Inbound Air Shipments continue to pose significant challenges in Shanghai, China, as the customs authorities have engaged in ever more stringent inspections.  For Air Shipments, it is critical to understand what items will prompt inspections, what items must not be sent, and that the inventory should be accurate if not actually detailed.

For All Sea and Air Shipments, many items are considered luxury goods and are not allowed entry to China in HHGs shipments, or are taxed at extremely high rates.  In Shanghai Billiard tables and grand pianos are simply not allowed to be imported as HHGs.  Their inclusion is prohibited, and if incorrectly declared will result in large fines and actually put our customs license at risk since as consignee our company is deemed to be responsible.  Those fines will be passed along as they are incurred.  Simple things like collections, or hobbies, may be viewed as luxury items (collections of coins, of stamps, of toys all could feasibly be tagged by Chinese customs).  It is impossible to provide a comprehensive list of the items that "may be" designated as luxury, so when in doubt ask.  We can ask customs to give us an answer before you pack their goods. 

Significantly more shipments have been held, items confiscated, or fines imposed, or shipments turned back this year than in any previous year, and compliance with the regulations and interpretations of the regulations is critical.  Do not misdeclare items by fact or omission as these will incur significant delays and costs. 

Setting the Expectations of the transferee is of paramount importance as even under the best of circumstances there is a gap of 2 or 3 weeks between their arrival and the delivery of even an air shipment (unless they travel back and forth and we can coordinate with you and them prior to their main move here).  Please make your transferees aware of this, make them aware that if they have things that they must have from day 1 then they need to bring them in their checked in baggage, and perhaps have extra luggage to accommodate their needs. 

Most of the service failures have at their source unreasonable, uniformed or simply bad expectations of the customer.  While our coordinators provide information on clearance times etc, these expectations are best set early in the moving process and then reinforced constantly along the way.  Setting reasonable expectations usually leads to superior customer satisfaction ratings and setting them early increased these ratings significantly.

If there are any doubts about any regulation, or any element please contact us and we will assist you immediately with a response.