Importing from China to Georgia: customs duties, VAT and 2026 deal

Georgia, with 3.7 million inhabitants, sources about 9.5% of its imports from China, its fifth-largest supplier, behind the European Union (27.2%), Turkey (16.4%) and the United States (12.2%) (International Trade Administration, Country Commercial Guide, Georgia, market overview, accessed September 27, 2026).

The country positions itself as a logistics crossroads between Europe and Asia on the Trans-Caspian trade route, with part of Chinese freight transiting through its Black Sea ports, Poti and Batumi (same source). Machinery, electrical and electronic equipment, and textiles and apparel already showed a near-zero average applied duty in 2025, between 0 and 0.3%, with more than 96% of tariff lines duty-free (WTO, World Tariff Profiles 2026, Georgia page, 2025 data, wto.org, accessed September 27, 2026): the easiest niches to source in southern China.

Georgia has been a WTO member since 2000 and trades with 164 members on a most-favored-nation basis (International Trade Administration, Country Commercial Guide, Georgia, trade agreements, accessed September 27, 2026). With China, a bilateral free trade agreement entered into force on January 1, 2018, covering goods, rules of origin, customs procedures, sanitary and technical measures, services, competition and intellectual property (Chinese Ministry of Commerce, page dedicated to the China-Georgia agreement, fta.mofcom.gov.cn, accessed September 27, 2026).

This agreement is being upgraded: negotiations concluded in substance on September 23, 2025, with an upgrade protocol signed on April 24, 2026 (same source), and the concessions are not yet public line by line. Georgia has also had a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area with the EU since September 1, 2014 (European Commission, DG Trade, Georgia page, accessed September 27, 2026), plus agreements with Turkey, the Commonwealth of Independent States, EFTA, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates (International Trade Administration, Country Commercial Guide, Georgia, trade agreements, accessed September 27, 2026).

Georgia's tariff regime has only three rates, 0%, 5% and 12%, and nearly 90% of lines enter duty-free; the higher rates mainly target agricultural goods and certain locally manufactured products (International Trade Administration, Country Commercial Guide, Georgia, customs duties, accessed September 27, 2026). The average applied rate stood at 1.4% for all products in 2025, 6.0% for agricultural goods and 0.7% for non-agricultural goods (WTO, World Tariff Profiles 2026, Georgia page, 2025 data, wto.org, accessed September 27, 2026).

Customs value is set on the customs declaration; chapter 39(1) of the Georgian tax code determines the amount of duties and exemptions (same source). Import VAT applies at the standard rate of 18% on almost all goods, with fixed excise duties on alcohol, fuel and tobacco; a customs declaration costs 5.60 dollars under 1,111 dollars in value, and 67 dollars above that (International Trade Administration, Country Commercial Guide, Georgia, customs duties, accessed September 27, 2026).

Example for an electronics shipment worth 10,000 dollars in customs value: near-zero duty, 18% VAT on 10,000 dollars, i.e. 1,800 dollars, plus 67 dollars in declaration fees, for a total of about 1,867 dollars before freight. For a line taxed at 12%, the calculation becomes 1,200 dollars in duty, then 18% VAT on 11,200 dollars, i.e. 2,016 dollars, for a total of 3,216 dollars. The exact rate depends on the harmonized system code used.

The minimum set of documents comes down to three items: customs declaration, commercial invoice, and transport document; the Georgian customs code requires no prior financial guarantee, except for temporary admission (International Trade Administration, Country Commercial Guide, Georgia, import documentation, accessed September 27, 2026).

To benefit from the preferential tariff, goods must meet the rules of origin under chapter 3 of the agreement and be accompanied by a certificate of origin, whose format should be checked before shipment with the Revenue Service or your freight forwarder (Chinese Ministry of Commerce, page dedicated to the China-Georgia agreement, fta.mofcom.gov.cn, accessed September 27, 2026).

Labeling in Georgian is mandatory at the point of sale for cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, processed food, and everyday consumer products; alcohol and tobacco also carry a tax stamp (International Trade Administration, Country Commercial Guide, Georgia, labeling, accessed September 27, 2026).

Georgia is gradually aligning its technical regulations with those of the EU, which can close off access that was previously open: the same source notes that products once accepted can end up blocked. We found no Georgian public body requiring mandatory pre-shipment inspection for common products: check with the Revenue Service before production.

Poti handles about 80% of Georgia's containerized traffic, a gateway for Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, with ambitions to become a hub toward Central Asia (APM Terminals Poti, official terminal page, accessed September 27, 2026). Batumi remains more focused on hydrocarbons and bulk cargo; we found no official figure for its containerized share, to confirm with your freight forwarder.

A shipment from Guangzhou, Shenzhen or Yantian to Georgia travels by sea to the Black Sea via Suez and then the Bosphorus; we found no verifiable transit time, to be requested from your freight forwarder. Georgia also presents itself as a crossroads on the Trans-Caspian trade route toward Europe (same source as in the introduction), a route mainly useful for transit: for a delivery within Georgia itself, the classic sea route remains simpler. FOB from southern China remains the safest Incoterm; DDP is not advisable unless the Chinese supplier is itself registered as an importer in Georgia.

Georgia's currency is the lari (GEL), but a Chinese contract is usually denominated in dollars, euros or yuan: the exchange rate deserves attention at every payment. On the factory side, the usual practice remains a deposit followed by a balance before shipment, paid exclusively to the Chinese company's business account, never a personal account; any change of bank details received by email should be verified with a direct phone call.

A first order follows a precise sequence: specifications, supplier verification, approved sample, proforma invoice with Incoterm, harmonized system code classification, production follow-up, quality control before loading, freight to Poti or Batumi, then customs clearance by the Georgian importer or their representative.

Sorva is a sourcing and trading house based in Guangzhou, in the Tianhe district, backed by a Chinese subsidiary, 广州索尔瓦商务咨询有限公司, whose corporate purpose covers the purchase, resale and export of goods, and by a parent company in France. Our Chinese-speaking team finds and verifies factories, organizes visits, samples and negotiation, has quality checked before loading, arranges freight to the chosen Georgian port, and gathers the necessary documents, including the certificate of origin when the China-Georgia agreement preference applies.

Sorva never acts as the official importer in Georgia and does not handle customs clearance locally: that role stays with the client or their Georgian customs representative. Our base offer is billed in dollars for clients outside the European Union, complemented by options specific to certain regions, quoted on request.