Overview 

Lanetoui Border Checkpoint is located in Laos’ North most district of Yot Ou in Phongsaly province. It is an international border crossing that is opposite to Mengkang Port on the south of China’s Jiangcheng Hani and Yi Autonomous County in Yunnan province, China. The checkpoint is located 52 km away from Yot Ou district, the nearest large town and 77 km from Boun Neua district, a capital city of Phongsaly with a population of 197,989 persons. The checkpoints have permanent offices at both sides of the borders where immigration offices are located.  

Daily Capacity 

In 2020, the border gates saw 157,500 tons of goods flowing between China and Laos. In the first two months of 2023, there are approximately 66 vehicles crossing the checkpoint daily that are equivalent 1,980 vehicles entered and exited the checkpoint monthly, with 32,400 tons of inbound and outbound goods.  

Customs Clearance 

The Ministry of Finance’s Customs Department, a regulatory authority for imports, requires tax exemption certificate (in case of humanitarian goods) including supporting documents to manage the import of goods and equipment at checkpoint. 

Charges per time for importing truck include:   

Remark: charges (round up) in USD are based on BCEL exchange rate USD 1 = 20.752 kip as of 16 October 2023. 

Payment channels and methods: Importers and exporters can pay the service fee electronically at service units of the Bank Pour Le Commerce Exterieur Lao (BCEL) and the Lao Development Bank (LDB) which includes BCEL i-Banking, BCEL One, LDB Corporate Banking by cash, money transfer, and cheque. 

For more information on customs in Laos, please see the following link: 1.3 Customs Information.   

Other Relevant Information 

Under Ministry of Finance, Laos’ Customs Clearance for Imports (ASYCUDA) is implementing smart customs project that the digitalization of imports and exports at international border crossing is being modernized. The ministry adopts the Lao National Single Window (LNSW) and integrates it into the ASYCUDA that became known as the NSWA+.  

However, Lanetoui International Border Checkpoint has not yet been integrated into the project. In other words, the customs clearance is still a paper-based system.  

Documents that are typically required for the customs clearance for non-foods and food items are: 

Tax exemption document from relevant partner government ministry, Commercial Invoice, Bill of Lading or Air Waybill, Packing List, Certificate of Origin, Analysis Certificate, Phytosanitary Certificate, Fumigation Certificate, Import Permit for Food (issued by Laos’ Food and Drug Department, Ministry of Public Health) 

For more information on government contact details, please see the following link: 4.1 Government Contact List.