Shipping from Singapore to Vietnam

Singapore is Vietnam’s 6^th largest trading partner in the world, and some of the most commonly shipped items from Singapore to Vietnam are oil, electronic equipment, perfumes, cosmetics, paper and milk preparations.

When shipping your cargo internationally, there are 2 main transportation modes: air freight and sea freight. A shipment from Singapore to Vietnam typically takes 2-3 business days via air freight and 5-7 business days via sea freight.

Less Than Container Load (LCL)

LCL is usually used when a shipper does not have enough goods to fill the entire container. The transporter will then coordinate and arrange for other cargo to fill up the same container before it is shipped out. While this is a more cost-effective option for the shipper, the shipping duration may be delayed in the case where there are insufficient shipments to fill up the container.

Full Container Load (FCL)

FCL allows you to transport the whole container with just your goods. This means that the delivery would be quicker and there is a lower risk of damaging and misplacing your goods during the shipping process. This is, however, less cost-efficient if your goods are unable to fill the entire container.

Prohibited and restricted goods that are not allowed to be imported into Vietnam include

• Right-hand drive motor vehicles
• Second-hand consumer goods
• Firecrackers
• Certain types of children’s toys
• Newspapers
• Petroleum oils

There are certain requirements to fulfil prior to being able to import into Vietnam including:

• Registering with the Department of Planning and Investment
• Obtaining an Investment Certificate
• Individuals or companies that seek to expand their current business operations to engage in import activities are to abide to the procedures for making amendments to their Investment Certificates.

Another thing to note would be that certain goods require the trading company to obtain import permits from the Vietnamese government, according to Appendix II of Decree 187/2013/ND-CP.

There are no Goods and Services Tax and duties levied on goods exported from Singapore.

For shipments to be imported into Vietnam:

The amount of tax levied on each good depends on the type of good. For example, consumer goods (especially luxury goods) will incur higher import duties as compared to items like machinery, equipment and raw materials needed for production that are not available domestically – these items tend to receive lower or even zero taxes.

Most goods imported into Vietnam will incur import duties such as

• Import Tax
• Value-added Tax (VAT)
• Special Consumption Tax (SCT)

Exceptions to this include goods in transit, goods exported abroad from a non-tariff zone, goods imported from foreign countries into non-tariff areas for use in non-tariff areas only, and goods passing from one non-tariff zone to another.

Duty rates for imported goods include preferential rates, special preferential rates, and standard rates depending on the origin of the goods.

Lastly, do note that you are required to declare any import duties upon registration of customs declarations with the customs offices and all import duties must be paid before receipt of consumer goods.

Source: Vietnam Briefing

Source: Searates

A freight forwarder, also known as a forwarding agent or a non-vessel operating common carrier (NVOCC), is more than a regular shipping company. A freight forwarding company provides all-in-one services when you need to ship your cargo to anywhere in the world, as they assist you from obtaining your goods from the manufacturer to ensuring that it reaches its final destination safely.

The main advantage of working with a freight forwarder would be that you would have a hassle-free shipping process, as the freight forwarder handles all the necessary paperwork required to get customs clearance and deals with everything from getting the cargo to the shipping port to the destination port and lastly, to the desired destination.

On top of that, freight forwarders also provide cargo insurance to insure your goods in the event of a delay or loss of shipment due to unforeseen circumstances such as natural disasters.

Professional and reliable

Having 10 years of solid experience in the industry, M&P has devoted resources into acquiring state-of-the-art equipment and tools in order to be able to provide our valued customers with the best service. Furthermore, we have handled many cases of varying natures and will hence be able to transport any cargo that you have.

Competitive prices

M&P International Freights is one of the largest international freight forwarding companies and we therefore have many global partnerships that allow us to fetch the best rates for our customers.