EXPORT CLEARANCE

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Export clearance on the Khorgos line: where our part ends

On this page

1. Three files, three owners
2. Why the HS code belongs in the enquiry, not in the paperwork
3. Cargo that needs documents before it needs a truck
4. What the quote carries, and the five things it never carries
5. Four places, one set of numbers
6. The three mismatches that hold a file
7. What this page deliberately leaves open
8. Frequently asked

2026-11-01

One truckload carries two customs files, and the two do not belong to the same party. This page draws the line between them: which file we close in China, which file the consignee closes in Iran, and what has to be ready long before the loading bay. The Khorgos line runs Xinjiang → Kazakhstan → Uzbekistan → Turkmenistan → Iran, delivered CPT / DAP to Tehran West customs (Shahriyar / Aprin) or Mashhad customs. No freight figure appears on this page and no day count is published for the Khorgos line.

• China export clearance sits inside the rate; inspection and controlled-cargo formalities do not
• An enquiry needs five fields: origin warehouse, destination customs, goods description with HS code, gross weight in kg, packed volume
• Chemicals, dangerous goods and branded cargo are reviewed before loading; lithium batteries need a full 16-section MSDS and UN packing certificate
• Delivery is CPT / DAP to the destination customs; Iranian import declaration belongs to the consignee and their licensed broker
• The Khorgos line carries no Kyrgyz 0.4%; that line item exists only on the Wuqia route

Three files, three owners

Road freight looks like a single chain and behaves like three files. The export declaration in China is closed with the shipper. Transit is what moves the truck across the middle borders. The import declaration in Iran is closed by the consignee and their customs broker, because they hold the cargo and they hold the licence. Most disputes about the "clearance" start when all three are treated as one service and one line of a quotation. Nothing on this page is a price; it is a map of who signs what.

Why the HS code belongs in the enquiry, not in the paperwork

The HS code sits next to the goods description in the same field group as origin warehouse, destination customs, gross weight and volume. It decides whether the cargo travels as general freight or attracts extra formalities and extra documents. Writing "spare parts" or a product's trade name instead of the actual description leaves the enquiry incomplete, and correcting it on loading day puts the shipment back at the start of the queue. If the description or the code changes after quoting, the shipment is reviewed again and the earlier rate no longer applies.

Cargo that needs documents before it needs a truck

General cargo is the base case. Chemicals, dangerous goods and branded goods are reviewed first, and a review is not an acceptance: it is a look at whether the documents support the booking. Lithium batteries require a complete 16-section MSDS plus a UN packing certificate. Cargo that falls under compulsory inspection and cannot produce the inspection paperwork is handled shipment by shipment, and no figure is published for it. Send these documents with the enquiry; on loading day they are already late.

What the quote carries, and the five things it never carries

The rate covers three blocks: the line-haul freight, warehousing plus loading and unloading plus China export clearance, and the foreign transit broker's fee. Outside the rate sit destination clearance, insurance, inspection, lashing and crane work, out-of-scope items such as unsealing, national registration or radiation issues, formalities for controlled cargo, and any tonnage or volume beyond the per-trailer ceiling. Delivery itself is CPT / DAP to the destination customs — not door-to-door, and not DDP.

Four places, one set of numbers

The same consignment is described in the commercial invoice, the packing list, the export declaration data and the consignee's Iranian import declaration. All four must describe one cargo, with the same number of packages, the same gross weight and the same volume. The figures you send at enquiry stage are the figures that end up in the documents, so measure the packed cargo before quoting, not after. At loading the outer dimensions are measured again and any disagreement with the paperwork surfaces there — which is a better place than a foreign customs office.

The three mismatches that hold a file

First, a trade name standing in for a goods description: the HS code attaches to the description, not to the brand. Second, net weight where gross weight belongs: pallets, timber, stretch film and dunnage all weigh on the scale and all belong in the documents. Third, an estimated volume: volume is calculated from packed outer dimensions, and a guess will not reconcile with the packing list later. All three are fixable before the enquiry and expensive after the declaration.

What this page deliberately leaves open

Seal numbers, unsealing, inspection and any change to the routing mix are confirmed shipment by shipment, and so are the exact filing arrangements, which we settle with the broker handling that particular consignment rather than announcing a fixed rule in advance. This site publishes no day count for the Khorgos line; the schedule is confirmed in the enquiry for that shipment. A consignment split between Tehran West and Mashhad is two bookings with two reviews, not one file.

Frequently asked

Related: starting at Khorgos · reading a Khorgos proforma · volume and gross weight for an enquiry

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