Import from China to Switzerland in 2026: Duties, Documents and Landed Cost

Last fact-checked: November 9, 2026.

A Zurich shop buys 3 CBM of cotton home textiles, FCA Shanghai, and assumes the container's EU transit is the Swiss entry. It is not. Switzerland is outside the European Union. The Federal Office for Customs and Border Security says merchandise imported into Switzerland must be declared to Swiss customs in writing or electronically, and that import tax is levied on all imported goods whatever the value, including free consignments. Importing from China to Switzerland is that Swiss declaration, not a German or Dutch release with a truck ticket stapled on.

A typical case

The textiles are finished cushion covers for a shop, not food and not a medicine. The supplier hands them over at a Shanghai warehouse under FCA. A forwarder trucks them to a Chinese port, ships them to a North Sea port, and a truck brings them to the Swiss border. The EU transit document gets the goods across the Union. The Swiss declaration is a second file. If you only budget the EU forwarder's number, you have not budgeted Switzerland.

FOCBS says the normal import-tax rate is 8.1%, and that certain basic necessities take 2.6%. The reduced rate, on the import-tax page read on 9 November 2026, applies to foodstuffs except alcoholic beverages; cattle, poultry and fish; grains; seeds, plants, cuttings and cut flowers; animal feed and related scatterings; fertilisers, pesticides and mulch; medication; newspapers, magazines, books and other printed matter without an advertising character; and menstrual hygiene products. Cushion covers are not on that list. Budget 8.1% unless the tariff treatment says otherwise. The page also says the tariff classification does not itself decide the VAT rate, and that a rate shown in Tares is an assessment aid without legal force. Ask the declarant which rate they will use and why.

Import tax is calculated on the consideration or market value, including costs as far as the destination. A free sample is still taxable. "The factory sent it at no charge" is not a zero return.

The 150 francs that do not belong on this order

FOCBS says that from 1 January 2025 the VAT-free limit when entering Switzerland is 150 francs, reduced from 300 francs, and that this rule applies to goods imported for personal use or as gifts. CHF 300 Updated: the same page sets the personal-use limit at CHF 150 from 1 January 2025. It also says goods that are not for personal use or gifts are subject to VAT, and it points commercial deliveries to the online-shopping and company rules. A shop order of cushion covers is merchandise. Do not subtract 150 francs from it.

e-dec now, Passar on a dated switch

The importation checklist says you can declare yourself or appoint a carrier or a customs agent. For an electronic declaration it asks whether you have a UID. The two platforms it names are e-dec web, without registration, and e-dec Import, a B2B interface with registration. It says the goods declaration must be available at the latest when the goods are brought into the customs territory. For e-dec web, the declaration can be entered at most 30 days before importation, and once the goods are declared at the office and accepted you must import them within 24 hours. For e-dec Import, the data may be sent at the earliest on the working day before import. "Blocked" means the transporter reports to the office with the documents. "Free" means the goods can come in directly.

The declaration can be in French, German or Italian. The checklist tells you to carry the commercial invoice, preference certificates or other origin proofs, and any authorisations. A China origin does not become a preference because the truck drove through Germany. If you want a preferential rate, the proof has to be the one Tares and the agreement ask for. The certificate of origin page is the document, not a promise that textiles qualify.

Passar is the system that replaces e-dec Import. FOCBS's English Passar page says that until widespread use, only pilot companies may lodge import declarations in Passar, and everyone else should keep using e-dec Import. The Office's press release of 22 June 2026, from Bern, says the first productive pilot trips were in April and May 2026, and that the last import declaration in the old system may be lodged on 30 September 2027. After that date, imports are declared only in Passar. A forwarder who says "we already switched everything" needs to say whether your company is on the pilot. If it is not, the file is still e-dec.

Build the sheet before the deposit

FCA Shanghai stops at the named place in China. Origin haulage, ocean freight, EU transit and the Swiss declaration are still open. Put them on the landed-cost sheet with the 8.1% or 2.6% line your declarant confirms, and with duty only if Tares shows duty for that heading. This page does not state a customs-duty percent. Many consumer textiles are not duty-free by assumption. Look the number up.

A German import and a Swiss import can share a truck and still be different law. Importing from China to Germany is the EU file, EORI and EU VAT. The Netherlands guide is the same Union system at another port. Neither replaces the UID and the Swiss declaration. The term itself is on FCA.

When the truck reaches the border

The carrier has the goods declaration printout, the invoice and the transit document. If the selection is "blocked," the truck goes to the office. If it is "free," it crosses. After release, the goods are in Switzerland and the import tax is the FOCBS assessment, not the supplier's proforma. Arrival timing and storage, if the file is late, follow the same logic as any border. See what happens when cargo arrives.

• Confirm the declarant has a UID if the file is electronic.
• Pick e-dec web or e-dec Import, unless you are actually on the Passar pilot.
• Match the Tares heading to the cushion covers, not to "textiles" as a mood.
• Write 8.1% unless the goods are on the 2.6% list.
• Keep the CHF 150 limit off the commercial sheet.

Mistakes

• Stopping the budget at Rotterdam because the EU forwarder called it delivered.
• Zero-rating a sample because the invoice says "no commercial value."
• Using the traveller's 150-franc allowance on a shop replenishment.
• Quoting CHF 300 because an old note still says so. The FOCBS page dates the cut at 1 January 2025.
• Assuming a preference from China because the goods transited the EU.

Questions buyers actually ask

Is Swiss VAT the same as German VAT?

No. FOCBS charges Swiss import tax, at 8.1% or 2.6% on the page checked here. Germany is an EU import. You can use a German port and still owe a Swiss declaration.

Do I have to be on Passar in 2026?

Not unless you are in the pilot. FOCBS says other companies keep using e-dec Import until the switch. The 22 June 2026 release sets the last e-dec import declaration at 30 September 2027.

Are the textiles duty-free?

This page does not say. Tares is the lookup. The VAT rate and the duty rate are different questions, and FOCBS says the Tares tax-rate hint is not itself the law.

Who should be named on the declaration?

The importer the UID belongs to, or the agent you appointed, with documents that match. Send the Shanghai FCA quote through the RFQ form if you want those legs priced before the deposit. Other destinations are listed on import from China.

The quote and the entry are covered in which Incoterm to use, importing into Italy, and the customs clearance sequence.

Official sources

• FOCBS: import tax, taxable objects and rates. Import tax on all goods whatever the value, including free consignments. Normal rate 8.1%, reduced rate 2.6% for the listed necessities. Read 9 November 2026.
• FOCBS: importation checklist for companies. Written or electronic declaration, UID, e-dec web and e-dec Import, the 30-day and 24-hour e-dec web timing, and the working-day-before timing for e-dec Import. Read 9 November 2026.
• FOCBS: Passar Import. Only pilot companies file import declarations in Passar until wider use. Others stay on e-dec Import. Read 9 November 2026.
• FOCBS: Passar press release, 22 June 2026. Last import declaration in e-dec on 30 September 2027. After that, Passar only.
• FOCBS: CHF 150 tax-free limit. From 1 January 2025 the personal-use and gift limit is 150 francs, reduced from 300. Not the rule for merchandise.