Overview 

Namphao International Border Checkpoint is located in Laos’ Khamkeud district in Borlikhamxai province that shares a border with Vietnam in the East. The checkpoint is about 34 km away from Khamkeud district, the nearest large town and 211 km from Paksan district, a capital city of Borlikhamxai province with a population of 293,691 persons. It is opposite to Cau Treo International Border Gate in Ha Tinh province, Vietnam. The checkpoints have permanent offices at both sides of the borders where immigration offices are located.  

Namphao-Cau Treo border crossing is the busiest amongst eight international border checkpoints between Laos and Vietnam whereas the second most vibrant gate in terms of import and export activities is Dansavan-Lao Bao International Border Checkpoints. 

Daily Capacity 

In 2018, there were approximately 309 vehicles crossing the checkpoint daily that was equivalent to 111,224 vehicles entered and exited the checkpoint yearly. In the same year, there were 560,367 travellers crossing the checkpoints.  

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, Namphao International 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.