Government Pre-Shipping Inspection

Some countries will not clear or register a used car from the UK unless an inspection agency they have approved has checked it here, before it sails. Where your destination requires a pre-export roadworthiness or conformity inspection, we book it with that agency and time it around the sailing, so the vehicle is not held up on arrival. It is quoted separately from the shipping price. This is the destination country’s own check, and it is separate from our 198-point inspection.

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What You Get

A check of whether your destination requires a pre-export inspection, which agency carries it out, and what else the car must meet there, such as an age limit
The inspection booked with the agency the destination country has approved, timed so the car is inspected before it is loaded and within any time limit the country sets
The certificate, report or sticker the agency issues, for whoever clears the car at the destination, or for your import permit where the country asks for one before shipping
Quoted separately from the shipping price, as our terms set out. Import duty and taxes in your country, and any fee it charges for a car that arrives without its certificate, are yours to pay as the importer

Useful Links

How It Works

1
Tell us the car and the destination
We check whether the destination requires a pre-export inspection, which agency it has approved and what else the car must meet, such as an age limit. Where an arrangement has changed or is not settled, we confirm the current one when you book.
2
We book the inspection
We book the approved agency and plan the inspection around the sailing: before the car is loaded, and inside any window the country sets, such as no more than two months before shipment for Mauritius. It is added to your quotation, priced separately.
3
The car is inspected in the UK
The agency’s inspector checks the car against the destination’s rules. What is checked depends on the country: for example, roadworthiness for Kenya and Tanzania, an emissions test for St Kitts and Nevis, the odometer reading for Papua New Guinea, and sanitisation as well as inspection for Jamaica.
4
The certificate goes with the car
The agency issues its certificate, report or sticker. Depending on the country, it travels with the car’s documents, is issued online, or is needed for the import permit before the car ships. It is then presented at the destination when the car is cleared or registered.

Which Countries Require an Inspection Before Shipping

What destination authorities say about inspecting a used car before it leaves the UK, as checked for our country pages in October 2026. Appointed agencies, fees and start dates change, sometimes at short notice, so we confirm the current arrangement for your car when you book. This is general guidance, not legal advice. The country pages, linked under Useful Links, give the detail for each destination.

Required Before the Car Leaves the UK

These countries require a used car from the UK to be inspected or certified here before it ships. Without the certificate, a car can be refused registration, inspected on arrival at extra cost, or penalised.

Kenya

The Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) requires a used car from the UK to come with a Certificate of Roadworthiness from the inspection company it has appointed for UK vehicles, Quality Inspection Services Inc. Japan (QISJ). A car that arrives without one is inspected on arrival, for a fee of 5% of its approved customs value. Kenya also admits only cars less than eight years old, counted from the year of first registration.

Tanzania

The Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) checks used vehicles for roadworthiness against Tanzania Standard TZS 698, and its notices to importers bring cars from the UK under its pre-shipment verification (PVoC) programme, so the inspection is done here before loading. A car that lands without a certificate is inspected at the port instead, and the importer faces a penalty.

Zimbabwe

Under Zimbabwe’s Consignment Based Conformity Assessment (CBCA) programme, fully enforced since 1 March 2024, an appointed body checks a used car’s documents and inspects it before shipment, then issues a Certificate of Conformity that the importer presents to ZIMRA. A car shipped without one is liable to a penalty of 12% of its CIF value and an inspection on arrival. A car with an altered odometer is not permitted.

Jamaica

The Trade Board requires a pre-shipment inspection, including sanitisation, for used vehicles shipped from the UK, carried out by Autoterminal Japan (ATJ), the inspection company it names. The certificate is one of the documents for the import permit, which the buyer applies for on JSWIFT, and Jamaica Customs says to apply for the permit before the car is shipped. Since 1 June 2026, a car that arrives without the certificate faces a US$500 verification fee.

St Kitts and Nevis

Since 1 January 2024 the St Kitts-Nevis Bureau of Standards has required every used vehicle exported from the UK to carry a certificate of conformity from EAA Company Limited, the inspection company it appointed. The inspection is done here before the car is loaded and includes an emissions test. The programme sets no age limit and accepts right- or left-hand drive.

Papua New Guinea

The Road Traffic Authority (RTA) requires a used vehicle imported from the UK to be inspected before export by an agent it has approved, with the odometer reading verified. The RTA’s notice to importers names JEVIC, and a car that arrives without its inspection sticker and report will not be registered.

Saudi Arabia

The Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO) requires every used vehicle to pass a conformity inspection in the exporting country, before shipment, by an inspection body it has approved. The importer applies for the Certificate of Inspection on SASO’s SABER platform and chooses the body, and customs wants the certificate at clearance. Saudi customs refuses right-hand-drive cars, so for Saudi Arabia we source a factory left-hand-drive car.

Mauritius

Unless you are an exempt individual importer, such as a returning resident, a used car needs an inspection certificate from a recognised inspection body, for an inspection carried out no more than two months before shipment. Without one, the car is cleared only after an inspection on the island and an extra fee.

India

India’s import policy admits a used car no more than three years past its date of manufacture, through the customs port at Mumbai only. The importer must produce a testing agency’s certificate that the car was tested just before shipment and matches its original homologation. Someone coming to India for permanent settlement after two years’ continuous stay abroad, with a car they have owned there for at least a year, is exempt from the age limit, the testing and the Mumbai-only rule, though the car must still be right-hand drive.

Barbados

A used car needs an import licence, granted before it is imported, and one of the licence conditions is a certificate of roadworthiness from an authorised agent in the country of origin. The car must also be right-hand drive, no more than four years old with less than 50,000 km on the odometer, structurally and mechanically sound, and fitted with new tyres. Returning nationals and work-permit holders who have owned their car for at least four years are exempt from the age and mileage limits.

Recommended, Changing or Not Yet Settled

Mozambique

INNOQ, Mozambique’s national standards institute, runs a conformity assessment that its appointed agent, Intertek, carries out in the exporting country before shipment. Its September 2024 notice recommends that importers of used vehicles put them through it, and the Certificate of Conformity that results is presented to customs when the car arrives. We book the inspection in the UK before the car sails.

Uganda

The Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) checks used cars for roadworthiness against Uganda Standard US 845:2017. In recent years it has switched between inspection before export, by firms it appoints a year at a time, and inspection by its own staff after arrival. When pre-export inspection applied, a car that arrived without its certificate faced a penalty of 15% of its CIF value. We confirm which arrangement is in force when you book, and arrange the inspection here if it is needed.

Guinea

A decree of 2 March 2021 requires a technical inspection certificate issued before shipment, alongside Guinea’s thirteen-year age limit. The company named to carry out the inspection in June 2021 had the job suspended the following month, so we confirm which certificate Guinea accepts when you book. Guinea bans right-hand-drive vehicles, so we source a left-hand-drive one.

Guyana

Since 1 February 2025 the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has required every used vehicle to have an inspection certificate from an authority in the exporting country that it accepts, uploaded with the customs declaration, and a car without one may not be released. Brand-new vehicles are exempt. The only agency the GRA names is in Japan, so before you buy a used car, have a customs broker in Georgetown confirm how the certificate will be handled for a UK car. We can check this with a local agent for you.

Checks After Arrival

An inspection in the UK does not always end the checks. Papua New Guinea holds a joint customs and RTA entry check, and India tests the car again on arrival before it is cleared. Some countries inspect only after arrival: Angola made pre-shipment inspection voluntary in 2013, and a car its owner imports is registered only after a technical inspection there, while in Trinidad and Tobago the Transport Commissioner inspects a car and certifies it roadworthy before it is registered.

Checks at the destination are not part of this service. A local agent can take the car through them as part of clearance and registration, quoted separately, or you can use an agent of your choice.

Price, Payment and Our Own Inspection

What It Costs

A pre-export inspection is not part of our standard shipping price. Where your destination requires one, we add it to your quotation, priced separately, alongside any other extras you choose. Import duty and taxes in your country are yours to pay as the importer, as is any fee your country charges for a car that arrives without its certificate.

Payment

A car we source or buy for you is secured with a £1,000 deposit, which is part of the price, not an extra fee. A shipping-only booking needs no deposit. Payment is due in cleared funds before the car is loaded, unless the quotation sets out different terms. We accept bank transfer, which we prefer, and card payments up to £5,000, with no fee on personal debit or credit cards. We do not accept letters of credit, cheques, money orders or cash.

Not the Same as Our 198-Point Inspection

Every car we sell, source or buy for you also gets our own 198-point inspection before it ships. That is our check of the car on your behalf. A government pre-shipping inspection is the destination country’s own check, carried out by an agency it approves, and only an approved agency’s certificate counts there.