Overview 

Dansavanh International Checkpoint is located in Laos’ Sepon district in Savannakhet province that shares a border with Vietnam in the East. The checkpoint is about 43 km away from Sepon district, the nearest large town and 240 km from Kaysone Phomvihane district, a capital city of Savannakhet province with a population of 989,700 persons. It is opposite to Lao Bao International Border Gate in Quang Tri province, Vietnam. The checkpoints have permanent offices at both sides of the borders where immigration offices are located.  

The National Road Number 9 (242 km) from the Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge in Savannakhet province to the Laos-Vietnam border at Dansavanh-Lao Bao is a designated Asia Highway number 16 (AH16) that is part of 1,450 km East-West Economic Corridor linking the West end at sea port city of Mawlamyine in Myanmar to Vietnam’s Da Nang sea port in the East. 

The AH 16 is listed as Class III grade under Asean standard that can carry loads of 11 tonnes per axle. At Class IV grade, the road can only bear loads up to 8.2 tonnes to 9.1 tonnes per axle. 

The goods inspection at Vietnam’s Lao Bao side by scanners has speeded up the customs clearance time for imports, exports, and transit goods. It only takes from 8-10 minutes for analysis and about 20-30 minutes for some complex cases. Before applying the scanner, the manual inspection took about 2 to 5 hours for any shipment, even from 1 to 2 working days. 

Daily Capacity 

In 2018, on average, 334 vehicles crossed the checkpoint daily. In 2023, there are approximately 521 vehicles crossing the checkpoint daily that are equivalent to 156,309 vehicles entered and exited the checkpoint yearly. In 2018, 539,220 travellers crossed the border to Laos from Vietnam.  

Customs Clearance 

The Ministry of Finance’s Customs Division, a regulatory authority for imports, requires submission online of tax exemption certificate (in case of humanitarian goods) including supporting documents on NSWA+, a computerized platform of the Lao National Single Window (LNSW) which recently is integrated into Lao customs clearance for import (ASYCUDA) that became known as the NSWA+. The platform can be accessed at https://www.laonsw.net/ 

Charge for NSWA+ is USD14 (or 291,000 Kip) for one transaction, which excludes customs, duties, tax, fees and service fees of relevant agencies. 

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+.  

The NSWA+ is a computerized platform used to manage the import and export of all types of goods including tax exempted ones. From August 19, 2022, the system is formally deployed at Dansavanh International Checkpoint. 

Documents that are typically required for 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.