Customs laws provide flexible storage and transit options to help businesses manage cash flow and facilitate regional cross-border commerce.
Customs Transit and Bonded Cargo Movement
Transit trade occurs when cargo enters a country solely to pass through to a neighboring landlocked nation. To prevent these goods from being illegally diverted into the local market without paying duties, customs utilizes a Transit Bond system:
  • The transporter purchases a security bank guarantee (bond) covering the full value of the import duties.
  • The container is locked with an electronic cargo tracking seal (ECTS) containing GPS tracking hardware.
  • When the container safely exits the border, the electronic seal notifies the system, and the transit bond is cancelled.

Bonded Warehousing
A bonded warehouse is a secure building licensed by customs where importers can store goods without paying import duties or taxes for a set timeframe (e.g., up to one year).
  • Duties are deferred until the goods are removed from the warehouse for domestic sale.
  • If the goods are re-exported directly from the warehouse to a foreign market, the importer never has to pay local import duties.

Export Processing Zones (EPZs) and Special Economic Zones (SEZs)
EPZs and SEZs are fenced-off industrial areas treated as being outside the national customs territory for tariff purposes. Companies operating inside these zones can import raw materials and production machinery duty-free, provided their finished products are manufactured primarily for export markets.
 
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