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International Shipping Regulations: How Dafey Logistics Mitigates Compliance Risks in 2025
Created on 09.08
International shipping rules are a tricky mix of guidelines that control how goods move from one country to another. Different groups and governments worldwide made these rules to keep global trade safe, secure, and properly taxed. For businesses that ship internationally, understanding these rules can either make things run smoothly or cause expensive problems.
If you don’t follow international shipping rules, things can go wrong. Your shipments might get stuck in customs for weeks, you could face big fines, or your goods might even get taken away or destroyed. You may face legal actions too. In today’s global market, these problems can hurt your name, damage your customer relationships, and seriously impact your profits.
Dafey Logistics has been helping businesses since 15 years with international logistics. We can be your partner in getting through these tricky rules. Our solutions help businesses of all sizes – from big importers to new online sellers – make sure their international shipments meet all the requirements. This way, you can avoid risks, delays, and unnecessary costs.
Understanding International Shipping Regulations
A bunch of groups around the world and in each country make the rules for shipping stuff between countries. If you’re moving goods across borders, you need to know who these regulators are.
Who Makes the Rules?
- International Maritime Organization (IMO): They set the safety, security, and environmental rules for ships all over the world.
- World Trade Organization (WTO): This group handles trade agreements and settles arguments between countries that are members.
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP): They make sure everyone follows U.S. trade laws and collect taxes on things brought into the country.
- China Customs (GACC): This group controls everything that goes in and out of China, making sure it follows Chinese trade laws.
Common Rules to Know
- HS Codes: You need to use the right codes to figure out what taxes and rules apply to your goods.
- Container Weight: You have to check the weight of containers before they get loaded onto ships.
- ISF-10 Filing: If you're shipping stuff to the U.S. by sea, you need to file this form 24 hours in advance.
- China's VAT for DDP: If you're paying all the duties upfront for shipments to China, there are special tax rules to keep in mind.
“The maritime rules are always changing. Over 50 changes are made each year across major trading countries. Keeping up with the changes is a must if you want to keep shipping.”
— International Chamber of Shipping, 2024 Report
All these international and global shipping rules help make sure trade is safe, efficient, and protects each country’s interests. If you’re a business, following the rules is not just about avoiding fines. It’s about keeping things running smoothly. It builds trust with people you do business with all over the world.
Key Compliance Challenges in International Shipping
Even seasoned international shippers run into problems because global trade rules can be tricky. Knowing the usual mistakes is the best way to dodge pricey errors.
Wrong Paperwork and Categories
Screwed-up paperwork is the top reason for customs delays and fines. Companies lose tons of money yearly from simple slip-ups in their international shipping papers. Here are some common problems:
- Incomplete or wrong invoices
- Missing origin certificates
- Wrong HS codes
- Poor product descriptions
These small mistakes can hold up shipments at customs for days or weeks, causing storage fees and delivery delays, and maybe even big fines.
Missed Tariff and Regulatory Updates
Trade rules change all the time, and often without much warning. For example, in early 2025, the rules for shipping lithium batteries changed a lot, and many businesses weren’t ready. The changes included:
- New testing rules for all lithium battery shipments
- More paperwork to prove the battery’s charge level
- Tougher packaging rules for air shipping
- Better labeling needed
Businesses that didn’t keep up had shipments turned away, faced delays, and sometimes got big fines for not following the rules.
DDP Shipping: What You Need to Know
Shipping with Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) can get tricky, especially when you’re moving goods between big players like China and the USA. Here are a few common things people get wrong about DDP shipping from China to the USA:
Common Mistakes with DDP
- Thinking all taxes are covered without really doing the math
- Forgetting about China’s VAT refund stuff for exports
- Not factoring in U.S. anti-dumping fees
- Not really understanding who’s responsible as the importer
What Happens When You Mess Up
- Your customers get hit with surprise extra fees
- Shipments get stuck in customs until fees are paid
- You might break rules and get fined
- Your customers get annoyed, and you lose business
Because of these problems, lots of businesses find it hard to keep up with all the international shipping rules unless they have experts and systems to help them.
Dafey Logistics’ Comprehensive Compliance Solutions
At Dafey Logistics, we’ve built a full set of compliance tools to help with the tricky rules of global shipping. We mix tech with know-how to keep your shipments moving across borders without a hitch.
Customs Clearance Automation
Our customs clearance platform takes care of getting your paperwork ready, sending it in, and keeping track of it all. It cuts down on mistakes by a bunch—like up to 97%—compared to doing it all by hand.
Here’s what it does:
- Figures out the right HS codes automatically.
- Checks all your papers in real time to make sure they’re good to go.
- Sends everything to customs electronically.
- Calculates duties and taxes for you automatically.
Real-Time Regulatory Monitoring
Our compliance folks keep a close watch on rule changes in all the big trading countries. They’ll let you know ASAP and walk you through what to do.
Here’s what you get:
- We’re watching regulatory news around the clock.
- We figure out how changes affect your products.
- We create plans just for you to get things done.
- We’ll send you alerts before things happen.
Pre-Shipment Compliance Audits
We do pre-shipment audits to catch any compliance problems before your stuff leaves the warehouse. This includes:
- Checking that all your paperwork is complete.
- Making sure your HS codes are correct.
- Screening for any goods that are restricted or not allowed.
- Double-checking that your packaging and labels are up to par.
Case Study: Amazon FBA Seller Success
An Amazon FBA seller who sells electronics was having trouble with shipments from China to the USA. They kept getting delayed, and customs penalties caused them to run out of stock, which led to bad customer reviews.
After using Dafey Logistics’ help to follow the rules:
- Customs delays went from 7 days to less than a day.
- Fines and extra costs went down by 92% in the first three months of 2025.
- They could predict their inventory better, so they didn’t run out of stock.
- Their seller rating went up from 3.7 to 4.8 stars.
We make sure your international shipments follow all the rules, so you don’t have to worry about delays or unexpected costs.
2025 International Shipping Regulatory Updates
Staying ahead of regulatory changes is critical for maintaining compliance in international shipping. Here are the most significant latest changes in international shipping regulations 2025 that businesses need to prepare for:
EU Deforestation Due Diligence Rules
Effective July 2025, the European Union’s new Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) requires importers to verify that products have not contributed to deforestation or forest degradation. This affects numerous product categories including:
- Wood and wood products
- Paper and pulp
- Furniture
- Certain agricultural products (coffee, cocoa, palm oil, soy, rubber, cattle)
Importers must implement due diligence systems and provide geolocation data for production areas. Non-compliance can result in substantial fines of up to 4% of annual EU turnover.
New US Cybersecurity Rules for Ships and Ports
Back in March 2025, the U.S. Coast Guard put some new cybersecurity rules in place for ships and port facilities that do business internationally. Here’s what you need to do:
- Do cybersecurity risk assessments.
- Set up cybersecurity management systems.
- Test and check your security measures regularly.
- Have a plan for reporting any incidents.
If ships and facilities don’t follow these rules, they might not be allowed to enter U.S. waters or ports.
China’s Updated Export Rules
In January 2025, China added more stuff to its export control list, focusing on technologies and materials they see as crucial. Here’s what’s new:
- High-end gear for making semiconductors
- Parts for quantum computers
- Some rare earth processing methods
- Certain materials used in biotech research
If you’re shipping these items, you now need special permits and face tougher checks. This could mean longer wait times.
These rule changes are just a small piece of the bigger puzzle when it comes to international shipping. Using a good logistics partner, like Dafey Logistics, can help you keep up with these changes and keep your global business running smoothly.
Ensuring Compliance with International Shipping Regulations
Dealing with international shipping rules can be tricky. It takes know-how, solid systems, and keeping a close watch. As global trade changes, messing up compliance can cost you – not just money, but also delays, a bad name, and losing customers.
Dafey Logistics has over 15 years of experience and uses the newest tech to give you solutions that keep your shipments moving across borders without trouble. We handle everything from getting your goods through customs automatically to watching regulations in real-time and checking compliance before shipping.
Don’t let tricky rules hold back your global business. Work with Dafey Logistics to turn compliance into something that gives you an advantage.
Want to get your international shipping sorted out?
Book a free check-up with our team today. See how Dafey Logistics can make dealing with international shipping rules easy.
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