Customs And Import Tax

Customs is a government agency that regulates shipments entering a country or region. All shipments from a country or region must clear customs first. The buyer is responsible for clearing customs and paying the relevant customs duties.

Okacc Hybrid Batteries doesn’t add taxes, VAT, or other hidden charges. You pay us what you see on the proforma invoice, i.e., the goods subtotal + shipping cost. In most countries, however, you must pay taxes or duties on imported goods. Sometimes, however, goods under a specific value or in certain categories do not incur taxes.

​The rules are different in every country. Unfortunately, there is no way for our sales to know the rules, regulations, customs, traditions, practices, loopholes, schemes, systems, paperwork, codes, laws, or rulings of every single country. Therefore, we cannot, and will not, offer advice about taxes in your country. As the buyer, you must find out that information before you order.​

If you must pay import taxes and/or additional duties and sales taxes upon receipt of the package (s), you must pay that to the courier upon receipt of the package(s). We can’t calculate this for you, and there is no way to pre-pay it. If you are drop-shipping or sending a gift item to someone, please make sure they are aware of the possibility of having to pay taxes when receiving the goods.

Please find out as much as possible about your import taxes in your country before completing your order. If you find out information about the import tax situation in your country, and you believe there are ways to minimize the taxes you have to pay (or eliminate the taxes), tell our sales staff what you need by putting instructions (regarding labeling, packing, declarations, invoices, etc.) in the comments field during checkout. Our sales staff is more than happy to follow your instructions.

All imported hybrid batteries are subject to customs clearance in every country. The hybrid batteries are sent from China when you buy from Okacc Hybrid Batteries. Therefore, you are importing, and you are the importer responsible for the hybrid batteries when the batteries pass through customs in your destination country. According to our general terms and conditions, you may order anything you like from Okacc Hybrid Batteries, and we will fulfill your order. Still, it remains your responsibility to find out in advance if the products are permissible to import into your destination country, and if so, what clearance requirements, taxes, policies, etc, apply in that country. Okacc Hybrid Batteries can not offer advice or pre-shipment information on Customs issues.

Over the past ten years, we have shipped thousands of orders, and we can confirm that in over 99.9% of shipments from Okacc Hybrid Batteries, there is no issue whatsoever with Customs clearance. Furthermore, in rare cases, subject to a delay in Customs, the merchandise is released and delivered successfully. This is because the clearance via standard shipping methods (couriers or post) is handled professionally by the shipping company. Okacc Hybrid Batteries is an experienced provider of correct shipping documentation and compliant products and packaging.

You need to be aware that, since any order you make on Okacc Hybrid Batteries will pass through your country’s Customs, the Customs have the right to hold and inspect your merchandise according to their policies.

Every country’s Customs have different policies, which can vary substantially, for example…

…from port to port

…from day to day or from one Custom’s staff member to another

…depending on the volume of packages requiring clearance on any particular day

…depending on the security levels and political climate of the moment

…depending on the package shipment method

…depending on the package origin

…depending on the package, weight, shape, packing, size, profile, x-ray results, etc

…depending on the package contents

…depending on the declared or assessed valuation of the package contents

…depending on the paperwork accompanying the shipment

…depending on random inspection timetables or scheduled batch checks for particular criteria

As the importer, you bear sole responsibility for the clearance of the merchandise and any issues arising from an inspection or hold. Typically, the consignee of the shipped packets is taken as the importer in any problem case.

If you are dropshipping, it is essential to note that the merchandise’s consignee is your customer. Therefore, they will be liable for any assessed import duties, sales taxes, or issues arising from Customs inspection.

In most countries, depending on the category of merchandise imported and the quantity or value, the shipment will be assessed for duties and /or sales tax. As the importer, you are responsible for this, and you can find detailed notes from Okacc Hybrid Batteries here.

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In The Case Of A Customs Hold

Okacc Hybrid Batteries will contact you to discuss the issue openly.

You will typically be required to communicate directly with your country’s Customs or contact them via your courier company.

If additional documents are required, Okacc Hybrid Batteries will do its utmost to provide them to you and support the merchandise clearance.

Your country’s Customs can hold merchandise pending a decision for as long as they like.

The final decision about assessing, valuing, taxing, releasing/refusing, and seizing the merchandise is entirely up to Customs. In some cases, no reasons are provided, and in many countries, the importer has no right of appeal. In most countries, the Customs are hard to communicate with and lack basic public information or accessible staff contact.

In the vast majority of cases, the merchandise is released after a delay ranging from 1 day to 6 months… the reason for the delay is usually unknown, and the length of the delay is unfortunately beyond anyone’s control.

If the merchandise is refused entry, it will either be destroyed with no compensation or turned back, so the courier will ship it back to Okacc Hybrid Batteries.

Under these terms and conditions, which you agree to when you place your order, you acknowledge that you understand your basic responsibilities as an importer and the resultant liabilities should any exception occur.

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Examples of situations where Okacc Hybrid Batteries will compensate you

If internationally recognized documents such as CE / UL / BIS could not be supplied fast enough by Okacc Hybrid Batteries, Customs refused entry to the merchandise.

If you made a valid request to customize the shipping paperwork, we agreed to follow your instructions but failed to do so.

If we made any other serious error on the paperwork accompanying the merchandise.

If the merchandise was delayed or impounded by China Exit Customs rather than your country’s Customs.

If a Customs inquiry reveals a valid IPR issue with the products, Okacc Hybrid Batteries never knowingly markets/sells counterfeit products or products/packaging infringing the intellectual property of any parties.

Examples of situations where you are not entitled to compensation

If you refused to accept the merchandise.

If the merchandise could not clear due to import restrictions specific to your own country, e.g., FDA approval of products (USA), country-specific certification, restricted categories of merchandise, quotas, so-called anti-dumping enforcement, etc.

If you refused to accept applicable taxes or other charges associated with the import procedure.

If you refused to pay additional charges or fines resulting from Customs’ re-assessment of the classification or value of the merchandise.

If you cannot accept the merchandise due to laws in your country, such as a lack of an import license,

If Customs refused entry to your merchandise because you failed to promptly provide paperwork or other information, OR provided incorrect paperwork or information.

If Customs refused entry to your merchandise but did not provide a reason, OR we could not confirm sufficient detail of the supposed reason.

If Customs refused entry to your merchandise due to a supposed IPR issue, but in our opinion, this is unsubstantiated.

If Customs is still holding the merchandise after at least 6 weeks, and after our best efforts, we have no further details about the reason for the hold or any probable resolution to the case.

If clearance failed due to a lack of licenses/documents/certificates specific to your country, Okacc Hybrid Batteries deems it beyond the reasonable scope of our Shipping Team to provide these documents without any pre-shipment communication from you.

If Customs refuses entry to your merchandise or levies increased taxes, charges, or fines associated with the classification or declared value of the merchandise on the shipping paperwork, we will always inform you in advance about the declaration of your merchandise. In the case of larger shipments, you have to agree to the declaration value explicitly, so this is deemed to be your responsibility.

If we previously warned you about a possible increased risk of delivery exceptions due to our experience shipping to your country, for whatever reason, you explicitly agreed to proceed with the order.

Compensation

“Compensation” refers to a full or partial refund/credit of the amount you paid for the merchandise and /or shipping (depending on the situation). Okacc Hybrid Batteries will not offer any further compensation or accept any liability in any other regard.

We reserve the sole right to evaluate the reason for a Customs exception. We will do this openly based on our communications with the Courier, your country’s Customs, and any evidence you have provided us of your communications with the Courier and Customs.

If the merchandise is returned to China, but we deem that you were liable for the failed delivery, not us, we may be able to compensate you partially, based on any remaining credit after return delivery fees, China import taxes, and restocking fees.

If the merchandise is impounded, held indefinitely, destroyed, or confiscated by Customs, and according to the policy above, this is not Okacc Hybrid Batteries’s responsibility (including where the actual reason for the exception was never clarified), you will not receive compensation of any kind.