Two routes for sending food samples to Asia — gift parcel and commercial sample documentatio

Send Food Samples to Asia: Avoid These Customs Mistakes

SIAL Paris opens next week. Gulfood wrapped up in February. And right now, across Europe, exporters are shoving sample boxes into courier envelopes headed for Asia. Most of them will clear. Some will not — and the ones that get held almost always fail for the same reasons. Not because the exporter did something illegal,…

Food samples at an Asian trade show booth with ATA Carnet document, shipping routes connecting to Tokyo Shanghai Seoul and Bangkok

Shipping Food Samples to Asia: Compliance, Temporary Import & ATA Carnet Guide (2026)

5 October 2026 | Shanghai, China A real scenario: you’ve prepared twenty kilograms of handmade cookies as samples for next month’s trade show in Japan. You plan to carry them in your luggage. At Narita Airport, a customs officer looks at your suitcase and asks: “Are these commercial samples or personal items?” You say samples.…

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