Importer of Record service in Vietnam

An Importer of Record is the legal party on the customs declaration responsible for goods entering Vietnam — declaring the shipment, paying duties and taxes, and complying with Vietnamese import regulations. Under Vietnamese law, this role can only be filled by an entity registered in Vietnam with import-export rights on its Business Registration Certificate, plus any sector-specific licenses for the product category.

Foreign companies without a Vietnamese entity can't be the Importer of Record themselves. Through this service, Emerhub Vietnam takes that role on your behalf — goods enter the country under our name, using our import-export rights 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 Vietnamese company, 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 (cosmetics, food, supplements, medical devices), the relevant Ministry of Health or Drug Administration approval needs to be in place before shipping. We can sequence that work in parallel with onboarding.

Emerhub Vietnam 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 — for example, cosmetics, food, and supplements through the Ministry of Health, drugs through the Drug Administration of Vietnam, or specific certifications for chemicals and medical devices.

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. See our product registration services.

Vietnamese customs calculates duties and taxes based on the HS code classification and declared customs value of your goods. Our team handles the calculation, filing, and settlement on your behalf during clearance.

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 Vietnam. 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 Shopee, Lazada, Tiki, or other Vietnamese 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.