🚢 Sea Freight

Sea Freight from China to Pampanga

China → Pampanga · via CRK air / Subic sea · clearance by Bureau of Customs (BOC)

Cargo handling on the China–Pampanga lane.

Pampanga is Clark and Subic freeport corridor, and it is served through CRK air / Subic sea. That combination is what actually sets your delivery date on this lane — the inland leg is same-day, so the clearance date is effectively the delivery date.

Clearance itself is handled by Bureau of Customs (BOC), and typical dwell at the gateway runs 4–9 days.

Import duty and tax position for Pampanga

Bureau of Customs (BOC) assesses duty and tax on cargo arriving for Pampanga consignees. Current regime: VAT 12%; duty 0–30%, with ACFTA preference available on a Form E, with a de-minimis position of PHP 10,000.

Conformity is the part most first-time importers underestimate: BPS Import Commodity Clearance for regulated products; FDA license for food, cosmetics and devices; NTC for radio equipment. Getting this wrong is expensive because it usually cannot be fixed after the cargo has landed.

Restrictions and known friction points for Philippines: Consolidated 'balikbayan'-style mixed cargo attracts extra scrutiny. Used clothing is prohibited. Alert Orders and physical examination are common, so allow buffer days on any deadline-driven shipment.

What the routing looks like in practice

Manila port congestion is the defining risk on this lane — dwell can double during the Q4 retail build-up. Cebu and Davao are viable direct calls for Visayas and Mindanao consignees and often clear faster than Manila, so it is worth quoting the regional port rather than trucking from MICT.

Sea gateways used	Manila (MICT and South Harbor), Cebu, Davao
Sea transit, China to gateway	5–10 calendar days
Gateway serving Pampanga	CRK air / Subic sea
Inland leg to Pampanga	Same day from the gateway
Typical clearance / dwell	4–9 days
Peak season to plan around	Sep–Nov

Container terminal operations used on the China to Pampanga (Philippines) freight lane — Handling on the CRK air / Subic sea routing serving Pampanga.

What to sort out before the cargo leaves China

Ask for the HS code in writing from your supplier and verify the Philippines duty rate against it yourself.
Check the de-minimis position (PHP 10,000) against your invoice value before you decide how to split the shipment.
Get the conformity paperwork moving early: BPS Import Commodity Clearance for regulated products; FDA license for food, cosmetics and devices; NTC for radio equipment.
Put the Pampanga delivery address, contact name and phone number on the invoice, not just the packing list.
Confirm the consignee in Pampanga can act as importer of record — Bureau of Customs (BOC) will not release cargo to an unregistered party.
Declare lithium batteries, magnets, liquids and powders up front — retro-declaring after booking usually means re-planning the whole shipment.

Frequently asked questions

How long does shipping from China to Pampanga take?

China to the Philippines gateway is 5–10 calendar days. On top of that, allow 4–9 days of clearance with Bureau of Customs (BOC) and a same-day inland leg to Pampanga.

What duty and tax will I pay importing into Pampanga?

Bureau of Customs (BOC) applies: VAT 12%; duty 0–30%, with ACFTA preference available on a Form E. The de-minimis position is PHP 10,000. Under a DDP arrangement these are pre-paid, so nothing is collected on arrival in Pampanga.

What certification do I need for Philippines?

For regulated goods, plan for: BPS Import Commodity Clearance for regulated products; FDA license for food, cosmetics and devices; NTC for radio equipment. Missing conformity paperwork is the single most common cause of a hold, and in most cases it cannot be remedied once the cargo has arrived.

How is the chargeable weight calculated for Pampanga?

We compare actual gross weight against volumetric weight — length × width × height in centimeters divided by 6000 for air — and bill the greater of the two, rounded up to the next kilogram. Light, bulky cargo is almost always billed on volume.

Can you ship batteries or sensitive cargo to Pampanga?

Yes. Battery cargo by sea moves under UN3480/UN3481 with an MSDS, and the dangerous-goods documentation is prepared as part of the booking into Manila (MICT and South Harbor), Cebu, Davao. Surcharges apply and space is more limited than for general cargo.

When is the busiest time on the China–Philippines lane?

Space and rates tighten around Sep–Nov, plus the China-side windows of Chinese New Year in January or February and Golden Week in early October. Book one to two weeks earlier in those periods.

Other delivery cities in Philippines

All Philippines freight information →

References & official sources

Duty rates, thresholds and conformity requirements for Philippines change by ministerial decision, sometimes mid-year. The figures on this page are buyer-planning references, not a customs ruling — confirm the current position for your own HS code with Bureau of Customs (BOC) or your broker before you ship.

Page data last reviewed: 8 月 2026.

Shipping by industry

This page covers the route and clearance picture for the destination. Packing, classification and the compliance step that actually holds a shipment depend on what you are sending — these guides cover that by commodity.

All 139 industry guides →

Checking the Philippines duty position yourself

Treat the landed-cost numbers here as a planning baseline. Philippine Bureau of Customs sets the rate that actually gets charged, assessed against your HS classification at the moment of clearance, so their own guidance is worth reading before a large order.

If you want to sanity-check a duty figure yourself, start from the heading rather than the product name — the WCO Harmonized System is the underlying nomenclature, and the WTO Tariff & Trade Data portal holds the applied rates by country pair.

For ocean cargo, restricted commodities move under the IMO's IMDG Code, and the container has to be declared and stowed accordingly. Batteries, flammables and corrosives all have a compliant ocean path; what causes rolled bookings is finding out about them after the container is packed.

On the origin side, export declaration and any commodity inspection requirement fall under China Customs (GACC); we handle that filing as part of the service, but the requirement is theirs, not ours.

For a wider view of how importing into Philippines actually works — documentation norms, inspection behavior, the paperwork that tends to hold shipments — the U.S. ITA guide to Philippines customs regulations is a useful independent read alongside our own lane notes.

Watch: the process behind this route

This guide covers routing and clearance for Pampanga. The video below covers the wider shipping process that sits around it.

LCL vs FCL | Difference Between Full Container Load & Less than Container Load | Which is better ? — 10 Min For Supply Chain. Published on YouTube by a third party; we link it because it explains the process well, not because we produced it or endorse the provider.

Get a rate for Pampanga

This lane is quoted per shipment rather than from a published rate card, because the landed cost depends on the commodity, its density, the conformity requirements above and the delivery point. Send the cargo details and we will come back with a full DDP figure.

Request a quote → See the Philippines route page →

Customs clearance in Philippines

Duty and tax position, certification, typical port dwell and what actually holds shipments at this border — plus who files the entry.

Philippines clearance requirements →