Import Garments To Thailand

[peterpollmann]

Greetings, I am running a small garment company in Indonesia focusing in women beachwear, bikinis in particular. I have some clients now in BKK, who would like to purchase some items of my collection, not a huge order, may be around 100 -200pcs each client but continiuosly.

However, I understood that they don't want to take the headache of importation due to the red tape situation over there. Could anybody advise, if there are any parties who can do the importation process for me, since there will be a license required I believe (May be a shipping agent, or buying agent could help...?!?). The shipping from Indonesia to BKK will be done through DHL. Would be great to get any feedback from you on this problem.

Thanks and Cheers,

Peter Pollmann

[Xonax]

DHL should be able to help you with that. You can even require that the shipper pays the import duty and tax.

[jazzbo]

How many suitcases is 200 bikinis not in boxes?

[raro]

For this kind of volume a parcel service would be the best bet. I would not advise DHL, as they are known to have issues with customs. UPS, FedEx etc are probably better.

Still, your customers need to have a registered company and VAT registration to be able to import commercially. Otherwise, send by regular post, that one slips through most of the time.

[misterlaz]

lannagroup.com has trade management services geared towards sme's if you are interested.

[TravelerEastWest]

.......Still, your customers need to have a registered company and VAT registration to be able to import commercially. Otherwise, send by regular post, that one slips through most of the time.

Raro,

You can import using FedEx or UPS very easily without VAT registration if you are below the limits. And individuls in business without a registered company can also import commercially without a problem.

Unless there are special restrictions for clothing imports perhaps?

[raro]

.......Still, your customers need to have a registered company and VAT registration to be able to import commercially. Otherwise, send by regular post, that one slips through most of the time.

Raro,

You can import using FedEx or UPS very easily without VAT registration if you are below the limits. And individuls in business without a registered company can also import commercially without a problem.

Unless there are special restrictions for clothing imports perhaps?

It would not work if you import via a freight forwarder. As for parcel services I don't know, completely different business.

[TravelerEastWest]

.......Still, your customers need to have a registered company and VAT registration to be able to import commercially. Otherwise, send by regular post, that one slips through most of the time.

Raro,

You can import using FedEx or UPS very easily without VAT registration if you are below the limits. And individuls in business without a registered company can also import commercially without a problem.

Unless there are special restrictions for clothing imports perhaps?

It would not work if you import via a freight forwarder. As for parcel services I don't know, completely different business.

Freight forwarders are not needed for such a simple situation.

As an example UPS picks up, does the paperwork in Bangkok charges 1284+ baht as well the VAT and duty could not be easier.

Customer pays the driver upon delivery unless above a certain amount - again very easy.

No need for a registered company unless I am misisng some special rules for clothing imports?

As for freight forwarders I am not clear what you mean - are you saying that there are special laws in Thailand when you use them or only that they prefer to work with registered companies?

[raro]

Freight forwarders are not needed for such a simple situation.

As an example UPS picks up, does the paperwork in Bangkok charges 1284+ baht as well the VAT and duty could not be easier.

Customer pays the driver upon delivery unless above a certain amount - again very easy.

No need for a registered company unless I am misisng some special rules for clothing imports?

As for freight forwarders I am not clear what you mean - are you saying that there are special laws in Thailand when you use them or only that they prefer to work with registered companies?

Let me quote what I wrote on my webpage:

Some words about what freight forwarding is and what it is not.

First off: We are not a parcel service. This an entirely different business. A parcel service collects plenty of small boxes along a "milk run" and has a complex logistics set-up behind it to ensure that the parcels arrive in due time at destination. A freight forwarder, however, arranges for each item an individual transport chain.

Rule of thumb is: below 50 kg a parcel service is the provider of your choice, beyond that a freight forwarder is more competitive. Of course, we can ship 1 kg items, but I doubt you would be willing to pay for it. Why is that so? To start with, we send a pick-up truck to you only. The costs for the truck are the same, whether you load it up with a tiny parcel or 1 .5 ton crate. The same will happen on the destination side. If you want to send the 1.5 ton crate by parcel service, you screw up their system as they have to send an extra truck…get it? So small stuff by parcel service, bigger ones by freight forwarders.

parcel service and freight forwarder use different channels in the Thai customs process and cannot access the channel of the other group.

Something else comes to mind...if the receiver is a private person, and let's assume the OP is not a Thai national, how can he obtain a work permit without company and VAT registration?

[TravelerEastWest]

 What you quote from your site makes sense and in my experience really good transportation people can make themselves valuable by their advice and experience even more than seeking good rates. But your web page does not answer my question at all:

1) As for freight forwarders I am not clear what you mean - are you saying that there are special laws in Thailand when you use them or only that they prefer to work with registered companies?

".....parcel service and freight forwarder use different channels in the Thai customs process and cannot access the channel of the other group."

I am not sure how this applies to the law? Are you saying that freight forwarders are required by law in Thailand to only deal with registered companies? If so this is good to know.

"Something else comes to mind...if the receiver is a private person, and let's assume the OP is not a Thai national, how can he obtain a work permit without company and VAT registration?"From the OP he is sending items, quite likely those who are receiving are Thai nationals with no need for a work permit. But that is only a guess.... Anyway Thai Customs typically does not ask for work permits so it is a nonissue.

Work permits are somewhat off topic but you have me curious are you saying that a family business cannot provide for a work permit as in a sole proprietorship that is not a company? VAT I always thought is triggered by sales volume (with small sales not requiring registration) has this changed?

[CWMcMurray]

There are different types of "Customs Clearance" procedures in place for Courier and SEA/AIR freight.

Courier companies can do "bulk clearance", if the goods qualify (depends upon value of goods and commodity). What this means is that no official import entry needs to be done by the importer of record.

All Air/SEA frieght shipments must be cleared using an official import entry. This means that the importer of record must be registered with customs. If the consignee is a company, then in order to register for paperless customs processing (this is a one off thing), they will need to provide their customs boker with all of their paperwork (company registration, por por 20 ect...).

If importing under your personal name, then you will need to provide a copy of your passport (picture, visa, entry stamp pages). If a Thai national, then they will need to send a copy of their ID card. Your broker will also need local address and telephone number.

But just as an fyi... even if sent via courier it is possible for your goods to be flagged for formal customs processing. This can happen if the goods are over the min value allowed for bulk clearance or if based upon the commodity Thai customs requires formal import entry to be done. One example (there are many) of this would be for Food Products that require a permit from FDA...

Edited December 21, 2009 by CWMcMurray

[TravelerEastWest]

"If importing under your personal name, then you will need to provide a copy of your passport (picture, visa, entry stamp pages). If a Thai national, then they will need to send a copy of their ID card. Your broker will also need local address and telephone number."

CWMcMurray,

Yes, I agree. it is very easy to import as an individual. As a practical matter the courier or broker etc can very easily take care of the paperwork.

When doing repeat orders you should have your ID kept on file.

I am still not clear what Raro is mentioning when he says that you need to be a company. Perhasp he is talking about an old law?

As for different channels of clearance I think that all the import laws remain the same. Formal clearances may require an extra day or so but nothing really changes.

One thing I have noticed is that some large UPS type organizations tend to not have the best and brightest staff in their import clearing department. so if you are importing something very valuable or unusual a clever licensed customs broker is always good to have on your team.

[raro]

Yes, I agree. it is very easy to import as an individual. As a practical matter the courier or broker etc can very easily take care of the paperwork.

When doing repeat orders you should have your ID kept on file.

I am still not clear what Raro is mentioning when he says that you need to be a company. Perhasp he is talking about an old law?

What I mean is...as a Thai national it is not a big deal to import on commercial scale as you can run a sole proprietor business in your name.

As a foreigner you cannot import on a commercial scale as you need a registered company to obtain a workpermit.

My assumption is that you are a foreigner.

As for different channels of clearance I think that all the import laws remain the same. Formal clearances may require an extra day or so but nothing really changes.

One thing I have noticed is that some large UPS type organizations tend to not have the best and brightest staff in their import clearing department. so if you are importing something very valuable or unusual a clever licensed customs broker is always good to have on your team.

It would surprise me if a customs broker has access to the parcel service channel that UPS style organizations use.

[TravelerEastWest]

Yes, I agree. it is very easy to import as an individual. As a practical matter the courier or broker etc can very easily take care of the paperwork.

When doing repeat orders you should have your ID kept on file.

I am still not clear what Raro is mentioning when he says that you need to be a company. Perhasp he is talking about an old law?

What I mean is...as a Thai national it is not a big deal to import on commercial scale as you can run a sole proprietor business in your name.

As a foreigner you cannot import on a commercial scale as you need a registered company to obtain a workpermit.

My assumption is that you are a foreigner.

As for different channels of clearance I think that all the import laws remain the same. Formal clearances may require an extra day or so but nothing really changes.

One thing I have noticed is that some large UPS type organizations tend to not have the best and brightest staff in their import clearing department. so if you are importing something very valuable or unusual a clever licensed customs broker is always good to have on your team.

It would surprise me if a customs broker has access to the parcel service channel that UPS style organizations use.

Have the laws changed?

A Thai sole proprietorship used to be able to hire foreigners and provide a work permit 

And Americans and (possibly other foreigners with the correct paperwork) I thought could have a sole proprietorship on their own.

The OP sounds like he is talking about Thai nationals as I am also... But as a practical note most foreigners will have a Thai wife as the sole proprietor and work permits should be easy to get. But you never know in Thailand - smiling...

As for my licensed broker comment - I meant that brokers typically have more expertise when it comes to clearing in terms of which duty rates apply- treaties and so on... there are always exceptions of course.

Timing-wise pre-clearing electronically may actually be faster than going through parcel channels. so not having access to parcel channels should not be an issue.

It is getting to the point in international trade that electronic clearing can be done even by businesses on their own. A certain volume is typically needed to make the learning curve worthwhile.