Sending a package to Yemen: Customs, taxes and shipping

Sending a package to Yemen: What companies should know before shipping

Yemen is strategically located between:

• Red Sea
• Gulf of Aden
• Arabian Sea

and borders on:

• Saudi Arabia
• Oman

Its location at the Bab al-Mandab makes the country a geographically important part of international shipping routes.

However, the situation is complex when it comes to the actual shipment of goods.

Import and administrative processes vary depending on the region and point of import.

Particularly relevant are:

• Aden
• Mukalla
• Hodeidah
• Sanaa
• Taiz

Can I currently send a DHL parcel to Yemen?

Currently:

No.

DHL is currently explicitly pointing out that the shipping of:

• parcel
• packages

which is currently not possible in Yemen.

The country information still contains a regular runtime orientation of:

13 to 19 working days.

However, this should not currently be presented as a standard, bookable term.

Therefore, alternative shipping options must be explored.

Depending on the type of goods and route, this may include:

• Express
• Airfreight
• Sea Freight
• Freight forwarding solutions

Availability may change at short notice.

Therefore, for every request, it should first be checked which carrier currently serves the desired destination.

What documents do I need for Yemen?

The following are typically required for a commercial import:

• Commercial invoice or trade invoice
• Packing List
• Air Waybill or Bill of Lading
• precise product description
• HS code
• cart value
• Origin of goods
• Certificate of Origin
• Import permit (if applicable)
• further product-specific approvals

A commercial invoice should be used for a normal sale of goods.

For:

• free patterns
• Guaranteed deliveries
• Replacement goods free of charge
• Gifts

A pro forma invoice can be useful.

Even free goods require a realistic customs value.

You can find out more at How to correctly use a pro forma invoice at customs.

Do trade documents need to be legalized?

In some commercial transactions, legalization of trade documents may be required.

The Consulate General of the Republic of Yemen in Germany offers, among other things, the legalization of the following documents:

• Certificate of Origin
• Commercial Invoices
• Commercial register documents
• Trade agreements
• Powers of attorney
• Health certificates

Prior to consular legalization, a corresponding German pre-authentication is required.

At:

• Commercial invoice
• Certificate of Origin

The relevant Chamber of Industry and Commerce is particularly important in this regard.

Whether legalization is actually required for the specific goods and import should be checked with the importer or their customs agent before shipment.

Which language should I use for the customs documents?

For international business shipments, the following is generally recommended:

English.

DHL states in its country information that English is a permissible language for electronic customs declarations.

For deliveries to branch offices, Arabic is also mentioned.

A precise technical description is particularly important.

Not:

“Machine parts”

but for example:

“Stainless steel replacement impeller for industrial water pump”

This will:

• Product Type
• Material
• Other specifications

clearly visible.

Aden is an important port for international goods.

The port of Aden is located directly on the Gulf of Aden and, due to its geographical location, is of great importance for international maritime traffic.

The:

Aden Container Terminal

wraps:

• Import container
• Export containers
• Transshipment containers

.

The terminal has two main berths with a total length of approximately:

710 meters.

The port's infrastructure will be further expanded in 2026.

Aden can therefore be particularly relevant for German companies in the following cases:

• containers
• Machine
• Pallets
• Industrial equipment
• Project cargo

Mukalla is relevant for the east of the country.

Besides Aden, there is:

Mukalla

an important port on the Arabian Sea.

The port primarily serves the Hadramout region and adjacent areas.

In addition to Mukalla, the Yemen Arabian Sea Ports Corporation also operates port infrastructure in:

• Nishtun
• Socotra

For recipients in eastern Yemen, a route via Mukalla may therefore be logistically more sensible than importing via Aden followed by long overland transport.

Hodeidah is an important port on the Red Sea.

For western and northern Yemen:

Hodeidah

great economic importance.

However, the situation at the ports of the Red Sea region can be more strongly influenced by political, security-related and administrative developments.

Therefore, it should never be assumed that:

Yemen = one single port of entry.

The following should be clarified before booking:

• which port will actually be visited
• which authority processes the goods
• which customs agent is responsible
• whether additional testing or approval procedures exist
• whether onward transport to the recipient is currently possible

Why do customs procedures differ within a country?

The institutional situation in Yemen is currently fragmented.

Therefore, customs administrations also do not operate under identical practical conditions everywhere.

Recent international studies on the Yemeni customs administration mention, among other things:

• fragmented administrative structures
• different institutional frameworks
• limited digitization
• Regionally varying enforcement
• Reform needed in customs valuation and risk control

For companies, this means:

A successful import via one port should not automatically be used as a template for every other region.

The specific recipient and their local customs agent are an important part of the shipping preparation.

The customs exchange rate was reformed in 2026.

One particularly topical issue concerns the valuation of imported goods.

In the:

May 2026

The customs exchange rate was liberalized in the system administered by the internationally recognized government.

The aim is to:

• Customs Duty
• General Sales Tax

more strongly based on the actual value of the imported goods.

This could change the tax burden for German companies, even if:

• HS code
• Price of goods in euros
• percentage customs duty

remain unchanged.

Therefore, an older import calculation should not be automatically applied to a new shipment.

Yemen benefits from Everything But Arms

Yemen remains among the countries listed by the United Nations as:

Least Developed Countries, LDC for short.

This allows the country to benefit from European:

Everything But Arms, or EBA for short

System.

EBA generally allows qualified goods of Yemeni origin to:

duty-free and quota-free access to the European Union

with the exception of weapons and ammunition.

However, for a German export, the direction is crucial.

EBA applies:

Yemen → European Union.

Not automatically:

Germany → Yemen.

A German aircraft is therefore not automatically imported duty-free due to Yemen's EBA status.

Do I need a EUR.1 for Yemen?

For a normal export:

Germany → Yemen

An EUR.1 certificate is not a general proof of preferential origin that automatically results in a more favorable Yemeni import duty.

EBA is a unilateral European system of preferential treatment in favor of Yemeni-originating products when imported into the EU.

However, depending on the import regulations, a:

Certificate of Origin

be required.

This documents the origin of the goods.

However, it is not automatically the same as an EUR.1 with preferential effect.

Yemen has been a WTO member since 2014.

Yemen entered the EU on:

June 26, 2014

the World Trade Organization.

The WTO has now published the country's consolidated tariff:

HS 2022

.

The corresponding WTO customs plan was recertified in 2026.

For German exporters, the tariff actually applied to the specific goods remains decisive.

An average customs duty rate is hardly helpful for a true DDP or Landed Cost calculation.

Standard runtime and actual availability differ

The DHL country page lists the following as the standard delivery time guideline:

13 to 19 working days.

The storage period is determined by:

14 days

.

At the same time, DHL is currently explicitly pointing this out:

Sending parcels and packages to Yemen is currently not possible.

For a modern website, availability should therefore take precedence over the theoretical runtime specification.

Once the standard service is offered again, the runtime can be updated accordingly.

Automate recurring export data

For regular international shipments, important product data should be maintained centrally.

These include:

• Product name
• HS code
• Country of origin
• Weight
• cart value
• Package dimensions

Especially with an administratively demanding target like Yemen, a clean database reduces unnecessary queries.

Shipping information can be directly integrated into the process via shop and ERP connections.

This allows, for example:

• Shipping label
• Commercial invoices
• customs data
• Tracking information

Create more consistent results.

You can find out more at Automate shipping documents and reduce errors.