Shipping & Delivery Policy
Last updated: May 19, 2026
ℹ️ Эта политика доставки в настоящее время доступна только на английском языке. Русская версия в подготовке.
Summary
We ship plantation agarwood, oud oil and bakhoor worldwide from our Guangdong facility. All Aquilaria-based products travel under CITES Appendix II export permits — and permit issuance alone takes 4-8 weeks under normal conditions, longer in peak season. Total processing time is determined by the NFGA review queue and is outside our direct control.
Realistic door-to-door lead time = 4-8 weeks permit + 3-45 days transit = 6-14 weeks for most international orders. Please plan inventory at least 2-3 months ahead.
Shipping methods
DHL / FedEx Express (default for samples and small orders)
- Transit time: 3-7 business days door-to-door
- Best for: sample orders, oil shipments, urgent fulfilment, orders < 30 kg
- Fully tracked with end-to-end visibility
- Quoted as line item on your pro-forma invoice — not bundled into product price
Air freight (for medium orders)
- Transit time: 5-10 business days airport-to-airport
- Best for: 30-200 kg orders that don't fit a DHL parcel but don't justify a sea container
- You arrange airport pickup and import customs
- Cost-effective for bracelets, finished bakhoor and graded chips
Sea freight (for bulk and container orders)
- Transit time: 20-45 days depending on destination port
- Best for: raw logs, large chip volumes, full-container orders
- FOB Yantian (Shenzhen) default; CIF and DDP available on request
- Major routes: Jebel Ali (UAE), Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Hamburg (EU), Long Beach (US West Coast), Singapore
CITES Appendix II — why shipments take longer than you might expect
Aquilaria species (the genus that produces agarwood) are listed on CITES Appendix II. Every cross-border shipment of agarwood, oud chips, oud oil, agarwood bracelets, carvings or seedlings requires:
- Export permitissued by China's National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA). Standard processing: 4-8 weeks from application to issuance. In peak season (Q4 Hajj build-up, Chinese New Year, regulatory audit periods) it can stretch to 2-3 months. We cannot quote a fixed permit date — only the official NFGA queue determines it.
- Import permit required by some destination countries (notably the US, EU and India) — applied for in parallel by the importer; typically 2-4 weeks but varies by country authority.
- Phytosanitary certificate for seedlings and raw logs (included by us).
- Certificate of origin standard with all shipments.
We file the export permit application immediately upon receiving cleared payment, and we share the application receipt number so you can plan around the permit window. Permit processing time is outside our direct control — please plan inventory at least 2-3 months ahead of when you need stock on hand.
Lead time at a glance
| Order type | CITES permit | Transit | Door-to-door |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sample (DHL) | 4-8 weeks | 3-7 days | 5-9 weeks |
| Wholesale parcel (DHL / FedEx) | 4-8 weeks | 3-7 days | 5-9 weeks |
| Air freight 30-200 kg | 4-8 weeks | 5-10 days | 5-10 weeks |
| Sea freight (container) | 4-8 weeks | 20-45 days | 7-14 weeks |
| OEM private-label (custom blending) | 4-8 weeks (filed in parallel with production) | 3-7 days | 8-12 weeks total |
| Peak season (Q4 Hajj build-up, Chinese New Year, regulatory audits): add 4-6 weeks to permit times above. Worst-case door-to-door can reach 4-5 months. Plan accordingly. | |||
Country-specific notes
UAE / Saudi Arabia / GCC: Sea freight to Jebel Ali / Jeddah is the most economical route. We handle export-side paperwork; you handle GCC customs clearance with our supplied documents.
EU: CITES import permit required. Your local CITES management authority issues it (~2-3 weeks). We'll provide all supporting documentation for your application.
US: Fish & Wildlife declaration required at port of entry in addition to CITES paperwork. USFWS may inspect — add 1-2 weeks buffer.
India: Aquilaria import restricted; case-by-case approval. Consult your CITES authority before ordering.
Japan / Korea / Singapore: Standard CITES clearance. Typically smooth 5-10 business days at customs.
Australia / New Zealand: Strict biosecurity inspection on seedlings and raw logs. Finished products (oil, polished bracelets) typically clear faster.
Tracking
DHL and FedEx tracking numbers are emailed within 24 hours of pickup. Sea-freight B/L (Bill of Lading) is shared at the time of vessel departure. We monitor all shipments end-to-end and proactively flag any clearance issues we're notified of.
Insurance
All shipments above $500 invoice value include carrier insurance by default. For high-value shipments (kynam-grade material, premium oud oil, master carvings) we recommend supplemental warehouse-to-warehouse insurance — quoted as an add-on line item.
Customs duties & import taxes
Import duties, VAT/GST and customs clearance fees are the buyer's responsibilityunless you have a DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) contract with us. We can quote DDP for UAE, Saudi Arabia, Germany and the UK on request.
Force majeure & delays beyond our control
Cross-border shipping involves several actors outside our direct control. Delays we have historically seen and do not consider our responsibility include:
- CITES permit processing exceeding our published 4-8 week range during peak season (Hajj logistics, Q4 Chinese New Year build-up, NFGA regulatory audit periods) — historically up to 2-3 months in such windows.
- Carrier delays — DHL backlog, sea-freight schedule changes, port congestion.
- Customs holds on the import side, including random inspection by destination CITES authorities.
- Weather, natural disasters, strike action, geopolitical disruption.
- Pandemic-related shipping restrictions or quarantine.
We will keep you informed as soon as we're notified of any delay, and we'll work with you on rescheduling — but force-majeure delays do not constitute grounds for cancellation or refund of orders already in transit.
Damaged or lost shipments
See our Refund & Returns Policy for how we handle damage-in-transit and wrong-item-shipped cases. Lost shipments (no tracking update for 14+ days) trigger an automatic carrier insurance claim; we'll replace the goods at our cost while the claim processes.
Get a delivery quote
For an accurate door-to-door quote for your specific destination, products and quantities, please contact us with:
- Destination country and city (+ port if you have a preferred one)
- SKU and quantity
- Required delivery date (so we can recommend air vs sea)
- Incoterms preference (FOB / CIF / DDP)
We respond to delivery quotes within 4 business hours. Mon-Sat 9:00-18:00 China Standard Time (UTC+8).
Updates to this policy
We may update this policy when carrier rates, CITES procedures or country-specific regulations change. Material changes are dated at the top of this page.