Importing a used car from Japan to sell in Namibia: the rules, the steps, and where the money is lost
The 12-year rule, the Walvis Bay inspection, the paperwork for registration, and why the people who make money on it trade as a registered business.
Second-hand vehicles older than 12 years may not be imported from outside the Southern African Customs Union. Check the age before you pay, not after.
Every car is cleared and inspected at Walvis Bay, then registered at NaTIS with its customs papers, police clearance and a roadworthy.
Buying and reselling cars is trading. Do it as a registered business with a tax number and a customs code, or the profit is the first thing you lose.
Walk past any used-car lot in Windhoek or Oshakati and a large share of the stock started life in Japan. The cars are right-hand drive like ours, well kept, and sold at auction in large numbers. The margin is real. So are the ways to lose it.
The rule that sinks most first-timers: 12 years
Namibia prohibits importing second-hand motor vehicles more than 12 years old from outside the Common Customs Area (South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini and Namibia). The prohibition was published in the Government Gazette under the Import and Export Control Act of 1994 and is listed on the Namibia Trade Information Portal with an effective date of 13 September 2022. Special-purpose vehicles such as ambulances, fire engines, mobile clinics and cranes are excluded.
In October 2025 the Ministry of International Relations and Trade restated the rule and confirmed that Walvis Bay is the official point of entry, where compliance inspections are done. Business press has since reported that government is reconsidering the limit and that the motor industry is divided on relaxing it. As of the date on this article, no change has been gazetted.
What it means for you: work out the age from the first registration date on the export certificate, not the model year the seller quotes, and leave a margin for the weeks at sea. A car that turns 13 on the water is a car you cannot clear.
The steps, in order
- Buy from a Japanese exporter or auction agent. Ask for the export certificate and the auction sheet, and check the chassis number matches both.
- Ship to Walvis Bay. Before you pay for shipping, ask your clearing agent which shipping method NamRA currently accepts for used vehicles, and get it in writing from the exporter. Allow several weeks at sea.
- Clear customs at Walvis Bay through a registered clearing agent. NamRA works out the duties and VAT on the customs value of the car, and the vehicle is inspected for compliance, including its age.
- Register and license the vehicle at NaTIS before you sell it or drive it on public roads. Bring the customs clearance papers; the car will also need police clearance and a roadworthy test. Ask your NaTIS office for its current checklist before you go, so you go once.
Where the money is lost
- Age. Covered above. It is the single most expensive mistake because there is no fix.
- Port storage. Every day a car waits at the port for missing papers costs storage. Have your clearing agent and documents ready before the ship docks.
- Underestimating duties. Ask your clearing agent for a written estimate on the specific car before you bid, not after it lands.
- Selling as a private person. One car for yourself is a private import. Five cars a year for resale is a business, and NamRA treats it as one.
Doing it as a business
The importers who last set up properly from the start: a registered Close Corporation or company, a NamRA tax number, VAT registration once turnover requires it, and registration with NamRA customs as an importer so goods clear in the business's name. That also lets the business open a bank account, pay suppliers abroad and show buyers a proper invoice, which matters when a buyer needs bank finance.
None of it is complicated, but it has to be done in the right order before the first car ships.
Sources
- Namibia Trade Information Portal: import prohibition on second-hand vehicles older than 12 years
- Government Gazette, 2022, Import and Export Control Act notice (Legal Assistance Centre archive)
- The Namibian, 6 October 2025: Namibia tightens used car import rules, bans vehicles older than 12 years
- The Namibian: Cheap car imports, Namibia’s dilemma (on the proposed review)
All sources accessed 5 November 2026. Rules change: confirm with the authority named before you act.
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