Customs Clearance at Port

[FG Lurker]

I'm considering importing some plastic items from Taiwan. There will be 14 boxes (5000pcs), total value of around US$800 (CIF Osaka).

I know someone who works for a freight forwarder here in Osaka and they quoted me about 40,000yen for them to clear it and have it shipped from Osaka port to my Osaka office.

Does anyone have experience with this sort of thing? How difficult would it be for me to rent a kei truck for the day, drive down to the port, do the clearance myself, and then bring everything back to the office? Any other ideas?

I don't mind paying to have it done if that is what I need to do but I do have enough free time right now that I could do it myself if it isn't impossibly difficult.

[waruta]

I'm considering importing some plastic items from Taiwan. There will be 14 boxes (5000pcs), total value of around US$800 (CIF Osaka).

I know someone who works for a freight forwarder here in Osaka and they quoted me about 40,000yen for them to clear it and have it shipped from Osaka port to my Osaka office.

Does anyone have experience with this sort of thing? How difficult would it be for me to rent a kei truck for the day, drive down to the port, do the clearance myself, and then bring everything back to the office? Any other ideas?

I don't mind paying to have it done if that is what I need to do but I do have enough free time right now that I could do it myself if it isn't impossibly difficult.

I just cleared a 6.2 cubic meter shipment of personal goods from Taiwan last week, it was sitting in storage for about 4 years, but they let me have it back tax-free since it was originally all stuff from here.

Usually I think the tax on commercial shipments is 5% of the total value, you may have a random spot check or goods check depending on where and what it is, you will need to go early in the morning to the Customs Clearance (in Yokohama it's in the dock, between A & B pier) and they will have some papers for you to fill out as well as taking a look at your passport/ID and the Arrival Notice from the shipping company. Don't forget to first pay (usually furikomi) to the shipping company for unloading+storage charges and call them to make sure it's cleared and ok to pick it up, usually takes about 3-4 days after the ship docks.

So it's possible to do it all in a day, just get your ducks lined up in a row.

*EDIT* The port and all shipping companies close from about 11:30 to 1pm for lunch, so either go early or go right after lunch.

[FG Lurker]

Thanks very much for the helpful reply.

So you just went down in person after getting the all-clear from the shipping company? It doesn't sound like it was an impossibly difficult process to go through...

6.2m3 is a fair amount of stuff, did you arrange for inland shipping before going down, do it at the docks, or provide your own transport?

Thanks again for the reply, I think I'm going to give this a shot myself.

[waruta]

I first got notice/phone call from the shipping company headquarters in Tokyo informing me that my ship would dock within the week. They then asked for a fax number or email to send the Arrival Notice to me.

In this notice, there will be a list of charges (in my case it was FOB so I had to pay for everything on this end, including the 7 "free" days of warehousing until I picked it up.) that you will need to pay the shipping company/ewarehouse.

So they give you a bank account to send the money to, and then they ask you to fax a copy of the recipt or money transfer along with your Arrival Notice, so that they can give you the all clear. Then, they will send you a final confirmation of goods received by their warehouse (located wherever they offloaded) in which there should be "SURRENDERED" printed in red on it, which means the warehouse now has your goods. This is why paying the charges is important, they won't release anything without confirmation from the head office/finance guys.

SO now what you do is confirm to the local warehouse that you're coming to pick up your stuff, "is it there?" "yes it's here" bla blah, just to make sure. Finally, after you rent a truck, you pass the customs office people with all your paperwork, and make sure they sign it/print out/write whatever they have to to release your goods. You probably will have to pay customs tax (5% or more on total declared value of shipment), and they may want to check some of the boxes to make sure you're not trying to be the next Escobar.

Finally, after the customs give you a release form, you take this handful of paperwork down to the local warehouse or wherever your goods are and hand it over to the front desk who will double-check and confirm that everything is in order, then ask the warehouse manager to grab your stuff with a forklift and put in on/into your truck.

A few pieces of advice: Park outside on the street before going into the warehouse. They really don't like cars driving around their lot with 20 tons forklifts running around. The guard guy/front desk girl will give you a number/laminated card and you have to wait your turn, they'll either call it out on a loudspeaker or the guard guy will wave you into the lot.

2) Check how big your shipment is. My idiot shipper told me 2 boxes, 6.3 m3, 847 kg but neglected to mention one box was the size of a freakin wall. It measured 2.5meters high, 3 meters long and 1.8 meters wide. All I had was a short bed 800kg max truck and with the help of a couple of 5 ton straps I loaded it but damn, it was a hairy ride home, not to mention illegal since it was way too tall for the truck I had. The other box was a meter long and 80cm high, weighed 50 kg. I had to make two trips Goddamit.

3) Bring all the paperwork you need and more. Also bring your gaijin card and passport just to make sure. The customs guys love paperwork and won't turn you away for too much, but definitely won't release your shipment if you don't have everything in order.

Good luck.