Frequently asked questions

It depends on the inspection lane customs assigns. The green lane usually clears within hours to 1 business day after the PIB duties are paid. The yellow lane takes 1–3 days for a document check. The red lane takes 3–7 days because the container is opened and physically inspected.

What actually causes delays is usually not customs itself but incomplete documents or missing Lartas permits. When paperwork is ready before the vessel arrives, clearance almost always goes smoothly — which is why we review our clients' documents before the goods even leave the origin country.

The core set: Commercial Invoice (CI), Packing List (PL), and a Bill of Lading (B/L) for sea or Air Waybill (AWB) for air. Your company also needs an NIB with customs access (the successor to the old API license).

Situational documents: a COO/Form E if you want FTA tariff rates, an insurance policy, and Lartas permits for regulated goods (SNI for toys, BPOM approval for cosmetics, and so on). Send us your draft documents before the shipment — a 15-minute review can save days at the port.

Every PIB is assigned to an inspection lane by the customs risk-profiling system. Green lane: no inspection — goods are released as soon as duties are paid (the SPPB is issued). Yellow lane: a customs analyst reviews your documents before the SPPB. Red lane: the container is opened and the goods are physically inspected against the documents.

A red lane doesn't mean something is wrong — new importers and certain commodities simply get flagged more often. What matters is consistency: quantities, weights, and descriptions must match the physical goods. We attend red-lane inspections weekly, so we know exactly what officers look for.

Form E is the Certificate of Origin under the China–ASEAN FTA (ACFTA). With a valid Form E, many Chinese products enter at preferential rates — often 0% — versus normal (MFN) rates of 5–15% or more. On a container worth USD 60,000, that's thousands of dollars saved.

The requirements are strict: the Form E must be issued by China's authorized body, its data must match the invoice and B/L exactly, and the goods must ship directly (direct consignment). A flawed Form E gets rejected and the normal rate applies. Ask your supplier for the Form E early — we review the draft before it's issued.

The HS code is the international classification code for every type of goods (8 digits in Indonesia, per the BTKI tariff book). This code determines your import duty rate, import taxes, and whether Lartas restrictions apply to your goods.

Misclassification has real consequences: if customs reassigns the code, an SPTNP is issued — you pay the duty shortfall plus a penalty. Conversely, correct classification (combined with FTA facilities) often lowers your costs legally. We verify HS codes before any PIB is filed.

Lartas (restrictions and prohibitions) is Indonesia's list of goods whose import or export is regulated. Lartas goods need permits before they can clear: SNI certification for toys and helmets, BPOM approval for cosmetics and food, Import Approvals for steel and certain electronics, among others.

The official check is the INSW portal (insw.go.id), searched by HS code. But results often need interpretation — one product can fall under several regimes at once. Send us your product description; we run Lartas checks free of charge before you commit to an import.

FCL (Full Container Load) means you book an entire container; LCL (Less than Container Load) means your cargo shares a container with other importers' goods and you pay per cubic meter (CBM).

Rule of thumb: above roughly 13–15 CBM, a 20 ft FCL is usually already cheaper — and nobody else's cargo touches yours. LCL suits small shipments, but there are handling fees on both ends and departures wait for the consolidation to fill. For fragile goods, FCL is almost always safer. Unsure? Send us your cargo dimensions and we'll price both.

Our trucking runs from Tanjung Perak Port (and Juanda Airport) to all of East Java: Surabaya, Gresik, Sidoarjo, Mojokerto, Pasuruan, Malang, Jember, and beyond. Both 20 ft / 40 ft containers and loose cargo.

Outside East Java we don't overreach — we'd rather be honest about coverage than let you down. For destinations beyond East Java, we'll connect you with trucking partners we regularly work with.

Every Eximdo shipment has a DO number (formatted DO.YEAR.MONTH.NUMBER — it's on the documents from our team). Open the Track Shipment page on this site, enter the number, and you'll see the current status: from booking, departure, and arrival through customs clearance and final delivery.

Our operations team updates the status at every key step — including the moment your SPPB is issued. No login needed, and the page loads fast on a phone.

The SPPB (goods release approval letter) is the document every importer waits for: customs' official approval that your goods may leave the port. It's issued once duties are paid and any inspection is complete.

The SPTNP (tariff and/or customs value reassessment letter) is the opposite — a correction issued when customs deems your declared tariff or value wrong. The result: you pay the duty difference plus a penalty. An SPTNP is almost always preventable with correct HS classification and well-documented transaction values — which is exactly where a meticulous customs broker saves you money.