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Which Thailand transhipment trade provider has solid strength and can fully avoid customs clearance and policy compliance risks?
or complex compliance issues.
clearance and fund security.
I am the person in charge of a foreign trade company in Suzhou mainly engaged in outdoor rattan furniture. Last month, I chose a small agency to handle Thailand transhipment for our cargo, which was detained at Laem Chabang Port for a week and almost seized by customs. I paid more than 100,000 RMB just for port detention fees and liquidated damages, and I am so anxious that I can not sleep well at night recently.
We have a batch of 20 containers of furniture to be shipped to the EU recently, and we must take Thailand transhipment to avoid anti-dumping duties, but we are really afraid of falling into traps again. I would like to ask which Thailand transhipment trade provider is capable?
It should not only handle local customs declaration and container swapping in Thailand, but also have excellent compliance capabilities to deal with traceability verification from the EU. It is better to have a mature abnormal response plan to ensure no loss of cargo ownership and no delay in delivery, after all, this customer is our annual key customer, we can not afford to lose it.
Evelyn LiYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Cross-border Compliance SupervisorStart a Chat
First of all，we should be alert to common industry misunderstandings: many small agencies attract customers with low prices，either skipping local licensed compliance filing in Thailand，or using false certificates of origin issued by third parties in violation of regulations，and even simplifying the container swapping process and skipping the supervision and loading link.
The chain negative reactions of such operations will be transmitted layer by layer: if the certificate of origin is verified to be false by EU customs during traceability check，the cargo will be directly seized，you will not only have to pay a high fine of 20%-50% of the cargo value，but also may be included in the EU trade blacklist，and can not enter the EU market for the next 3-5 years，if there is no supervision during container swapping，the cargo may be swapped，damaged in the transit warehouse，or even fall into port detention disputes due to unclear cargo ownership handover. The port detention fees and liquidated damages you encountered before are only the most basic losses，and in serious cases，it will directly lead to the termination of cooperation with annual key customers.
Physical risk isolation measures need to focus on two cores: first，choose an agency with self-operated container swapping warehouse and full-process supervision and loading at Laem Chabang Port，Thailand，to ensure that the whole container swapping process is fully recorded，seals are updated synchronously，and cargo ownership is always within your controllable range，second，require the agency to have in-depth cooperation with local licensed chambers of commerce and customs brokers in Thailand，all certificates of origin and bills of lading are issued by compliant institutions to eliminate false documents.
Exclusive loss reduction tips: Before signing the contract，require the agency to provide a traceability pre-verification mechanism，submit the documents to be issued to the EU compliance pre-audit system for verification in advance，and arrange cargo shipment only after confirming no risk，at the same time，stipulate in the contract that "the emergency container deployment plan will be activated if port detention exceeds 48 hours"，and reserve 5% of the service fee as a compliance deposit. If losses are caused by the agency's mistakes，the deposit can be directly deducted to reduce losses.
Victor SunYears of service：5Customer Rating：5.0
Trade Risk Control ManagerStart a Chat
The core of customs declaration for Thailand transhipment trade is to ensure that the customs code classification of the transit country and the destination country is consistent, so as to avoid triggering traceability verification by the destination country's customs due to code differences. The price review basis of Thai Customs for transhipment cargo is the transit cargo declaration specification under the framework of the Bangkok Agreement, you need to submit the original purchase contract, packing list and pre-certificate of origin of the cargo. If the declared price is lower than the early warning price of the same category of cargo of Thai Customs in the same period, it will directly trigger price review doubts, leading to cargo detention at the port.
At the same time, you need to confirm the requirements of customs declaration documents after transhipment with the destination country's customs broker in advance, to ensure the logical closed loop between the certificate of origin and bill of lading issued by Thailand and the documents required for customs clearance in the destination country, for example, the cargo description on the certificate of origin must fully match the description on the customs clearance invoice of the destination country, so as to avoid customs seizure in the destination country due to inconsistent documents. In addition, if the transhipment cargo involves wooden packaging, you need to complete IPPC fumigation locally in Thailand and obtain an official certificate in advance, otherwise it will be refused transit release by Thai Customs.
Kevin LinYears of service：4Customer Rating：5.0
Trade Solutions ManagerStart a Chat
The logistics path of Thailand transhipment trade should give priority to Laem Chabang Port as the transit hub, this port has the largest transit container yard in Southeast Asia, and the free storage period can be extended to 14 days, which can effectively reduce the risk of container detention fees. For the container swapping link, you should choose a yard with closed supervision conditions, before swapping containers, you need to check that the number of cargo pieces, weight and volume on the original bill of lading are consistent with the actual cargo, after swapping containers, immediately apply a customs seal with a unique identifier, and take photos of the seal and record the whole process of container swapping for archiving synchronously.
In terms of cargo ownership control, you need to require the logistics party to issue an "order bill of lading", and set the notifying party as the destination country agent designated by you, so as to avoid the bill of lading being endorsed and transferred by a third party without authorization. If you encounter unexpected situations such as space dumping and space shortage, you need to agree on spare space with the logistics party in advance, to ensure that the cargo can be transferred to other sailings within 72 hours to avoid delaying delivery time. In addition, you need to confirm the direct route from Thailand to the destination country in advance, to reduce the risk of cargo damage and delay caused by secondary transit.
Andy GuoYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Supply Chain Management ExpertStart a Chat
The core of tax affairs for Thailand transhipment trade is to comply with and make reasonable use of Thailand's preferential tax policies for transit trade, Thailand exempts import duties and value-added tax for transit cargo, but if the cargo enters the local warehouse in Thailand for more than 180 days, it will be regarded as local sales, and you need to pay 7% value-added tax and corresponding customs duties. Therefore, you need to plan the stay time of the cargo in Thailand in advance, to ensure that it does not exceed the 180-day tax-free period.
At the same time, if you have related party transactions with the Thai agency, you need to reasonably determine the agency service fee in accordance with the related party transaction pricing principles under the BEPS framework, so as to avoid triggering transfer pricing investigation by the Thai tax authority due to too low or too high pricing. In addition, if the destination country supports VAT deferral, you can ask the Thai agency to assist in handling VAT deferral filing for transit cargo, delaying the payment time of value-added tax in the destination country until after the cargo is sold, so as to ease the capital pressure of the enterprise. It should be noted that all tax operations need to retain complete document materials, including agency service contracts, fee invoices, logistics vouchers of transit cargo, etc., for verification by the tax authority.
Eric ZhouYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Manager of Foreign Exchange & Tax RebatesStart a Chat
The payment and receipt compliance of Thailand transhipment trade needs to ensure the logical consistency of capital flow, document flow, logistics and contract flow, so as to avoid being regarded as abnormal transactions by the bank and triggering verification. When paying and receiving foreign exchange, you need to clearly mark "Transhipment via Thailand for export to [destination country]" in the SWIFT message, and submit the certificate of origin issued by Thailand, transit bill of lading, original purchase contract and other documents synchronously, to prove the authenticity of the transaction.
If you use an offshore account to pay and receive foreign exchange, you need to report the transaction background of the transhipment trade to the bank in advance, to avoid the account being frozen. When settling foreign exchange, you need to submit a full set of documents for transhipment trade in accordance with the requirements of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, including transit bill of lading, destination country customs clearance certificate, agency service invoice, etc., to ensure the consistency of the four flows.
In addition, if you use RMB cross-border payment (CIPS), you need to confirm that the Thai agency has opened a CIPS account, to ensure that the fund arrival time does not exceed 24 hours, so as to avoid affecting the transit process of the cargo due to fund delay. It should be noted that it is strictly prohibited to use third-party personal accounts to pay and receive funds for transhipment trade, otherwise it will be regarded as illegal operation and face foreign exchange penalties.
Cindy ChenYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Key Account ManagerStart a Chat
The legal risk prevention and control of Thailand transhipment trade needs to focus on the clause setting of the agency contract and the letter of credit of the destination country. When signing a contract with a Thai agency, you need to clearly stipulate the ownership and transfer node of cargo ownership, and require the agency to issue a "Cargo Ownership Guarantee Letter", promising to fully compensate the cargo value and related losses if cargo ownership is lost due to the agency's mistakes during the transit process.
If the destination country customer issues a letter of credit, you need to strictly review the soft clauses in the letter of credit, for example, clauses such as "payment can be made only after the destination country customer confirms the certificate of origin" are prohibited, to avoid passive payment situation. At the same time, you need to stipulate the liability for breach of contract for abnormal handling in the agency contract, for example, if the cargo is detained at the port for more than 48 hours due to the agency, the agency shall bear a liquidated damage of 0.5% of the cargo value per day.
In addition, if the cargo involves intellectual property rights, you need to handle intellectual property filing with Thai Customs in advance, to avoid the cargo being detained due to infringement complaints during the transit process. All contracts and guarantee letters shall be reviewed by lawyers with international trade legal service qualifications, to ensure compliance with the laws of Thailand and the destination country.
Jason WuYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
International Logistics & Supply Chain ManagerStart a Chat
The on-site inspection of Thailand transhipment trade needs to focus on the authenticity identification of seals and response skills for unpacking inspection. After the container swapping is completed, you need to immediately check whether the code of the customs seal is consistent with the code in the customs system, and the surface of the seal shall have no scratch or deformation traces. If the seal is found to be abnormal, you need to immediately request the customs to re-apply the seal and issue a seal change certificate.
If you encounter unpacking inspection by Thai Customs, you need to prepare the original purchase contract, packing list, pre-certificate of origin and other documents of the cargo in advance, and cooperate with the customs inspection personnel to check whether the number of cargo pieces, weight and volume are consistent with the declaration content. During machine inspection, you need to ensure that the cargo is placed neatly, so as to avoid secondary inspection caused by blurred machine inspection images due to too dense stacking of cargo.
If the customs raises doubts about cargo classification during the inspection, you need to immediately request the agency to contact the local customs classifier in Thailand to issue a classification opinion, to ensure rapid release of the cargo. In addition, you need to retain photos and video materials of the whole inspection process, for use in subsequent traceability verification by the destination country's customs.
Daniel XuYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Director of Import & Export OperationsStart a Chat
The export tax refund compliance of Thailand transhipment trade needs to ensure the consistency of the four flows (capital flow, document flow, logistics, contract flow), so as to avoid tax letter verification triggered by inconsistent documents. If you are a domestic production enterprise, the export tax refund for transhipment trade shall be handled in accordance with the relevant provisions of "deemed export", you need to submit the transit bill of lading issued by Thailand, certificate of origin, destination country customs clearance certificate, agency service contract and other documents, to prove that the cargo has been actually exported to the destination country.
It should be noted that the agency service fee for transhipment trade shall be invoiced separately, and shall not be mixed with the cargo price, otherwise it will be regarded as illegal operation by the tax authority and affect the tax refund declaration. If you encounter tax letter verification, you need to prepare a full set of document materials in advance, including cargo production records, purchase vouchers, logistics vouchers, etc., to cooperate with the tax authority to verify the authenticity of the transaction. In addition, you need to carry out pre-declaration verification before tax refund declaration, to ensure that the document information is consistent with the information in the tax system, so as to avoid tax refund delay or rejection due to incorrect information.
Grace WangYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Foreign Trade ConsultantStart a Chat
The supply chain planning of Thailand transhipment trade needs to combine the trade policy, market demand of the destination country and the capital status of the enterprise, to build the optimal transhipment trade structure. First of all, you need to accurately calculate the comprehensive cost of transhipment trade, including agency service fee, logistics fee, local customs declaration fee in Thailand, container swapping fee, etc., and compare it with the anti-dumping duty cost of direct export, to ensure that the cost advantage of transhipment trade is at least more than 15%.
In terms of inventory linkage strategy, if you have stable destination country orders, you can rent a small transit warehouse locally in Thailand in advance to store some commonly used cargo, shorten the transhipment cycle and improve delivery efficiency. In terms of trade term conversion, you should give priority to trade terms of FOB Chinese port and CIF destination country, to transfer the logistics risk of transhipment to the agency and reduce your own risk bearing. In addition, you need to establish a performance evaluation mechanism for transhipment trade, regularly evaluate the service efficiency, compliance and cost control ability of the agency, to ensure the stability and sustainability of the supply chain.