Suruhanjaya Tenaga
The importer holds the Certificate of Registration. An agent may assist with the application, but the certificate issues to the importer.
Importer of record
Importer of record in Malaysia — bring your brand to market without setting up a local entity
Your brand's representative in Malaysia.
To sell into Malaysia, someone has to be the legal importer: registered, compliant, and answerable for duties, taxes and product approvals. If that is not going to be you, it can be us. ADS imports in our own name, holds the approvals that let your product be sold, and distributes it to the retailers you appoint — while the selling stays yours.
Talk to a logistics specialist
The market is open. The paperwork is the barrier.
Plenty of brands have Malaysian demand and no practical way to serve it. Incorporating a local entity to import a first shipment is slow and expensive. Appointing a distributor who imports in their own name means handing over control of your product, your pricing position and often your customer relationships.
The gap between those two options is where most brands stall — and where Malaysian retail demand goes unmet, or gets met by parallel imports the brand does not control.
An importer of record closes that gap. ADS becomes the declared importer, carries the compliance obligations, and gets your product onto Malaysian shelves — while you keep your brand, your pricing and your customers.
Two ways we work
Choose the role that matches your structure
ADS as your importer of record
We buy the goods from you and import them in our own name under the trading terms we agree, clear the shipments, carry the regulatory compliance including every approval needed for your product to be sold in the open market, and distribute to the retailers you appoint or to your own customers. Your brand, pricing and choice of retailers stay with you. ADS already holds Energy Commission and MCMC approvals in its own name for an international brand’s products.
ADS as your logistics provider
Where you already have a Malaysian entity or a distributor who imports in their own name, we execute the freight, customs clearance and delivery, and manage the approvals that can be managed on your behalf. Approvals that must be held by the importer remain with that party, and we identify those requirements before shipment.
What ADS takes on
When ADS is your importer of record
The import declaration
ADS is the declared importer on record.
Duty, tax and SST
Calculated, declared and settled at the border, with an estimated position given to you before you ship.
Product approvals in our licensed scope
Energy Commission approvals for mains-powered electrical equipment and MCMC Compliance Approvals for products that transmit — both held in ADS’s name today. Where another party must hold an approval, we tell you before engagement.
Customs clearance
Declaration, release and the documentation trail behind it.
Nationwide distribution
Delivery to the retailers you appoint or to your own customers across Malaysia.
A purchase under agreed terms
ADS buys the goods from you under the trading terms agreed for the programme.
The freight itself
Air or sea, LCL or FCL, selected for your volume and launch timing rather than by habit.
Approval structure
Malaysian product approvals are held by somebody local. That decides how you enter the market.
Across every product-approval regime, a Malaysian party holds the approval. The details differ by agency, but a foreign company with no Malaysian entity does not become the holder simply by appointing a consultant.
The local holder matters
The role determines who must hold each approval.
MCMC
A company registered with SSM must hold the certification for communications equipment. ADS holds Compliance Approvals in its own name today.
ADS’s Energy Commission approvals cover Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan. Where ADS imports through Port Klang and distributes nationwide, they carry the programme into East Malaysia. A structure importing directly into Sabah requires a separate Energy Commission of Sabah registration.
Where another party imports
When you or your distributor is the importer, the approval follows that structure:
- We assemble the application, classification and supporting evidence for approvals that issue to the importer.
- Medical-device roles stay with the appropriately licensed importer or Authorised Representative.
- Pharmaceutical, health-product and cosmetic roles stay with the licensed importer, Product Registration Holder or notification holder.
For those regulated products, ADS provides freight, customs clearance and delivery to the responsible licensed party. Movement and clearance only: medical devices are not stored, and the importer, distributor or registration-holder role stays with the appropriately licensed party.
Why ADS
Why a forwarder rather than a distributor
ADS already acts as importer of record for an international consumer-accessories brand, importing in its own name, holding the approvals and distributing to appointed retailers across Malaysia — while also running logistics for that brand’s main distributor, which imports independently.
Energy Commission Certificates of Approval and MCMC Compliance Approvals are already held in ADS’s name for the same product range. Since 2009, ADS has worked in Malaysian import and export, accepts first shipments without a minimum-volume commitment, and works through WCA World partners at origin.
Role boundaries
What stays with you — and what stays outside scope
The selling
You sell your product. ADS is the import, compliance and distribution mechanism behind it.
Your brand, pricing and retailers
You retain the brand, the pricing position, the choice of retailers and the commercial relationships.
Product liability and product insurance
Brand owners are expected to carry their own global product-liability cover. ADS’s insurance covers goods in storage and transit, which is a different scope.
Licensed-party freight and clearance
Medical devices, pharmaceuticals, health supplements, traditional medicines and cosmetics move only where the customer-side importer or responsible party holds the required licence, registration or notification.
No medical-device storage
Medical devices are moved and cleared for the licensed party, then delivered. ADS does not store or distribute them.
Not handled in either role
Food, perishables, alcohol, tobacco, complete vehicles, used goods, high-value cargo such as gold and fine jewellery, and temperature-controlled cargo are outside both the importer-of-record and freight-and-clearance scope.
FAQ
What is an importer of record?
The party legally declared as bringing goods into the country, responsible to Malaysian customs for the declaration, duties and taxes, and for the product meeting import requirements. If your business has no Malaysian entity, you need someone to hold that role.
Do I need a Malaysian company to sell here?
Not in order to get product into the country and onto shelves. As importer of record, ADS holds the import obligations and the product approvals within its licensed scope.
Can a consultant just get the approvals for me?
Not in the way most brands assume. For electrical equipment the Certificate of Registration is issued to the importer; for communications equipment the holder must be an SSM-registered company. A consultant can do the work, but a Malaysian party still holds the result.
Can you be my importer of record for medical devices or pharmaceuticals?
Importing or distributing medical devices requires an MDA establishment licence, and importing pharmaceutical or health products requires a licence under the Control of Drugs and Cosmetics Regulations 1984. For those products, the importer-of-record role stays with a party licensed in the regime; ADS provides freight and clearance to that party.
But can you ship them?
Yes. Where you or your appointed representative holds the licence or notification, we handle freight, customs clearance and delivery for medical devices, pharmaceuticals, health supplements and cosmetics. Movement and clearance only. We do not store medical devices, and the importer, distributor or registration-holder role stays with the appropriately licensed party.
Do you already hold approvals for other brands?
Yes. ADS holds Energy Commission approvals in its own name for an international brand’s products, for over ten years, along with MCMC Compliance Approvals for products in the same range that transmit.
Who pays the duties and taxes?
Where you are the importer, ADS settles the classification and documentation, the appointed customs broker prepares the declaration, ADS checks it, and it comes to you for approval before filing. Where ADS is importer of record, ADS settles duty, tax and SST at the border and includes those costs in the estimated landed cost.
Is SST charged again after clearance?
No. SST is settled at the border with duty and tax. Once your product has cleared, ADS does not charge SST again on it.
What happens if customs re-values or reclassifies my goods after clearance?
A post-clearance adjustment is raised against the declared importer. Which party that is depends on the agreed structure, and how it is handled is set out in the agreement before shipment. ADS prepares and submits the documentation supporting the original declaration.
When does ownership of the goods transfer?
Incoterms set the cost and risk points; ownership and title are set separately in the sale agreement. We will explain what the chosen term means before shipment and make sure the agreement states the ownership point explicitly.
What products can you handle?
As importer of record: electronics, wireless and telecom equipment, mains-powered appliances, batteries, IT hardware, toys, apparel, furniture, sports equipment, automotive parts, machinery, building materials and general merchandise. Freight and clearance only where the responsible party holds the licence: medical devices, pharmaceuticals, health supplements, traditional medicines and cosmetics. Not handled in either role: food, perishables, alcohol, tobacco, complete vehicles, used goods, high-value cargo and temperature-controlled cargo.
Can you ship batteries and other dangerous goods?
Yes. Battery-related items are routed through carriers approved under IATA and IMDG dangerous-goods rules, and ADS prepares the documentation and booking accordingly.
Is there a minimum volume or commitment?
No.
Can I keep my existing distributor?
Yes. Where your distributor imports in its own name, ADS runs the logistics for them.
How long does it take to get a first shipment in?
Sea transit runs 14 to 45 days as a general guide, with approvals and clearance on either side. Where a product needs registration or certification, that process usually drives the schedule more than the freight, which is why it starts early.
Tell us what you want to bring into Malaysia
Send us your product, where it is made and which retailers you want it in front of. We will come back with the approvals it needs, who has to hold them, an estimated landed cost, and a realistic timeline to first delivery.