11 Documents Required for Exporting
1. Proforma Invoice
In a typical export exchange, everything starts when you receive an inquiry about one or more of your products. That inquiry may include a request for a quotation.
If the inquiry came from a domestic prospect, you probably have a standard quotation form to use. However, in an international transaction, your quote would be provided as a proforma invoice. That’s because your international prospect may need a proforma invoice to arrange for financing, to open a letter of credit, to apply for the proper import licenses and more.
A proforma invoice looks a lot like a commercial invoice, and if you complete it correctly, they will be very similar indeed. A proforma invoice specifies the following:
- The buyer and seller in the transaction.
- A detailed description of the goods.
- The Harmonized System classification of those goods.
- The price.
- The payment term of the sale, which would typically be expressed as one of the current Incoterms.
- The delivery details, including how and where the goods will be delivered and how much that will cost.
- The currency used in the quote, whether it’s U.S. dollars or some other currency.
2.Commercial Invoice
Once you’ve sent a proforma invoice to your international prospect and received their order, you need to prepare your goods for shipping, including the paperwork that must accompany the goods. Of those documents, the commercial invoice is one of the most important.
The commercial invoice includes most of the details of the entire export transaction, from start to finish.
Keep in mind that the invoices you create from your company’s accounting or ERP system are accounting invoices used to get paid, not export invoices.
The commercial invoice may look similar to the proforma invoice you initially sent your customer to serve as a quote, although it should include additional details you didn’t know before. For example, once you have the commercial invoice, you probably have an order number, purchase order number or some other customer reference number; you may also have additional banking and payment information.
The commercial invoice may look similar to the proforma invoice you initially sent your customer to serve as a quote, although it should include additional details you didn’t know before. For example, once you have the commercial invoice, you probably have an order number, purchase order Make sure to include any relevant marine insurance information and any other details that will ensure prompt delivery of the goods and full payment from your customer.
3. Packing List
An export packing list may be more detailed than a packing list or packing slip you provide for your domestic shipments. It may be used in the following ways:
- Your freight forwarder may use the information on the packing list to create the bills of lading for the shipment.
- A bank may require that a detailed packing list be included in the set of documents you present to get paid under a letter of credit.
- Customs officials in the U.S. and the destination country may use the packing list to identify the location of certain packed items they want to examine. It’s much better that they know which box to open or pallet to unwrap rather than needing to search the entire shipment.
4. Certificates of Origin
Country-Specific Certificates
5. Certificate of Free Sale
6. Shipper’s Letter of Instruction
One of the most important people you will work with in the export process is your freight forwarder, who usually arranges the transport of your goods with a carrier and helps ensure you’ve taken care of all the details.
Depending on your agreed-upon terms of sale—remember, that’s typically the Incoterm you choose—either you hire a freight forwarder to work for you, the exporter, or, in the case of a routed export transaction, the buyer hires a freight forwarder.
Regardless of who hired the forwarder, it’s important you provide a Shipper’s Letter of Instruction (SLI) with all the information needed to successfully move your goods.
I often describe the SLI as a cover memo for your other export paperwork. Depending on whether or not the forwarder works for you, the SLI may include a limited Power of Attorney, providing authority to act on your behalf for this shipment.
AES Concerns
7. Inland Bill of Lading
An inland bill of lading is often the first transportation document required for international shipping created for your export. It can be prepared by the inland carrier or you can create it yourself. It’s a contract of carriage between the exporter and the shipper of the goods that states where the goods are going; it also serves as your receipt that the goods have been picked up.
In an international shipment, the inland bill of lading is not typically consigned to the buyer. Instead, it is consigned to the carrier moving the goods internationally or, if not directly to the carrier, to a forwarder, warehouse or some other third party who will consign your goods to the carrier when ready.
8. Ocean Bill of Lading
If your goods are shipping by ocean vessel, you’ll need an ocean bill of lading. An ocean bill of lading can serve as both a contract of carriage and a document of title for the cargo. There are two types:
Straight Bill of Lading
A straight bill of lading is consigned to a specific consignee and is not negotiable. The consignee takes possession of the goods by presenting a signed, original bill of lading to the carrier.
Negotiable Bill of Lading
A negotiable bill of lading is consigned “to order” or “to order of shipper” and is signed by the shipper and sent to a bank in the buyer’s country. The bank holds onto the original bill of lading until the requirements of a documentary collection or a letter of credit have been satisfied.
9. Air Waybill
Goods shipped on a plane require an air waybill. It is a contract of carriage between the shipper and the carrier that is distributed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Unlike an ocean bill of lading, an air waybill cannot be negotiable.
The major difference between an air waybill and a bill of lading is in regards to the title to goods.
- An air waybill is a receipt of goods; the carrier or agent sends it in order to show the place of delivery.
- A bill of lading is a document of title to goods. It is a receipt by the shipping company with an agreement to deliver the goods at the destination only to the party the bill of lading is consigned to.