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How to ship from China to the DR Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a country of continental size with two very different import problems. Goods for the west arrive at Matadi, on the Atlantic coast, and move 160 kilometres inland to Kinshasa. Goods for the mineral-rich east more often come the long way, through Dar es Salaam or Mombasa and overland to Lubumbashi. Which half you are serving decides the route before anything else does.

Two documents catch first-time importers out, and both must exist before the vessel sails. The first is the inspection certificate: commercial imports above a modest value are inspected at the Chinese port before loading. The second pair is the FERI and the ECTN, two separate cargo declarations that have to carry identical data. A mismatch between them is a documented cause of detention at Matadi.

This guide follows the whole route: choosing the entry point, the modes and the trade terms, the inspection and the two cargo documents, how duty and VAT stack up, what the OCC checks, and the sequence from a Chinese supplier to a Congolese address.

Two Congos, two customs systems: check which one you are shipping to

The first thing to settle is which Congo you mean. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, capital Kinshasa, and the Republic of the Congo, capital Brazzaville, sit on opposite banks of the same river and are entirely separate customs territories with different authorities, different certificates and different procedures. Documentation prepared for one cannot be used for the other.

If your supplier, your forwarder or your buyer says simply Congo, ask. Getting this wrong is not a small error: it means applying for the wrong cargo tracking note, preparing declarations for the wrong administration, and discovering the mistake at the port.

The rest of this page is about the Democratic Republic of the Congo. If your consignee is in Brazzaville or Pointe-Noire, you want the Republic of the Congo instead.

Matadi, or the long way through Mombasa

Matadi is the Atlantic port and the entry point for Kinshasa and the west of the country. It sits about 160 kilometres from the capital by road, and that last leg is a logistics operation in its own right rather than a formality.

For the east, the copper and cobalt belt around Lubumbashi, cargo more often comes through Dar es Salaam in Tanzania or Mombasa in Kenya and moves overland, a journey that adds weeks compared with the western route. Air freight lands at N'djili Airport in Kinshasa.

Security conditions in the eastern provinces have affected logistics in that region. If your consignee is in the east, ask about current conditions on the road leg before committing to a delivery date.

Four ways in: own box, groupage, aircraft, or parcel post

A full container is the standard for volume above roughly 15 cubic metres and is what you want for anything fragile or high-value, because the box is sealed at origin. Groupage, or LCL, shares container space with other shippers and is paid by the cubic metre with a minimum; it suits two to twelve cubic metres and adds consolidation and deconsolidation time at both ends.

Air freight to N'djili suits urgent spare parts, pharmaceuticals and samples, and is charged on chargeable weight. Courier services handle documents and single cartons under their own clearance arrangements, and on this lane they are often the most predictable option despite the cost per kilogram.

Add the clearance window on top of all of these. Reported clearance times on this lane run from a week or so for a clean file to several weeks or longer when documents are contested, which is a wide spread and a reason to prepare the file early rather than at arrival.

Incoterms in plain language when the port is 160 km away

EXW leaves you owning the export formalities in China. On a lane with this much paperwork, it is the term to avoid.

FOB puts the supplier's responsibility at the point the goods are loaded in China and leaves you in control of the carriage. Most experienced buyers use it, because the freight, the inspection and the certificate work are all visible as separate numbers you can manage.

CIF and CIP cover carriage and insurance to Matadi, but the risk still passes in China. Note what CIF does not include on this lane: the haul from Matadi to Kinshasa, and the clearance.

DAP and DDP to a named place move the burden to the seller, and under DDP also the Congolese duty and VAT. It is legitimate and it is genuinely convenient here, because a foreign company cannot practically file through SEGUCE itself. Understand though that you are delegating the declared value and the tax payment to somebody else.

The order in which a DRC shipment actually happens

BIVAC inspects before you load, above USD 2,500

Commercial imports above roughly USD 2,500 in value are subject to pre-shipment inspection by the government-contracted inspector at the port of export, and the resulting certificate of inspection is required by the DGDA before clearance can proceed.

The inspection covers quality, quantity, classification and value. That last item matters to you as a buyer: if the inspector's view of the value differs from your invoice, the duty and VAT follow the assessed figure rather than yours.

Keep the descriptions on the invoice identical to what is inspected. A certificate that describes one thing and an invoice that describes another is a discrepancy, and discrepancies on this lane cost weeks.

FERI and ECTN: two numbers, both filed before departure

Sea freight to the DRC needs two separate documents. The FERI is an electronic cargo pre-declaration, and the ECTN is an electronic cargo tracking note. Both are filed before the vessel departs the origin port, and both must carry identical cargo data.

Any discrepancy between them is a documented cause of detention at Matadi. That is not a theoretical risk: it is the single most reported reason containers sit at this port.

Air freight does not use the FERI and ECTN regime in the same way, so confirm which documents apply to your mode before you assume.

Duty, VAT and the parafiscal charges that follow

The pattern across product categories is that machinery and mining equipment sit at the low end, commonly around 5 to 10 per cent, while clothing, footwear and cosmetics sit at the top, in the 20 to 30 per cent range, with electronics somewhere in between at up to about 20 per cent. The HS code decides everything, so classification is worth more than any negotiation on freight.

Buyers should budget for the total tax burden rather than the duty line alone: published guidance puts the combined effect of duty, VAT and the parafiscal charges at a substantial share of CIF value. Ask your broker for a pre-shipment assessment against your actual codes.

Documents that reach a DGDA officer in French

French is not optional. Declarations, invoices, packing lists and supporting documents are all expected in French, and the DGDA, the OCC and SEGUCE all operate in French. Arrange translations in China before loading, where they cost less and take days rather than weeks.

The importer's tax identification number, the NIF, has to be valid; an expired registration is enough to have a file rejected, and a rejected file means storage charges.

Importing under a personal name or a Congolese company with a NIF

An individual can import personal and non-commercial goods, and small consignments below a modest value may be handled under a simplified regime. Commercial importing is done by a registered entity holding a tax number, and that route is also the one that allows VAT to be accounted for.

The practical obstacle for a foreign buyer is filing. Only a DRC-registered party can file through SEGUCE in practice, so if you have no local entity you are working through an importer of record or a licensed broker. Establish that relationship before the goods ship, and put the scope in writing.

Where a business is registered and accounts for VAT, the import VAT is recoverable. Where it is not, it is simply a cost. With VAT at 16 per cent on top of duty, the difference on a container is large.

What your Chinese forwarder does, and what a Kinshasa broker does

In China your forwarder collects or consolidates, books the space, handles the export declaration, arranges the pre-shipment inspection and files the FERI and obtains the ECTN. They are also the only party who can chase a carrier when a schedule slips.

At destination a licensed broker files the declaration through SEGUCE in French, deals with the OCC where the category is regulated, responds to queries and pays the duty and VAT. You need both, and one does not substitute for the other.

Warning signs are consistent: pressure to declare a lower value, no written breakdown, an address that is only a phone number, and vagueness about who carries the risk during the voyage.

Three typical shipments into the DRC

These three examples are illustrative, not client records. They show how the route follows from the destination.

A 40ft container of mining equipment spares for Lubumbashi. Routed through an eastern corridor rather than Matadi, because the final address is in the copper belt, with the BIVAC inspection carried out before loading. The lesson is that the entry point follows the delivery address and not the ocean rate.

Nine cubic metres of building materials for Kinshasa. Shipped as LCL to Matadi with the FERI and ECTN filed on identical data before departure. The lesson is that the two documents are the critical path, and a mismatch costs weeks of detention.

Two hundred kilograms of pharmaceutical supplies. Air freight to N'djili with the health authority permit arranged in parallel. The lesson is that for controlled goods the permit, not the aircraft, decides when the cargo moves.

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