Import Used Machinery to Mozambique from the UK: Buyer Guide

Can you import used machinery into Mozambique?

Start by naming the person or business that will import the machine. As of October 2026, Decree 37/2023 limits import to persons holding authorisation and registration from Mozambique's competent ministry. Put that decision before the purchase, so the proposed buyer and importer are clear when you request advice.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) records that foreign individuals with a visa or residence permit may register as importers. It also describes registration for foreign businesses established in Mozambique through a branch, subsidiary or agency. Those categories do not settle the practical route for every proposed private purchase.

A private individual's route, and the route for a foreign buyer without a Mozambican establishment, remain unresolved. Ask your clearing agent and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce to confirm the lawful importer structure in writing. Describe the actual buyer's circumstances rather than asking whether foreign buyers can import in general.

Make a clear purchase brief before approaching sellers. Record the machine's make, model, year, serial details, intended work and attachments. Use the same description for the importer, tax and approval questions. Ask for written answers against that description so a later change of machine is visible to everyone involved.

Before payment, use our guide to spotting a machinery scam overseas to organise the seller and machine checks. Compare the proposed purchase with the work you need it to do. Keep the seller's identity, machine identity and intended importer together when you decide whether to proceed.

Who can act as the importer and clearing agent?

Ask the proposed importer to assemble its registration evidence early. For the October 2026 position, the WTO describes an importer card from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, a certified company statute and commercial-registration certificate. It also lists the operating licence, NUIT tax registration and representative identification. JUE registration follows with its own supporting documents.

Give your local adviser the registration pack and ask what remains to be completed for the proposed importer. Keep any request for further documents with the name of the person who will provide them. Do not leave a missing item hidden inside a general statement that the company is ready to buy.

Whether a customs broker is compulsory under current practice is not settled. Appoint your own local clearing agent for the declaration, and have that agent confirm the position. Set out the work it will do and the information it needs from the importer, seller and export-side team.

The WTO also records a bank-intermediation declaration for every import. The importer's bank files it on the JUE to confirm the foreign-exchange operation. Ask the importer to bring its bank into the arrangements before you finalise the purchase and identify the information the bank needs for that step.

Keep those responsibilities distinct in the purchase instructions. Name the importer, clearing agent and bank contact, then name the person coordinating the seller's export documents. If a party changes, circulate the revised instruction before asking anyone to prepare the final pack. Work from one current set of names and machine details.

What duty and VAT apply to used machinery in Mozambique?

Obtain the machine's classification before relying on a tax estimate. As of October 2026, Mozambique's import value-added tax (VAT) rate is 16%. The exact machinery duty rate is not settled. Give your clearing agent the machine description and ask for the current eight-digit tariff line, duty and any excise treatment.

The WTO wording applies VAT to the c.i.f. value plus customs duties and all other applicable taxes and surtaxes. Here, c.i.f. means cost, insurance and freight. Have your clearing agent confirm the live VAT base used on the machine's declaration, alongside the exact line and rate, before relying on an assessment.

Ask for the classification and assessment to identify the machine and its attachments clearly. Keep the agent's explanation beside the seller's description. If the configuration changes while you negotiate, return the revised details to the agent rather than assuming the earlier answer covers the altered purchase.

Keep UK export VAT separate from the Mozambique import assessment. Under HMRC Notice 703, a UK VAT-registered seller may zero-rate an export when it holds valid export evidence within three months of the time of supply. Agree the transaction's treatment, evidence and any deposit terms in writing with the seller or its tax adviser.

Before payment, ask what evidence the seller expects and who will send it after export. Put those instructions into the export hand-off and retain the seller's written terms. Use the UK-versus-Europe buying guide to organise your source-market questions, while keeping this UK seller rule tied to the UK transaction.

Does the machine need a Mozambique certificate of conformity?

Get an exact-machine answer before shipment. As of October 2026, the 20 May 2024 conformity annex omits several plant headings and lists used-vehicle headings. Current coverage and the machine exemption remain unresolved: ask Intertek or INNOQ to confirm them in writing. A required conformity application needs the importer's Unique Consignment Reference (UCR) first. Our Mozambique used-machinery certificate-of-conformity guide covers the heading list and application sequence.

Which documents does the importer need?

Agree the pack with your clearing agent before loading. As of October 2026, the WTO describes import-declaration evidence including the final invoice, packing list, ownership title, importer card and applicable certificates. Ask the agent to identify the documents needed for the selected machine and the person responsible for supplying each one.

Keep the invoice and supporting descriptions consistent with the machine you have agreed to buy. Match the make, model and serial details to the seller's information and inspection findings. Ask the seller to resolve discrepancies before final documents are prepared, and send the corrected description to the importer and clearing agent.

The published programme material does not identify who creates the UCR or how it is formatted. The importer should obtain that answer from the JUE helpdesk or Intertek before a conformity application starts. Name the person following up that question rather than assigning the task to the seller by assumption.

A pre-purchase inspection checks the machine's identity and condition; it does not replace Mozambique's border or conformity controls. Keep its findings available to the people preparing the export pack. Ask each adviser to identify what its requested document proves and whether it relates to the actual unit.

Before collection, review the pack as a group of linked records. Check the importer details, machine description, seller instructions and any authority answer against each other. Where an item remains outstanding, record who must provide it and when it is needed. Do not describe an incomplete pack as ready for loading.

Must used machinery be cleaned before Mozambique?

Plan the cleaning before the machine is collected. As of October 2026, Decree 5/2009 forbids importing or transiting soil and products under control that hold soil. The decree does not name used machinery. Wash the unit soil-free and have DNSAB confirm how Article 12 applies to the specific machine.

A phytosanitary-certificate or wood-packaging requirement specifically for used machinery is not settled. Ask DNSAB for a written answer covering both the machine and its proposed packing. Do not turn the soil prohibition into a universal certificate requirement, or assume that a clean machine settles a separate packaging question.

Arrange photographs after cleaning and keep them with the machine description. Ask the seller to show the condition in which the unit will be offered for collection. Pass that information to the clearing agent or authority handling the machine-specific question, together with details of any packing proposed for shipment.

Keep the cleaning instruction separate from the document decision. Record who will wash the machine, who will take the photographs and who will obtain the authority's answer. Before booking collection, review those tasks with the seller and your advisers so an unresolved certificate or packaging point remains visible.

How can heavy machinery reach Maputo?

Sailings run; the forwarder confirms the current schedule. Obtain written acceptance for the actual machine before booking. Give the forwarder and carrier its dimensions, weight and configuration, and ask them to identify the load port, discharge port, cut-off and transit arrangements for that shipment.

Keep port capability separate from acceptance of your unit. As of October 2026, Höegh's Maputo port page names Maputo Car Terminal Limitada, berths 3–5 and a heavy-vehicle slab. Those port details do not establish a live voyage for the machine you want to buy.

Send the same machine description to the forwarder that you have used for the import checks. Ask for any acceptance conditions to be written beside the proposed booking. If attachments, dimensions or the destination change, take the revised proposal back before treating the transport answer as complete.

Bring the transport decision into the purchase discussion before agreeing collection. Keep the written acceptance, seller's release arrangements and clearing agent's document instructions together. Treat each answer as applying to the unit and arrangement it describes, and ask for an updated instruction when that arrangement changes.

Pre-purchase checklist

Use this list to assign the remaining decisions before you commit. Keep the written answers with the machine description and purchase papers.

— Name the authorised importer and obtain its registration evidence.

— Send the make, model, serial, year and proposed heading to the clearing agent for an exact-line tax answer.

— Obtain Intertek's or INNOQ's written current-list and exemption decision.

— Have the importer establish the UCR creator and format before any required application.

— Agree the final invoice, packing list, ownership evidence, importer card and applicable certificates with the clearing agent.

— Wash and photograph the unit soil-free, and obtain the machine and packaging answer from DNSAB.

— Record the UK seller's export-evidence and VAT-deposit terms in writing.

— Obtain machine-specific freight acceptance and make sure the importer's bank can complete its JUE step.

Working with a buying agent who already does this

Euro Plant Finder finds used machinery in the UK and Europe, checks the seller and arranges inspection. We coordinate the export side and help assemble the export evidence. Your own Mozambican clearing agent handles the tariff advice and import declaration, working with the importer and relevant authorities.

Tell us the work you need the machine to do, its specification and the intended destination. Bring your clearing agent into the discussion while you are considering the purchase. We can coordinate the seller-side information it requests and keep the sourcing, inspection and export tasks aligned with those instructions.

Sources and last check

This guide was last checked on 26 October 2026 against the official sources below. It is general guidance, not a quotation or legal advice: rates and rules change, so confirm anything that affects your machine with your clearing agent or the authority named.

— Decree 37/2023 — checked 23 Oct 2026.

— WTO TPR s456 — checked 23 Oct 2026.

— TFA Database, Mozambique Art. 10.6.2 — checked 23 Oct 2026.

— Ministerial Diploma 29/2024 — checked 23 Oct 2026.

— Intertek CAP summary datasheet — checked 23 Oct 2026.

— INNOQ programme FAQ — checked 23 Oct 2026.

— Decree 5/2009 — checked 23 Oct 2026.

— IPPC Mozambique page — checked 23 Oct 2026.

— HMRC Notice 703 — checked 23 Oct 2026.

— Maputo port page — checked 23 Oct 2026.

— Höegh route page — checked 23 Oct 2026.

— Santander Port Authority regular lines — checked 23 Oct 2026.

— Law 17/2022 — checked 23 Oct 2026.