More Cambodian manufacturers — garments, footwear, bicycles, furniture, travel goods — are sending export cargo by truck to bonded warehouses around Ho Chi Minh City instead of shipping everything from Sihanoukville. The goods stay Cambodian; Vietnam simply provides storage and a wider choice of ships to the United States.
Why route Cambodian cargo through a Vietnamese bonded warehouse
- More US sailings. Cai Mep has direct deep-sea services to the US West and East Coasts; Cat Lai has frequent feeders. That means more departure days and fewer missed cut-offs.
- LCL consolidation. Small Cambodian lots can be combined with other cargo for the same US buyer instead of waiting to fill a container.
- Holding stock near the port. Goods wait in bond, without Vietnamese duty or VAT, until the buyer releases them.
- Fast road link. Phnom Penh to Bavet–Moc Bai is roughly 170 km, and the warehouse belt around Ho Chi Minh City is a few hours further — see Moc Bai procedures. Cambodian cargo usually goes to TBS Tan Van or LF Logistics in Di An; see the warehouses we use.
The flow, step by step
- Cambodian export clearance at the factory or at Bavet, with the commercial invoice, packing list and, where needed, a Cambodian certificate of origin.
- Entry into Vietnam at Moc Bai on a customs transport declaration to the named bonded warehouse. The truck travels under customs seal; no Vietnamese import duty or VAT is paid.
- Receipt into the bonded warehouse, matched against the declaration and seal.
- Storage and permitted services: sorting, re-palletising, carton labelling with the correct origin, consolidation with other lots.
- Re-export on a declaration from the warehouse to Cat Lai or Cai Mep, then vessel departure to the US.
Through-trucks with cross-border permits avoid transloading at the border — see vehicles for cross-border trucking.
Keeping the cargo Cambodian
For US customs, origin is where the goods were made. Storage, repacking or consolidation in Vietnam does not change that, so:
- Mark goods and cartons "Made in Cambodia".
- Show Cambodia as country of origin on the US commercial invoice and entry; US duties follow the Cambodian rate, not the Vietnamese one.
- Keep the Cambodian export declaration, factory records and the Vietnamese transit papers together — they prove the chain if CBP asks.
- When Vietnamese and Cambodian goods share a container, list them on separate invoice lines with their own origin.
Never relabel Cambodian goods as Vietnamese, or the reverse. See origin risk in bonded warehouses.
Documents checklist
| Stage | Documents |
|---|---|
| Cambodia export | Export declaration, commercial invoice, packing list, certificate of origin if required, export licence for controlled goods |
| Vietnam entry and storage | Transport declaration Moc Bai → warehouse, warehouse lease contract, receipt records |
| Vietnam re-export | Re-export declaration, packing list per container, booking |
| US import | ISF naming the warehouse as stuffing location, invoice with Cambodian origin, bill of lading, entry and duty payment |
How long it takes
Factory to bonded warehouse is usually 1–2 days including both border formalities. Storage time is up to you, within the legal limit. Sea transit from Cai Mep to the US West Coast is typically around three weeks, longer to the East Coast.
Related: shipping from Cambodia to the USA · DDP from Cambodia to the US · transit cargo between Vietnam and Cambodia.