Importer of Record service in Hong Kong

An Importer of Record is the legal party on the customs declaration responsible for goods entering Hong Kong — declaring the shipment, paying any applicable duties, and complying with Hong Kong import regulations. Under Hong Kong law, this role can only be filled by an entity registered in Hong Kong, with any sector-specific licenses for the product category.

Foreign companies without a Hong Kong entity can't be the Importer of Record themselves. Through this service, Emerhub Hong Kong takes that role on your behalf — goods enter Hong Kong under our name, using our entity and licenses, while ownership of the goods and the brand remains entirely with you. It's commonly used by brands that want to start importing immediately without first setting up a HK Limited Company (and arranging a company secretary), or by companies bridging the gap while their own entity setup is in progress.

For most goods, once your supplier confirms Emerhub as the Importer of Record and we've reviewed your documents, the import can move forward immediately — typically within weeks of the first conversation.

For products requiring pre-import approval (drugs, medical devices, food, certain consumer products), the relevant Department of Health or Centre for Food Safety approval needs to be in place before shipping. We can sequence that work in parallel with onboarding.

Emerhub Hong Kong is named as the consignee and Importer of Record on the official documentation. You remain the owner of the goods and the brand throughout — the arrangement is a service relationship, with our licenses and infrastructure working on your behalf.

Most general consumer and commercial goods can be handled. Some product categories require additional product registration or sector-specific approvals before import or sale — for example, drugs and medical devices through the Department of Health, food and beverages through the Centre for Food Safety, telecom equipment through OFCA, or specific certifications for chemicals.

We confirm category feasibility during initial document review. If a product needs registration in addition to the Importer of Record service, we can handle both.

Hong Kong is a free port, so most goods enter duty-free. Customs duties only apply to a few categories — alcohol, tobacco, hydrocarbon oils, and methyl alcohol. For those, our team handles the calculation, filing, and settlement on your behalf during clearance. There's no general GST or VAT in Hong Kong, so most consumer goods don't carry import-side taxes.

The actual duty and tax amounts are passed through to you at cost. We confirm the applicable rates during the initial document review so you can factor them into your pricing.

Selling on marketplaces is a separate role from importing. The Importer of Record service gets your inventory legally into Hong Kong. Acting as the marketplace seller — listing the products, processing customer payments, handling transactions — is a different service we offer called Seller of Record. We often run both engagements together for brands selling on HKTVmall, Shopee, or other Hong Kong marketplaces.

Both work. There's no minimum frequency or volume commitment. The service is useful for sporadic shipments where setting up your own import infrastructure isn't justified, and for ongoing imports while you test the market before committing to a permanent local entity.