✈️ Air Freight

Air Freight from China to Vung Tau

China → Vung Tau · via Cai Mep sea · clearance by General Department of Vietnam Customs (Tổng cục Hải quan)

Cargo handling on the China–Vung Tau lane.

We move air freight cargo from South China into Vung Tau through Cai Mep sea. Vung Tau is offshore energy base next to the deepwater terminals, which shapes the kind of cargo that moves on this lane and how it should be packed.

On the destination side, General Department of Vietnam Customs (Tổng cục Hải quan) handles clearance; budget 2–5 days of dwell before the cargo is released.

Duty, tax and clearance into Vung Tau

Imports into Vietnam are cleared by General Department of Vietnam Customs (Tổng cục Hải quan). The headline position is: VAT 8–10%; duty 0–35%, with 0% available on most tariff lines under ACFTA/RCEP with a valid Form E. The de-minimis threshold is VND 1,000,000 (roughly USD 40) on express parcels.

Conformity is the part most first-time importers underestimate: Form E certificate of origin to claim ACFTA duty relief; MIC/Circular 04 type approval for radio equipment; energy-efficiency labeling for appliances. Getting this wrong is expensive because it usually cannot be fixed after the cargo has landed.

Restrictions and known friction points for Vietnam: Used machinery is subject to Decision 18/2019 age limits. Cosmetics need a product announcement filed by the consignee. Duty relief under Form E is only granted if the origin document matches the invoice exactly — a very common cause of held shipments.

How this lane actually runs

Vietnam is the shortest deep-sea lane out of South China — Shekou to Hai Phong is often 3–5 days. Northern Vietnam is also served overland through the Youyi Guan (Pingxiang) and Mong Cai crossings, which suits LCL and urgent replenishment for the Bac Ninh and Bac Giang electronics cluster.

Air gateways used	SGN (Ho Chi Minh City), HAN (Hanoi), DAD (Da Nang)
Air transit, China to gateway	2–4 business days
Gateway serving Vung Tau	Cai Mep sea
Inland leg to Vung Tau	Same day from the gateway
Typical clearance / dwell	2–5 days
Peak season to plan around	Sep–Nov

Air cargo build-up used on the China to Vung Tau (Vietnam) freight lane — Handling on the Cai Mep sea routing serving Vung Tau.

Before you book: Vung Tau checklist

Get the conformity paperwork moving early: Form E certificate of origin to claim ACFTA duty relief; MIC/Circular 04 type approval for radio equipment; energy-efficiency labeling for appliances.
Book earlier than the transit time suggests during Sep–Nov, when space on this lane tightens.
Confirm the consignee in Vung Tau can act as importer of record — General Department of Vietnam Customs (Tổng cục Hải quan) 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.
Compare gross weight against volumetric weight (L×W×H ÷ 6000) — the higher figure is what gets billed on air and express.
Check the de-minimis position (VND 1,000,000 (roughly USD 40) on express parcels) against your invoice value before you decide how to split the shipment.

Frequently asked questions

How long does shipping from China to Vung Tau take?

China to the Vietnam gateway is 2–4 business days. On top of that, allow 2–5 days of clearance with General Department of Vietnam Customs (Tổng cục Hải quan) and a same-day inland leg to Vung Tau.

What duty and tax will I pay importing into Vung Tau?

General Department of Vietnam Customs (Tổng cục Hải quan) applies: VAT 8–10%; duty 0–35%, with 0% available on most tariff lines under ACFTA/RCEP with a valid Form E. The de-minimis position is VND 1,000,000 (roughly USD 40) on express parcels. Under a DDP arrangement these are pre-paid, so nothing is collected on arrival in Vung Tau.

What documents does General Department of Vietnam Customs (Tổng cục Hải quan) require?

A commercial invoice with HS codes, a packing list, the bill of lading or air waybill, a certificate of origin where it lowers duty, and any product certification (Form E certificate of origin to claim ACFTA duty relief; MIC/Circular 04 type approval for radio equipment; energy-efficiency labeling for appliances). We prepare and file these as part of the service.

When is the busiest time on the China–Vietnam 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.

What certification do I need for Vietnam?

For regulated goods, plan for: Form E certificate of origin to claim ACFTA duty relief; MIC/Circular 04 type approval for radio equipment; energy-efficiency labeling for appliances. 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.

Can you ship batteries or sensitive cargo to Vung Tau?

Yes. Battery cargo by air follows IATA PI 965–970 depending on how the cells are packed, and moves on certified channels via SGN (Ho Chi Minh City), HAN (Hanoi), DAD (Da Nang). Surcharges apply and the declaration has to be made before booking.

Other delivery cities in Vietnam

All Vietnam freight information →

References & official sources

Duty rates, thresholds and conformity requirements for Vietnam 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 General Department of Vietnam Customs (Tổng cục Hải quan) 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 Vietnam duty position yourself

Treat the landed-cost numbers here as a planning baseline. General Department of Vietnam 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.

On the air side, anything with a cell or a battery in it, plus liquids, powders, magnets and aerosols, is governed by the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations. Those articles are not refused outright, but they need to be declared at booking so the shipment is built correctly — declaring them late is the single most common cause of an air consignment being offloaded.

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 Vietnam actually works — documentation norms, inspection behavior, the paperwork that tends to hold shipments — the U.S. ITA guide to Vietnam 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 Vung Tau. The video below covers the wider shipping process that sits around it.

Air Freight from China: Soaring Through the Skies of Global Trade — SINO Shipping. 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 Vung Tau

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 Vietnam route page →

Customs clearance in Vietnam

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

Vietnam clearance requirements →