Bahrain: parcels above 100 dinars are now taxed, DDP becomes the norm
Under a decision published on 18 May 2026 by Bahrain's General Directorate of Customs, any imported parcel with a declared value equal to or above 100 Bahraini dinars now falls within the scope of customs duty and VAT, and online sellers must switch to the DDP Incoterm.
Published · Updated
Bahrain's General Directorate of Customs Affairs, which comes under the Ministry of Interior, announced on 18 May 2026, through its media centre, a revision of the customs treatment applied to postal and express parcels destined for the kingdom. Until then, a large share of small shipments had gone under the radar of standard commercial formalities; that is no longer the case above a new threshold.
Any parcel with a declared CIF value equal to or above 100 Bahraini dinars (around 265 dollars) is now subject to the standard 5% customs duty on the CIF value, followed by 10% VAT calculated on the CIF value plus the duty. For a shipment worth 120 dinars, this represents 6 dinars of duty then around 12.6 dinars of VAT, bringing the landed cost to close to 138.6 dinars, and the text provides for no grace period before application.
Sellers and platforms shipping to Bahrain need to review their terms of sale: switching from DDU or DAP to DDP, appointing a locally licensed customs broker to clear goods on behalf of the consignee, and displaying estimated duty and VAT at the point of online payment. Operators already VAT-registered must also show their National Bureau for Revenue number on the customs declaration.
The measure primarily targets cross-border e-commerce, but it applies to any low-value commercial shipment, including samples and small consolidated orders shipped outside standard sea freight.
What it changes for an importer
For an importer bringing samples, small batches or B2C orders from China into Bahrain, every parcel above 100 dinars now generates duty and VAT, and requires a local customs broker to already be appointed before shipping. Sorva works with clients to adjust the Incoterm agreed with the Chinese factory, helps identify a reliable Bahraini broker and factors this line into the landed cost calculation, without standing in for the broker or the final consignee, who remain responsible for the declaration.
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