

Following local courier instructions, I went to different Institutions to explain in detail my situation. Overall, all people I met were kind to me, excellent communication in English. However, the import license was mandatory, no way to going around on this topic.

The paperwork and the time required to apply for the import permit is valid for a genuine importer. It doesn't make sense at all, for an individual to request the Import license (the cost is 2 Million VDN) is worthless.

The bottom line,  I fixed the old prescription eyeglasses. The courier kept in communication with me, which I think was exceptional. At one point, I told them to send back to HK the prescription eyeglasses since I have new ones made in Vietnam,  and I do not have time to waste on requesting an import license.

Guess what happened next?  I got my prescription eyeglasses without the import license by suggesting a little gift in cash..  Try to talk to the courier and offered some cash in order to see how you can get your things. I was not happy with this, but at the end works

Hey.. thanks for your reply. My contact lens is already worth around 12M VND. You think I can pay another 2M and get my stuff?

Would have had more chance declaring the value lower, it avoids import taxes and scrutiny from customs. Upto 100USD would have skipped serious customs checks and avoided import taxes

All medical equipment which i suspect is what your goods are classified as require the importer to be registered for... it sounds like customs think your are importing the goods to sell... have you any documents supporting your claim for personal use ?