Japan is a developed country that shares a water border with Russia. Trade relations between the two countries have developed historically. Japan is one of the TOP 10 trade partners of Russia. Economic cooperation between Japan and Russia has quite understandable reasons: it is clearly mutually beneficial for both of them, as two powerful neighbors. In terms of GDP, the country of the rising sun is considered the third world economic power after the United States and China, that is, it is directly interested in exporting many manufactured goods. And Russian consumers have long appreciated the high quality of technological Japanese products.

Russian and Japanese entrepreneurs are ready to increase economic cooperation, despite the complications of the international situation and the urgent issue of signing a peace Treaty between Russia and Japan. Cargo transportation from Japan to Russia is one of the most dynamic areas in the logistics services market. Their intensity does not decrease. The large export turnover of Japan, which occupies the fourth place in the world by volume, is facilitated by the very unstable state of the domestic Japanese currency.

Types of cargo delivery to Russia from Japan

Japanese manufacturers supply a wide range of products to the Russian market:

• cars and spare parts;

• machine tools and various equipment for enterprises;

• householdappliances;

• light industry products;

• cosmetic;

• computers and digital equipment;

• chemical industry products;

• medical equipment;

• building materials;

• tools;

• seafood and specific food products that are not produced by Russian manufacturers.

Cars, motorcycles, electronics, rubber, rubber and plastics are particularly in demand in Russia.

Oil products, timber, minerals, metals and a number of other products produced by Russian enterprises are sent from Russia to Japan. Over the decades of active trade, optimal delivery routes for Japanese and Russian cargo have been formed. Transport companies that are ready to deliver goods from Japan to the Russian regions and back are currently operating on the transport services market.

Advice! When choosing a reliable transport company for cargo delivery from Japan to Russia, pay attention to the customs broker SB cargo, which has long been working in the cargo transportation market and offers turnkey delivery of goods from Japan according to the "door - to-door" scheme.

Cargo delivery by sea in containers from Japan to Russia and back

The island position of Japan makes significant adjustments to the logistics schemes for delivering Japanese cargo to Russia. The country is an archipelago of 6,900 Islands. For this reason, the main means of transport used for cargo delivery are sea vessels and aircraft.

There are about 50 ports along the coastline of Japan. A large volume of cargo from Japan is sent by sea in containers. This method is most often used to transport small-sized and light-weight combined cargo, which does not require special conditions to be created for transportation. Main ports used for sending cargo to Russia:

• the port of Kobe;

• port of Nagoya;

• the port of Osaka;

• the port of Shimizu;

• port of Yokohama.

Advice! SB cargo LLC carries out transportation of any cargo from Japan by sea containers, as well as performs cargo transportation by sea of goods that require a special temperature regime.

Sea containers have different volumes. They can carry various loads:

• computers;

• spare parts for cars and industrial equipment;

• building materials;

• the products of the chemical industry;

• industrial mass-consumption goods.

Shipping by sea in containers is the cheapest way to deliver goods from Japan to Russia. The country has a well-developed infrastructure. Japan has a large number of sea and river ports, many of which have international status. 

Specializing in sea cargo transportation, Japan has fully automated all stages of loading and unloading operations, ensuring high throughput of goods for export through its transport hubs. Therefore, when shipping products by sea from Japan, there are never any delays due to traffic jams in ports and technical failures. Delivery time by sea to Saint Petersburg is 40-45 days, to Novorossiysk-30-35 days, to Vladivostok-10-14 days.

Cargo delivery by air from Japan to Russia

This is the fastest and most expensive way to deliver oversized cargo from Japan, the high cost of which is compensated by the speed of delivery. In this way, especially valuable cargo is delivered, and planes are also used in cases when you need to urgently get a particular product. Cargo from Tokyo to Moscow and St. Petersburg with such transportation arrives in a few days. Express delivery is carried out per day.

Cargo arrives to Russia from the international airports of Osaka, Tokyo, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Kagoshima, Hakodate, and Okayama. Delivery is possible not only by direct flights, but also by connecting flights.

Any method of delivery from Japan to Russia can be included in the multimodal transportation scheme to reduce the time, which is especially important given the impressive area of Russia. Cargo is often delivered to the border with Russia by sea or air, while in Russia it is sent to the customer by railway or motor transport. For example, a common scheme: delivery by sea to the port in Vladivostok, and then reloading to railway transport. This way the cargo will reach Moscow in 30-35 days.

How much is the delivery of goods from Japan to Russia?

A number of important factors influence the price of transport services when transporting goods from Japan:

• weight and volume of cargo;

• features of transportation;

• delivery time;

• the conditions for the transport of goods appropriate to their technical characteristics;

• insurance;

• customs duty;

• distance to the destination;

• payment for additional services.

Customs clearance of goods from Japan

Customs clearance of goods from Japan is a complex process, preparation for which begins long before the arrival of a commercial shipment. First, you need to import images of products and certify them, get all kinds of permits and licenses, determine the HS codes, calculate customs payments and fill out a Declaration for goods.

In recent years, commercial cargo declarations have been made electronically. On the one hand, this is convenient, since you can submit a Declaration not only at the place of actual stay of the cargo, but also at any regional CED. On the other hand, the submission of documents is carried out using a specialized communication channel, access to which is restricted.

When choosing a customs clearance point, you should choose the most convenient one in terms of the route, specialization of the customs post, and type of transport.

This is how air cargo is cleared at customs posts at airports:

• Sheremetyevo-Moscow;

• Domodedovo – Moscow;

• Vnukovo – Moscow;

• Pulkovo – Saint Petersburg;

• Knevichi-Vladivostok;

• Koltsovo-Yekaterinburg;

• Khrabrovo-Kaliningrad;

• Tolmachevo-Novosibirsk.

By sea, cargo is delivered to major ports (and then bred to the final recipients by cargo trucks):

• Vladivostok;

• Novorossiysk;

• Bronka;

• Ust-Luga;

• Kaliningrad;

• Big port of Saint Petersburg.

The choice of port or airport will depend on the customer's location. They prefer the option that is suitable in terms of time and cost – one of many.

Customs clearance of cargo from Japan is a multi-stage process, preparation for which requires certain time and financial costs. Only obtaining permits will cost tens of thousands of rubles. You also need to classify the cargo, determine the amount of import duty, calculate how much customs payments will need to be paid, and fill out a Declaration. Already at this stage, many abandon the idea and turn to a customs broker. This is beneficial, because for a reasonable fee, you can get rid of a headache. The customs broker SB cargo with due professionalism will assist in the preparation of documents and help with the classification and calculation of payments.

Customs payments are calculated using simple well-known formulas. However, you may not take into account some nuances, for example, incorrectly classify the product, which means that you can use the wrong customs duty rate for calculation, and for one reason or another calculate payments taking into account preferences, but without providing the necessary documents. If you do not know about all the features, the process of customs clearance of goods will be problematic and long.

If you want to do customs clearance on your own, you will need the following documents for a batch of goods: 

• a foreign trade contract;

• an invoice;

• goods and transport documents;

• packing list;

• certificates and declarations of conformity;

• certificate of origin;

• payment order confirming payment of customs duty;

• insurance.

Other documents may also be requested. For example, for certain types of products, you need to issue a certificate of state registration, for fresh fruits and vegetables, you need a phytosanitary certificate, for animal products – a veterinary certificate, and complex telecommunications devices – notification. If the brand is included in the Register of intellectual property, you will need permission from the copyright holder. This includes SONY, Yamaha, Canon, Toshiba, Sanyo, Seiko, Toyota, Mitsubishi, and others. Vehicles are registered at specialized posts.

The duties of the representatives of the customs service include the inspection of documents related to the implementation of currency and customs control. If the declarant managed to provide everything, and the customs inspector did not have any additional questions, the cargo is released in the shortest possible time – from several hours to a day. If problems and shortcomings are detected, the customs clearance period is delayed, and time is given to eliminate claims. Then the declarant will need to pay an extra sum for storing the cargo, which will be on the TSW (temporary storage warehouse) all this time.

Temporary import of goods from Japan via ATA Carnet is possible. At the same time, a special procedure for customs clearance is observed, and customs payments are not paid.

SB cargo services

We strictly recommend you to contact our professional representatives for help. SB cargo provides customs clearance and international transportation services. We can perform customs clearance on your behalf or arrange delivery to our company. We will become full-fledged IATA agents, which once again confirms the high level of our professional competence. It is not a problem for us to take on the duties of the declarant and arrange transportation on favorable terms. We have updated information from various sources, which allows us to take into account a lot of details, including constantly changing legislation. We process cargo located not only in Moscow, but also in other cities of Russia, through the Moscow CED. Our permanent presence in the Moscow region gives us certain advantages.

Please note that we do not work according to preliminary hypothetical data. We need clear information about the cargo for calculations and conclusion of the contract. You will be required to submit the basic documents for delivery. You can get advice on delivery, order transport services by email info@sbcargo.ru or call +7(499)643-43-06. Use corporate communication channels. SB cargo has extensive experience in the international transportation market. Our experts will help you choose the best route and delivery method, taking into account all the needs and financial capabilities of the client.