Customs
Customs clearance for cargo from China
There are two ways to clear cargo from China with us, and the choice is yours: we file the declaration through our own and partner brokers, or we bring the cargo to the terminal for your own broker. The logistics rate is the same either way — you do not pay for a service you do not use.
Customs clearance your way
We handle it ourselves
We work through our own and partner brokers. You hand over the invoice, the packing list and the documents for the goods; the declaration, HS classification, payments and release are on our side. We name the cost of clearance during the quotation, before shipping.
Your broker — our terminal
We bring the cargo to the terminal, hand the full set of transport documents to your broker and step back. The logistics rate does not change because of it. This matters for companies that have already built up their foreign trade operations: you have a broker who knows your product range and codes, and there is no sense in changing them because of a carrier.
T1 transit declarations
When cargo enters Ukraine not through Odesa but through EU ports — Gdańsk or Gdynia — a T1 transit declaration is required for the leg from the European port to the Ukrainian border. Without it the cargo will not leave the port.
We issue the T1 ourselves. It is a standard part of the route through Poland, not an extra service for which you get sent to a third company.
We do not always route through the EU, only when needed: when it is faster, when the line schedule works better, or when the cargo continues to a European consignee. The main port for Ukraine is Odesa.
Please note: in Europe and Ukraine we work in transit only. All cargo handling — consolidation, repacking, labelling — takes place at our warehouses in China. We do not offer warehouse storage in the EU or Ukraine.
Which documents are required
The basic set for import clearance:
- foreign trade contract with the supplier
- invoice and packing list
- transport document: bill of lading, air waybill or CMR
- Chinese export declaration
- payment documents confirming payment for the goods
- certificate of origin — if required for preferential rates
- permits for the goods: declaration of conformity, sanitary or phytosanitary certificate, registration — depending on the category
If you are missing some of these documents, it is not a dead end. We produce the Chinese export declaration ourselves, even when the supplier has no export licence: export declaration in China. Permits are issued as part of our certification service.
Sequence and timelines
Before shipping
You send a description of the goods, we determine the HS code and calculate the estimated customs payments. That is a figure worth knowing before the cargo leaves, not after it arrives.
In transit
We collect and check the documents. If anything is missing, we see it weeks before the border, not on the day of arrival.
Arrival
The cargo reaches the terminal. By that point the document set is already assembled and checked.
Declaration
We file it, pay the duty and VAT, and complete clearance. The timeline depends on how complete the set is — which is exactly why the documents are prepared while the cargo is in transit.
Release and delivery
After release we take the cargo to your warehouse in any city in Ukraine.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Quote · free of charge
Let us calculate your shipment
Describe the goods and the volume — we will calculate the rate, determine the HS code and name the estimated customs payments before the cargo leaves.