Has anybody had any experience (recent would be good) of dealing with Cambodian customs for used personal items shipped into the country? I’ve sorted an agent here at the point of origin, got a quote, and a timeframe, all not looking too bad. The unknown is what happens with customs at the Cambodia end with duty. Is there a schedule of charges, is it random on the day or depending on which official you get, is it by declared value of the shipment, does it depend on whether you’re a foreigner, or is it any combination of these? Any insights gratefully received.
Cheers.
Duty on personal items shipped to Cambodia
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Hi Bill, Never done it but I'm guessing importing used personal items should not attract any customs duty of any sort of tax duties. I may be wrong. Someone here will know sure....( calling PSD_Kiwi.)
Importing a used car would be costly.
May I be nosey and ask what are you importing that you cant get in Cambodia?
All the best Man.
Importing a used car would be costly.
May I be nosey and ask what are you importing that you cant get in Cambodia?
All the best Man.
Personal items get a 20% hit on import nowadays; particularly if coming through a courier, Post Office I haven't used for a while and tends to be a bit more negotiable. You will need to have a proof of purchase, itemised list/pictures of the contents, and quite a bit of patience. I'm sure there was a big clampdown on all the Facebook sellers importing things to sell, so now Customs is hot on absolutely everything. if the items are your own personal effects with receipts long gone, you will need to put some nominal valuation of the contents - you should be looking at paying $25/50 just to keep the Customs folks happy, else you'll have a grind. Of course if you have time and patience for that, haggle away!
Can you tell us more about how you are bringing the items in - is it via courier, standard post, and if the seller has already paid the import duty up front as different items attract different tarriffs. Also the experience via courier vs post is slightly different.
Can you tell us more about how you are bringing the items in - is it via courier, standard post, and if the seller has already paid the import duty up front as different items attract different tarriffs. Also the experience via courier vs post is slightly different.
Meum est propositum in taberna mori,
ut sint Guinness proxima morientis ori.
tunc cantabunt letius angelorum chori:
"Sit Deus propitius huic potatori."
ut sint Guinness proxima morientis ori.
tunc cantabunt letius angelorum chori:
"Sit Deus propitius huic potatori."
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Hello
I’m a bookish sort of chap so it’s mainly those. I don’t have proof of purchase for any of them as I’ve accumulated them overs the years. They have no resale value as such but would cost me thousands to replace, even if they were all still in print which some are not. They will be battered by the climate in the tropics over time sadly, but they do add to my quality of life, so I’d like to bring them over as I’m relocating more or less permanently.
They will be shipped, literally, by sea I’m assuming to Sihanoukville and then trucked. I’m told this will take 10-12 weeks from here. The agent here I’m fine with and I have every confidence in their processes and integrity (no reason to suspect otherwise). The issue is at the Cambodia end. The agent this end will nominate an agent in Cambodia, presumably in Phnom Penh where we’re going, and they then will provide the templates for documents we will need to fill in (letter to Customs etc). My wife is Cambodian so she can fill these in, in Khmer, if required. The agent here has provided me a Customs Guide to Cambodia produced by http://www.fidi.org/ but there appears to be no affiliate in Cambodia. The guide mentions duty on the value of the shipment, but the agent here says that is for alcohol.
A mate of mine told me a funny story the other day when I told him of my plans to send stuff to Cambodia. He said he foolishly mailed a package once (not sure if it went by courier, I assume not) to his other half in Sihanoukville ‘which of course vanished into the ether’. When they went to the mail authorities locally even they were mystified. Not that the package had disappeared but that he had expected it to arrive in the first place.
Alternatively, I may just revert to taking extra baggage on the plane with multiple trips over time. It will take longer, be more expensive, but at least I’ve a higher chance they will arrive.
Bill.
I’m a bookish sort of chap so it’s mainly those. I don’t have proof of purchase for any of them as I’ve accumulated them overs the years. They have no resale value as such but would cost me thousands to replace, even if they were all still in print which some are not. They will be battered by the climate in the tropics over time sadly, but they do add to my quality of life, so I’d like to bring them over as I’m relocating more or less permanently.
They will be shipped, literally, by sea I’m assuming to Sihanoukville and then trucked. I’m told this will take 10-12 weeks from here. The agent here I’m fine with and I have every confidence in their processes and integrity (no reason to suspect otherwise). The issue is at the Cambodia end. The agent this end will nominate an agent in Cambodia, presumably in Phnom Penh where we’re going, and they then will provide the templates for documents we will need to fill in (letter to Customs etc). My wife is Cambodian so she can fill these in, in Khmer, if required. The agent here has provided me a Customs Guide to Cambodia produced by http://www.fidi.org/ but there appears to be no affiliate in Cambodia. The guide mentions duty on the value of the shipment, but the agent here says that is for alcohol.
A mate of mine told me a funny story the other day when I told him of my plans to send stuff to Cambodia. He said he foolishly mailed a package once (not sure if it went by courier, I assume not) to his other half in Sihanoukville ‘which of course vanished into the ether’. When they went to the mail authorities locally even they were mystified. Not that the package had disappeared but that he had expected it to arrive in the first place.
Alternatively, I may just revert to taking extra baggage on the plane with multiple trips over time. It will take longer, be more expensive, but at least I’ve a higher chance they will arrive.
Bill.
I did that with my books when I moved here, I knew it would take a few trips before everything in the UK was tidied up, and just brought a pile of books at a time. Not an easy thing to transport as they weigh a lot, so you can get hammered on the costs. Not sure what I'll do when my dad passes, he has a veritable library of books and pretty certain my sister won't want them!
Meum est propositum in taberna mori,
ut sint Guinness proxima morientis ori.
tunc cantabunt letius angelorum chori:
"Sit Deus propitius huic potatori."
ut sint Guinness proxima morientis ori.
tunc cantabunt letius angelorum chori:
"Sit Deus propitius huic potatori."
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I’ve asked the agent here who the agent is in Cambodia, whereabouts they’re based and if they’ve used them before. If they have those details (the person dealing is currently on leave), then I can get the family there to contact them and get the lowdown.
If I don’t use an agent and I was being ruthless, I could probably get the weight of the books I really want to bring down to about 100kgs or so. The usual baggage allowance on airlines is 23kgs per person. You could probably stretch that limit by a kilo or two. There’s two of us so maybe three trips overtime along with whatever else we’re bringing.
Mainly I read a lot of history books about all over including Southeast Asia. I like spy thrillers, especially Alan Furst as his are so well researched, and I read a lot of books about football.
I won’t be working in Cambodia so having books is important for me. I intend spending my time exercising in the morning, reading in the afternoon, and socialising in the evening. In between all that there is travelling locally and in the region.
From where I’m sitting at present that sounds pretty good to me.
Cheers.
If I don’t use an agent and I was being ruthless, I could probably get the weight of the books I really want to bring down to about 100kgs or so. The usual baggage allowance on airlines is 23kgs per person. You could probably stretch that limit by a kilo or two. There’s two of us so maybe three trips overtime along with whatever else we’re bringing.
Mainly I read a lot of history books about all over including Southeast Asia. I like spy thrillers, especially Alan Furst as his are so well researched, and I read a lot of books about football.
I won’t be working in Cambodia so having books is important for me. I intend spending my time exercising in the morning, reading in the afternoon, and socialising in the evening. In between all that there is travelling locally and in the region.
From where I’m sitting at present that sounds pretty good to me.
Cheers.
use EMS and you will have no problems. DHL does this globally to increase bottom line. Only DHL
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12yrs ago our moving load arrive Kingdom in my cambodian wife's name, didn't need to pay any taxes.
Courier company take care everything from start to end.
Pardon my engrish, thanks you.
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For anybody interested I’ve been in touch with an agent in Asia, namely Vanpac in Singapore, who are one agent used by the outfit where I’m based for shipments to Asia. I was given another shipping agent with offices in Cambodia, Asian Tigers, but they didn’t respond to my email (which should probably tell me something).
Vanpac provided me this information on shipping personal items to Cambodia.
• The point of entry (POE) is Sihanoukville port (no surprises there).
• The documents that are needed for duty free clearance on arrival at the POE for a foreign national:
o Copy of passport & current working visa in Cambodia
o Copy of work permit in Cambodia or letter from the employer (company letter head) stating that you are employed (I did ask what if you’re going to be retired but got no answer)
o Copy of packing list & non-commercial invoice
o Import requested letter (prepared by customs broker to be signed by client - shared by agent once they’ve got all information of the shipment).
If shipment is consigned to a returning Cambodian:
• Copy of Passport
• Work permit/Visa from point of departure
• Certificate of employment from country residing in
Apparently if you’re a Cambodian national and not working overseas you cannot import used personal effects in your name.
Unsurprisingly, Vanpac report that the customs is ‘not so straight forward' in Cambodia.
Piece of piss really.
Vanpac provided me this information on shipping personal items to Cambodia.
• The point of entry (POE) is Sihanoukville port (no surprises there).
• The documents that are needed for duty free clearance on arrival at the POE for a foreign national:
o Copy of passport & current working visa in Cambodia
o Copy of work permit in Cambodia or letter from the employer (company letter head) stating that you are employed (I did ask what if you’re going to be retired but got no answer)
o Copy of packing list & non-commercial invoice
o Import requested letter (prepared by customs broker to be signed by client - shared by agent once they’ve got all information of the shipment).
If shipment is consigned to a returning Cambodian:
• Copy of Passport
• Work permit/Visa from point of departure
• Certificate of employment from country residing in
Apparently if you’re a Cambodian national and not working overseas you cannot import used personal effects in your name.
Unsurprisingly, Vanpac report that the customs is ‘not so straight forward' in Cambodia.
Piece of piss really.
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