Destination market
Importing from Indonesia to Iceland.
Iceland sits in the European Economic Area, so a great deal of EU food and product law applies while the customs union does not. Almost nothing arrives from Indonesia directly. Goods transship at a Northern European hub and come on a feeder, which shapes both cost and timing.
Tariff treatment.
Indonesian goods currently enter the European Union under the Generalised Scheme of Preferences, with origin self-declared by a registered exporter. Indonesia leaves that scheme on 1 January 2027 and the agreement meant to replace it is not in force yet. It applies the same way in every member state, so it is written out once: what changes on 1 January 2027 →
Who you deal with on arrival.
- MAST controls food and animal products
- The Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority handles food safety, veterinary control and the border checks that go with them.1
- EEA membership, not EU membership
- Much of EU food and product legislation is adopted through the EEA agreement, and the customs position is separate. Assuming Iceland is simply the EU is where importers get caught.
- Everything transships
- There is no direct Indonesia service. Containers move to Rotterdam, Hamburg or another hub and continue on a North Atlantic feeder, which adds handling and time to every shipment.
- A small market with real spending power
- Volumes are modest and the buying is specific. Full containers of a single commodity are rare, so consolidated loads and LCL do a lot of the work.
Where it lands.
Reykjavík
The main container port and where almost everything lands.
Reyðarfjörður
An east coast port serving industry, of limited relevance to consumer goods.
By category.
Coffee, cocoa and spices
Strong per-head coffee consumption and an established speciality roasting scene, so origin and process matter here more than price.
Seafood
One of the world's great fishing nations, so imported seafood is narrow and mostly species Iceland does not catch.
Furniture and homeware
Outside the food regime. Freight is the constraint, so dense flat-packed goods travel better than bulky assembled ones.
Personal care and essential oils
A small but quality-conscious market with EEA cosmetic requirements applying.
Questions buyers ask.
Can I ship a container direct from Jakarta to Reykjavík?
Not on a direct service. It moves to a Northern European hub and transfers to a feeder, so plan the schedule around the connection rather than around the main leg.
Do EU rules apply in Iceland?
A great deal of EU food and product law applies through the EEA agreement, and customs is a separate matter since Iceland is not in the customs union. Check both sides rather than assuming one answers the other.
Is the volume worth it?
For the right product, yes, and it will rarely be a full container of one thing. Consolidation with other goods or LCL is how most Icelandic buyers make an Indonesian order work.
Buying from Indonesia into Iceland?
Tell us the product and the port. We come back with producer options and what each of them can evidence.
Sources
- 1Food and import controls. Matvælastofnun, the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority. Checked 6 August 2026.