Exporters will commonly want to know what a particular tariff is for a specified product entering a given country. With so many countries to consider, where does one find this information – it would be tedious to visit the customs department of every country?

Fortunately, UNCTAD  provides annual World Tariff Profiles. World Tariff Profiles provide comprehensive information on the tariffs and non-tariff measures imposed by over 170 countries and customs territories. It is a joint publication of the WTO, the International Trade Centre and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

To access the World Tariff profiles, click here.

This makes it possible for the exporter to determine (a) what the tariffs are for a specific product and country, as well as (b) which other countries are supplying the product concerned to the countries in question – very useful information to determine the market opportunities for the specified product in the given country!

Customs tariff information

Local SA exporters generally need to know what the import duty is in other countries, not in South Africa. For this reason, we strive to list links to overseas customs information. With over 150 countries in the world, this is clearly not an easy task. Neverthless, we will keep updating the list below.

Note that customs’ tariffs are normally based on the Harmonised Nomenclature (HS) system. To learn more about the HS system, click here.

The best place to start

The World Customs Organisation is obviously – just from the name – the best place to start when searching for customs information. One their website, they have apage where you can access the official Customs websites of most of the countries around the world. The problem with many of these websites is that they have been developed in the local language and are therefore almost impossible to understand. Nevethless, the WCO remains a good starting point.

Customs information for selected countries

ExportHelp has been searching the web to find Customs tariff pages for various countries around the world. Listed below are the tariffs for some 50-plus countries. We will try and grow this list over time. At least the main countries are covered.

• Australia
• Azerbaijan
• Belize
• Bermuda
• China
• Europe – this database covers the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom
• Russia
• India
• Jordan
• Montenegro
• United Kingdom
• USA

Other useful links

• World Customs Organisation
• FedEx World Tariff service – FedEx maintain the customs duties of some 120+ countries. You can purchase this information from them. This may be a good option for you to consider.
• InformedTrade – a guide to US import matters.
• International Customs Tariffs Bureau (BITD) – The BITD translates and publishes customs tariffs. This information is available in printed or electronic form and is quite expensive, but may be worth the expense for the serious exporter.
• Market Access Map – Market Access Map covers customs tariffs (import duties) and other measures applied by 185 importing countries to products from 239 countries and territories. MFN and preferential applied import tariff rates are shown for products at the most detailed national tariff line level.