Glossary
What is transhipment?
Transhipment is the transfer of cargo from one vessel or vehicle to another during a journey, without the goods entering the free circulation of the country where the transfer happens. A container is often transhipped at a hub port en route. |
What does transhipped mean in practice?
Cargo is discharged from one ship and loaded onto another, usually at a hub, because no direct service runs between origin and destination. The goods stay under customs control throughout and are never imported into the transhipment country they are only passing through it.
What is country of transhipment?
The country where the transfer takes place. It is a routing fact, not an origin fact: goods transhipped through Singapore are not Singaporean in origin. Declaring the transhipment country as the country of origin is a common and expensive error, because origin drives the duty rate, preference eligibility and any trade remedy.
Why transhipment attracts scrutiny
- Routing through a third country can be used to disguise true origin and evade duty
- Some trade agreements require direct transport, or evidence the goods stayed under customs control
- Extra handling raises damage and delay risk and lengthens the transit chain
iCustoms keeps origin and routing distinct on every entry, so a transhipment hub never becomes a declared origin. |
