# Shipping to Sweden from Vietnam

> Express air and sea freight from Vietnam to Sweden. Livsmedelsverket / Tullverket clearance, EVFTA 99% duty savings, Nordic diaspora shipping since the 1970s.

Canonical: https://gatewayexpress.vn/en/shipping-to-sweden/
Last updated: 2026-08-01

## Economy 2026 rates

| Weight | Price |
| --- | --- |
| 0.5 kg | $63.40 |
| 1 kg | $68.30 |
| 2 kg | $78.11 |
| 5 kg | $107.55 |
| 10 kg | $127.68 |
| 20 kg | $232.71 |

Transit time: 8-15 days. Excludes 8% VAT.

Sweden holds one of the oldest, most settled Vietnamese communities in Europe. The first arrivals came in the late 1970s and early 1980s as refugees from the war, and roughly **20,000 people** now call Sweden home – concentrated in **Stockholm**, **Gothenburg**, and **Malmö**, with a formal community body, the **Union of Vietnamese Associations in Sweden**, founded in 2020 to coordinate Tết celebrations and cultural events nationwide. This is a diaspora that has had four decades to build routines around Vietnamese coffee, fish sauce, and dried noodles arriving from home – not a market Gateway Express is introducing shipping to, but one we're built to serve efficiently.

We fly from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City into **Stockholm Arlanda (ARN)**, with sea freight routed through **Gothenburg** – Sweden's primary container gateway and one of the busiest ports in the Nordic region. Sweden is an EU member, so **EVFTA** tariff preferences apply, and food-specific VAT carries a rare, time-limited discount worth planning shipments around.

This page covers our service tiers, Swedish customs and VAT (including the temporary food-VAT cut), EVFTA paperwork, mandatory Swedish-language labeling, what you can and can't ship, and where in Sweden we deliver.

## Shipping Services to Sweden

### Express Air (7-12 Business Days)

Direct or one-stop flights from Hanoi (HAN) and Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) into Stockholm Arlanda, roughly 5-10 days flying and transit time before door delivery.

**Best for:**
- Vietnamese coffee, tea, and dried foods (phytosanitary certificate where required)
- Family parcels and gifts for the diaspora in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö
- Commercial samples and time-sensitive B2B cargo
- Traditional medicine with proper permits

**Service features:**
- 7-12 business day door-to-door delivery
- Real-time tracking with customs milestone updates
- 100% declared-value insurance included

### Standard Air (10-16 Business Days)

Routed via regional hubs, priced below Express.

**Best for:**
- Personal parcels, clothing, household goods
- Bulk Vietnamese specialty foods with compliant labeling
- Non-urgent commercial cargo

### Sea Freight (35-45 Days)

Ho Chi Minh City to Gothenburg via Singapore and the Suez Canal, roughly 30-40 days at sea plus Swedish clearance.

**Best for:**
- Bulk inventory for Vietnamese grocers and restaurants
- Furniture and household relocations
- Heavy commercial cargo where cost outweighs speed

**Service features:**
- LCL and FCL options
- Clearance handled directly at Gothenburg
- Onward domestic transport to Stockholm or Malmö arranged by us

## Swedish Customs, EVFTA, and the Temporary Food-VAT Cut

### Regulators you may interact with

| Agency | Role |
|---|---|
| **Livsmedelsverket** (Swedish Food Agency) | Food safety, importer registration, border inspection |
| **Tullverket** (Swedish Customs) | Customs clearance, VAT collection, prohibited-goods enforcement |
| **Jordbruksverket** (Swedish Board of Agriculture) | Phytosanitary inspection for plant products |

### VAT and duty

| Charge | Rate |
|---|---|
| **VAT – general goods** | **25%** |
| **VAT – food (current)** | **12%** |
| **VAT – food, 1 Apr 2026 to 31 Dec 2027** | **6%** (temporary relief; excludes alcoholic drinks and tap water) |
| **Customs duty (EVFTA)** | ~99% of Vietnam-origin goods at 0% |

Sweden's parliament passed a **time-limited food VAT cut** to help households with living costs – from 12% down to 6% between April 2026 and the end of 2027. It's a meaningful window for anyone planning a larger shipment of Vietnamese specialty foods into the country.

### EVFTA paperwork

- **Shipments under €6,000:** an origin declaration on the commercial invoice is sufficient
- **Shipments over €6,000:** Swedish customs requires the exporter's **REX (Registered Exporter)** number – we help arrange this through the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce
- Without valid origin proof, standard **MFN rates (5-15%)** apply instead of the EVFTA preference

### Mandatory Swedish labeling

Food products sold in Sweden must carry a **Swedish-language label** with:

- Product name and full ingredient list
- **Allergens in bold type** – a Swedish-specific requirement, not just translation
- Net weight, best-before/expiry date, storage conditions
- Country of origin and importer information

Products arriving without compliant Swedish labeling risk seizure at the border. We coordinate translation and supplementary stickering before dispatch.

> **Need Livsmedelsverket labeling review or REX paperwork help before pickup?** Email [info@gatewayexpress.com.vn](mailto:info@gatewayexpress.com.vn) or call **+84 938 373 343**.

## The Vietnamese Community in Sweden

| Indicator | Figure |
|---|---|
| Total community (estimate) | ~20,000 |
| Arrived | Late 1970s-1980s, post-war refugee resettlement |
| Community body | Union of Vietnamese Associations in Sweden (est. 2020) |
| Main hubs | Stockholm (largest), Gothenburg, Malmö |

Four decades in, the Swedish-Vietnamese community is well-integrated while maintaining strong culinary and cultural ties to Vietnam – regular Tết gatherings, active family remittance patterns, and a steady, predictable demand for shelf-stable Vietnamese groceries that don't have a reliable Swedish substitute.

## What You Can Ship – and What's Banned

### Allowed (high-priority categories)

**Processed foods:** fish sauce, soy sauce, chili sauce, seasoning packets, instant noodles, dry rice noodles, pho noodles, vermicelli, canned vegetables, confectionery and snacks without non-EU animal gelatin, dried foods generally.

**Beverages:** roasted and instant Vietnamese coffee, tea (phytosanitary certificate for plant products), bottled non-alcoholic drinks.

**Certain fresh fruit (EU quarantine-exempt list):** pineapple, banana, dates, durian, coconut.

**Non-food:** clothing, footwear, small furniture, EU-compliant cosmetics, books, handicrafts and lacquerware, CE-marked electronics.

### EU-banned categories from Vietnam

- **All meat and meat-derived products** – fresh, frozen, or processed, including pork floss (ruốc), dried beef, sausages
- **Fresh dairy products** from non-approved sources
- **Fresh eggs and egg products**
- **Live fish and fresh seafood** (frozen seafood is generally permitted)
- Animal-derived gelatin or collagen from non-approved sources

### Plant products

All plant material requires a **phytosanitary certificate** from Vietnam's Plant Protection Department and must clear at a designated EU border control post.

**Bringing coffee back from a trip to Vietnam?** See our [Vietnamese coffee shipping guide](https://gatewayexpress.vn/en/tourist-shipping/ship-vietnamese-coffee-home/) – the packing and freshness advice applies directly to Sweden-bound parcels.

## How Shipping with Gateway Express Works

### Step 1 – Get a quote

- **Hotline:** +84 938 373 343 (also +84 944 247 267)
- **Zalo / Viber / WhatsApp:** message the same number
- **Email:** [info@gatewayexpress.com.vn](mailto:info@gatewayexpress.com.vn)
- **Online:** [Request a free quote](https://gatewayexpress.vn/en/get-a-quote/) or [contact our team](https://gatewayexpress.vn/en/contact/)

We confirm EU-compliant contents, advise on EVFTA paperwork, and quote a transparent landed cost.

### Step 2 – Pack and prepare paperwork

Pack to our guidelines, provide sender ID and full recipient details, and for commercial shipments supply HS codes, REX number where applicable, and declared value in EUR.

### Step 3 – Free door pickup

Free pickup in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang; for Hanoi and other provinces, contact us to arrange pickup.

### Step 4 – Transit and tracking

SMS tracking from pickup, proactive customs milestone updates, and Gothenburg clearance handled by us for sea freight.

### Step 5 – Door delivery in Sweden

- **Express:** 7-12 business days
- **Standard:** 10-16 business days
- **Sea freight:** 35-45 days

## Where We Pick Up and Deliver

### Pickup in Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang (free pickup); Hanoi and other provinces (contact us to arrange pickup).

### Delivery in Sweden

- **Stockholm** – capital, largest Vietnamese community
- **Gothenburg** – second city, main sea-freight port
- **Malmö** – third city, growing community
- **Uppsala, Örebro, Linköping, Västerås** – regional hubs
- All addresses nationwide via Sweden's domestic post network

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How long does shipping from Vietnam to Sweden take?

- **Express:** 7-12 business days
- **Standard:** 10-16 business days
- **Sea freight:** 35-45 days (via Gothenburg)

Tết and Christmas peak seasons can extend these ranges.

### Can I ship Vietnamese fish sauce to Sweden?

**Yes.** Bottled fish sauce is a permitted processed-seafood product. It needs a Swedish-language label with bold allergen text, and should be packed to prevent leakage over the long transit.

### What's this temporary food VAT cut I've heard about?

Sweden lowered VAT on food from 12% to **6%** for the period **1 April 2026 through 31 December 2027**. It's a good window to consolidate larger orders of Vietnamese groceries – talk to us about timing.

### How does EVFTA reduce customs duty?

EVFTA eliminates duty on ~99% of Vietnam-origin goods. Under €6,000, an origin declaration on the invoice is enough. Above €6,000, Swedish customs wants the exporter's **REX number**, which we help arrange.

### Can I ship dried meat, pork floss, or sausages?

**No.** The EU bans all meat and meat-derived products from Vietnam in every form – fresh, frozen, dried, or processed. This includes pork floss (ruốc) and beef jerky. Plant-based versions ship without issue.

### Do labels need to be in Swedish specifically, not just English?

**Yes.** Swedish-language labeling is mandatory for retail food, and allergens must appear in **bold**, which is stricter than most EU countries' plain-translation requirement. We handle translation and stickering.

### Can I ship Vietnamese coffee and tea?

**Yes**, and it's one of our highest-volume categories to Sweden. Tea needs a phytosanitary certificate as a plant product; roasted or instant coffee generally doesn't.

### Is insurance included, and is pickup really free?

**Yes to both.** Free door pickup in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, and 100% declared-value insurance on every shipment regardless of destination.

### Do you ship to the Nordic region beyond Sweden?

Yes – see our pages on [shipping to Norway](https://gatewayexpress.vn/en/shipping-to-norway/) and [shipping to Denmark](https://gatewayexpress.vn/en/shipping-to-denmark/) if you're coordinating shipments across the region; customs rules differ meaningfully between them.

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> **Visiting Vietnam as a tourist?** Ship souvenirs and excess baggage to Sweden with free hotel pickup → [Tourist Shipping Service](https://gatewayexpress.vn/en/tourist-shipping/).

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**Ready to ship to Sweden?** Get a transparent quote and door pickup from Gateway Express.

📞 **Hotline:** +84 938 373 343
📧 **Email:** [info@gatewayexpress.com.vn](mailto:info@gatewayexpress.com.vn)
🏢 **Office:** 72/5 Giai Phong St., Tan Son Nhat Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Your trusted Vietnam–Sweden shipping partner. See all [destinations we ship to](https://gatewayexpress.vn/en/countries/) from Vietnam.