Below is a quick overview of customs and shipment requirements around the world that may cause delays to the delivery of your international mail.
Singapore - 1st December 2011
UPDATE ON REGULATION FOR THE IMPORT OF MEDICAL DEVICES ANNOUNCED BY THE HEALTH SCIENCES AUTHORITY (HSA)
Effectively 1 January 2012, all classes of medical devices (Class A, B, C and D) will have import controls through TradeNet.
Following the implementation of TradeNet Control for the import of medical devices with risk classifications C and D (moderate and high risk) in 01 June 2011, the control will be extended to Class A and B (low and low-moderate risk) medical devices starting next year.
To help you minimise clearance delays and obtain successful customs declaration, here is a list of mandatory information an importer is required to produce for the TradeNet® declaration:
Valid importer license number
Valid device registration number obtained from the Singapore Medical
Device Register (SMDR) / Transition List number / approval number HS Code obtained from the Medical Device Branch (MDB)
Product code
Quantity to be imported
HS quantity unit of measurement
Upon producing the above information for declaration, customs approval is required from HSA. The turnaround time for a successful submission with complete and valid information via TradeNet is approximately 4 hours.
For information on how to perform TradeNet declarations for medical devices, please refer to the Industry briefing slides available online at: http://www.hsa.gov.sg/publish/hsaportal/en/health_products_regulation/medical_devices/tradenet.html
The Medical Device Branch (MDB) is the controlling agency for the import of medical devices in Singapore through TradeNet. If you have any enquiries regarding TradeNet Control on Medical Devices, please email to HSA_MDB_Tradenet@hsa.gov.sg or contact MDB at 6866 3560.
Norway - 30th November 2011
ALCOHOL RESTRICTIONS
Please be advised that it is prohibited to send alcohol to companies in Norway unless they have an import license.
There is however allowed to send alcohol to a private person, as long as the receiver/buyer on the commercial invoice is a private person and his/hers social security number is stated on the invoice.
If the alcohol is a gift, it is important that not only 'gift' is stated on the commercial invoice but also what kind of alcohol (e.g. white wine - Chardonnay 6 x 0.75cl bottles). The receiver will be charged import and excise duties even if it is a gift.
If anyone wants to send alcohol to Norway please inform about these rules.
It is corporate policy that excise material should NEVER be routed through standard product provision. Special Services should be used for excise material because of the high risk and specific handling of goods of this nature.
GIFTS
Please be advised that gifts to private persons and companies in Norway are subject of normal customs clearance, meaning that the receiver will be charged import duties.
The only exception is gifts from a private person to a private person when the value of the goods are below NOK 1000,- and when the receivers social security number is stated on the invoice.
The commercial invoice must reflect this in order to avoid a normal customs clearance and import duties.
It is however important that 'gift' is stated on the commercial invoice in addition to a more detailed description of the goods.
Saudi Arabia - 21st November 2011
Herbs and medicines - SFDA Warns about Purchasing Drugs via the Internet
Saudi FDA warns the public from purchasing drugs, health and herbal products via the internet and not to be deceived by misleading promotions on some websites that sell drugs, health and herbal products of unknown origin and that are not registered by SFDA. Such drugs and products could be highly dangerous as their manufacturing conditions or pharmaceutical contents are unknown, besides, no quality assurance and efficacy measures exist. Moreover, the majority of such products are mixed with other falsified materials or do not contain effective material. Using such drugs and products may worsen patients' conditions and lead to death. SFDA emphasised in a statement to the media that such websites will be tracked through its inspectors and any entity marketing such products in the Kingdom will be closely monitored. SFDA further warns anyone who participates in promotion of these suspected drugs and products via the internet or mobile phones within the Kingdom will be subject to official investigation. However, shall not release any shipment containing any drugs, health or herbal product to the Kingdom via couriers unless prior approval is obtained from SFDA according to the conditions and requirements of import and clearance of drugs and medical products provided on SFDA website. For further information about the hazards of these drugs and products please visit SFDA website at: www.sfda.gov.sa
Albania - 03 November 2011
Customs
Please be informed that there are new custom rules regarding imports to Albania.
All shipments containing mobile phones, clothes, dental fillings, medicines and reagents, that have origin from NON-EU countries, must be accompanied by origin and quality certificate, otherwise custom clearance will not be possible.
Korea - 03 November 2011
Customs
Korea customs has a plan to review import data by system from next month ( 1st December 2011 ) when international transport companies transmit the data for Import shipments before flight arrival. If origin provides incorrect data ( vague descriptions or non-english descriptions ), the data will be removed by customs system and so customs clearance will be delayed.
Please ensure invoices have exact descriptions for customers and that all data is entered correctly into our systems so as to avoid shipments being delayed due to deleting of import data by the customs system.
For further information please see 'The Value of an Invoice' document within Customs Awareness that explains what is required on a Customs Invoice.
Maldives - 28 October 2011
Customs penalty
Please be informed that Maldives customs have implemented a new law regarding import materials. As per this law, if any unmanifested shipments (courier or cargo) are sent to Maldives, customs will impose a fine of 10,000 MVR (700 USD according to current custom's exchange rate) on TNT-MV (Associate). The origins and transit gateways (presently SIN & CMB) are requested to make sure that all consignments sent to Maldives are manifested. If this is not followed then there would be delays in clearance in addition to the fines. The fine imposed will be charged to Origin depot.
Albania - 28 October 2011
Imports
Please be informed that there are some new custom rules regarding imports in Albania.
All shipments containing mobile phones, clothes, dental fillings, medicines and reagents, that have an origin of a NON-EU country, must be accompanied by origin and quality certificate, otherwise the custom clearance will not be possible.
Greece - 21 October 2011 (update)
General strikes
Further to previous communication regarding the strikes in Greece, please be informed that the customs strike is now over. Today the customs office started to process clearance and MRN discharge. As a significant back log exists from all carriers we anticipate that their process will be back to normal by the middle of next week.
Several industrial actions and strikes continue with the following impact on our operations:
- Port workers strike will continue to impact
a) Greece Domestic Linehaul and especially island destinations served by ferry connection.
b) ERN movements to Greece
- Demonstrations impacted a few PUD routes to the centre of the city
In summary:
- All Air imports and Exports are operating as normal
- Limited connectivity on the 48N imports only to Greece (this is affecting flows to Cyprus as well)
- 48N exports from Greece and Cyprus are operating as normal (via a contingency routing).
Port workers will decide on Sunday on the continuation of their industrial actions. Further broadcast messages will follow if needed to update you regarding the evolution of the situation.
Shipments affected will be updated with "IAO" with remarks on the situation.
We are kindly requesting you to keep your escalations to a minimum level.
South Africa - 20 October 2011
Importation of gifts to South Africa
Requirements for the Importation of gifts to South Africa
All gifts imported into South Africa need to comply with the following requirements :-
The gifts have to be sent from a private individual abroad to a private individual in South Africa. Any gifts sent from a company or an individual to a company would not qualify as a gift.
The invoice has to be Commerical only and in English, no proforma and hand-written invoices are allowed.
Vague invoice descriptions such as "GIFTS" are unacceptable and different commodities have to be listed separately with its respective values.
Kuwait - 12 October 2011
Customs Strikes
Please be advised that as of this afternoon the Kuwait Customs strike has finished. Customs Operations are back to normal.
Australia - 05 October 2011
Customs Strikes
As a result of a breakdown in EBA negotiations, customs officers have recently been having some stop work periods on an hour duration, which fortunately has had little or no impact to freight.
Correspondence below from customs relates to the industrial action that will take place week commencing Wednesday 5th Oct through to Saturday 8th October. This is likely to have an impact upon freight.
Customs have advised that whilst there will be an impact it has been predicting that 30 % (150 - 200) of consignments will be at worse case be impacted.
We will arrange for a general broadcast to occur for distribution early next week.
Can depots ensure that any consignments that are impacted have a status CS = Delayed clearance due to customs on strike/holiday .
Please note critical clearances for urgent medical supplies and hazardous materials will be actioned upon request.
Greece - 26 September 2011
Customs Strike
The union of Greek Customs servants announced a strike for Tuesday 27th and Wednesday 28th September 2011.
This action affects exports from Greece to rest of the world for both low and high value shipments and imports with high values, which will face a 48 hour delay.
Customs are expected to be back on duty on Thursday 29th September.
Please keep all escalations to a minimum during this time.
Yemen - 13 September 2011
Import
Please be advised that from today, there are two important changes in handling import consignments:
1) World Economic Formum (WEF) Door to Door (S87) service is temporarily suspended. World Economic Formum (WEF) consignments should be sent only as Door to Airport (S88) service (Master Airways Bill (MAWB) addressed directly to the customer)
2) ECONOMY EXPRESS (48N) service is restricted to per piece weight below 32 Kg's. Exceeding 32 Kg's/piece should be send as S88 Door to Airport service (Master Airways Bill MAWB addressed directly to the customer)
TNT Associate can't help if the above mentioned is not followed by origins.
China - 29th August 2011
Post code and town names in China
As a result of changes to some post codes and town names in China, we will update addresses in our shipping tools such as myTNT (including ExpressImport). These changes are planned starting 5 September, 2011.
For TNT customers using myTNT, no action is required, as we will update your address book automatically with the changes. TNT customers using ExpressShipper, ExpressManager will be offered a little tool to help you update your Chinese addresses in your address book. Any other TNT shipping tools, will be provided instructions to update addresses stored on local systems.
Pakistan - 12 August 2011
Clearance delay update
The customs strike is over and clearance activity has returned back to normal.
Indonesia - 09 August 2011
Food Supplement, Cosmetics and Chemical Products
New requirements with regards to Food Supplements, Cosmetics and Chemical Products importation are in place by Indonesia Customs, effective from the 1st August 2011:
- Required a full set of the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) or COA (Certificate of Analysis) must attached to the consignment and available at PACS.
- Should the documentation be unavailable in PACS, the system will be updated with the 'IX' status code.
- Should the documentation be unavailable in the physical form (hardcopy), the system will be updated with the 'OR' status code.
Failure to comply with these regulations will lead to clearance delays.
For more information on the regulations, please refer to the following Customs/goverment website:
http://www.beacukai.go.id/index.ikc?page=faq/kiriman-dan-paket.html
Iran - 09 August 2011
Incorrect Product codes - Import Consignments
Further to the broadcast made on 13th April 2009, please be informed that the issue of receiving XPS(15N) consignments under DOX (15D) product is continuing, and Iran customs have delayed all our document bags clearance, which is eventually affecting the transit time of document consignments into Iran.
We kindly request you to please use the correct product for XPS (15N) consignment. Consignments received as DOX(15D) instead of correct product XPS(15N) will attract penalty.
Pakistan - 08 August 2011
Clearance Delay
Please be advised that the Pakistan customs have been on strike since the 5th August 2011. All customs activities have been affected especially import clearance.
Please expect delays in clearance and deliveries.
Further information will be broadcast as it becomes available.
Croatia - 29 July 2011
New Computerised Transit System
Effective from Monday 1st August 2011, Croatian Customs will be implementing a New Computerised Transit System/NCTS with a forecasted adaptation period of two weeks.
During this time there will be delays at customs, so it is advised to keep all escalations to a minimum. All affected shipments will be updated accordingly.
Indonesia - 26 July 2011
Addressing of Master Airway Bills
From today onwards, all inbound consignments (Express, Economy or Airfreight/WEF) destined for Jakarta, Indonesia, must clearly state on the Master Airway Bill, the consignee's name and address and the information must be transmitted via EDI FWB with the following details:
PT SKYPAK INTERNATIONAL (TNT EXPRESS)
SUMMITMAS I, 7th FLOOR
JL JEND SUDIRMAN KAV 61-62, JAKARTA 12190
INDONESIA
TEL: 55911771 / FAX: 55911770
Non-compliance of the above requirements, will result in an amendment to the ID Customs manifest system and will result in unnecessary delays and a penalty of USD 100.00 for every Master Airway Bill amended. These costs will be ICR back to the origin Gateway.
Please comply to the above requirements to avoid any delays.
Fiji - 26 July 2011
Customs Clearance
As per the Fiji customs regulation , it is stipulated under section 107 (1) (C) that any consignment exported/ imported on commercial basis MUST accompany a commercial invoice. The invoice must be computer generated
As previously advised Hand written invoice for personal shipment to individual is acceptable by Fiji Customs.
The document must have the following information :
· Invoice date
· Name and address of the consignor ( shipper) and consignee( receiver)
· Description, quantity and origin of the goods
· Value of the consignment
· Reason for export.
Japan - 18th July 2011
Documents into Japan
Japan can accept only PURE DOCUMENT as 15D. Therefore CD's, DVD's, Plastic cards, Bankbooks, Passports and this kind of documentation are not acceptable as 15D. They must be shipped as 15N with an invoice.
Non compliance would cause delay in customs clearance , not only with the particular consignment but with the whole freight it was consolidated with.
Botswana - 18th July 2011
Mandatory documentation requirements
All international material destined for Botswana must be accompanied with the following documentation:
Air waybill - Fully completed with all relevant detail
Suppliers invoice (no pro-forma invoice will be accepted)
The Supplier invoice must contain the following:
Clear description of goods
Correct value of goods (Under declared values will result in Customs penalties)
Sender name and address
Receiver name and address
Freight amount must be on the invoice
If shipment is from ZA to BW invoice must have Exporters code and VAT registration number on the invoice)