International trade requires the shipment of goods from one country to another anywhere in the world. Trading in the international market is either import or export and proper Export Import documentation is needed to ship your goods for the customs clearance. Shipping and logistic departments also require export-import documentation to process the shipment. The cargo that is being ship needs to pass through the customs and bord departments of the respective countries which have certain regulations and procedures that have to be follow strictly.
The shipment needs proper documents for import and export for the customs department at the port to access the value of the cargo. Simultaneously, calculate the duties, taxes, and other amounts that are payable to the governments. Taxes and duties to be calculate may vary from country to country as per their own law.
There is a requirement for different shipping documents according to the origin and nature of the goods to be transport. In order to know what documents are require in a certain shipment, the freight forwarder can be contacted to get the details. Usually, the following list of the Export Import Documentation is require in almost all the shipments. These require types of Shipping Documents are as follows;
1. Performa Invoice
2. Commercial invoice
3. Packing list
4. Certificate of origin
5. Bill of lading
Performa Invoice
A Performa invoice is issued by the seller at the time of the contract between the buyer and seller. Performa invoice is a very important document that must contain the name of the buyer and seller of the goods, the description of the goods, the rate at which the goods are sold, date of the contract, the quantity of the order, the total value of the contract, shipment period allowed, partial or full shipment required, mode of payment such as Letter of credit or advance or cash against import documents.
Performa invoice is the basic documents that make the basis for the buyer to send the request to its bank for opening of letter of credit which is very essential in international trade.
The performa invoice duly signed and stamped is communicate by the seller to the buyer via email, fax, or post. Performa receive by the buyer is then signed and stamp. The signed copy is returned to the seller for his record. The seller processes the order of the buyer on the basis of the proforma invoice.
Commercial Invoice
The commercial invoice is the type of export documents that are issue by the seller at the time of . dispatch of goods along with the cargo. The commercial invoice must mention the description of the goods, the rate of the goods, the total value of the cargo.
Date of issue of the invoice, mode of payment, the buyer of the goods. One of the purposes of the commercial invoice is to declare the value of goods. which is helpful for the custom authorize for calculation of custom and taxes.
The commercial invoice is equally important at the exporting port as well as at the importing port for assessing the value and nature of goods.
Packing list
Another important document in the import and export documentation is the packing list. A packing list is also helpful for the shipping line in handling the cargo, as they better know about the exact packing details of the cargo. Whether the cargo is pack in drums or beg or pallets etc.
A packing list is also helpful for the customs department to assess the actual weight and packing size of the goods for valuation of duties and taxes. A packing list generally includes the name of the buyer. description of the goods, weight of the goods, packing size of the goods, nature of packing pallet or bag or drum, etc.
Certificate of Origin
Certificate of origin is an important document that is require by the custom authorize by the import. Usually, there are different taxes, duties, and regulations for the good that are being import depending upon their country of origin. To assess the origin of the goods a certificate is a mandatory requirement for the import documents. A certificate of origin usually mentions the description of goods, country of the origin of the goods, packing size, exporting company name, importing company name.
Bill of Lading
The most important document for imports and export is a bill of lading. Bill of lading is the proof that the cargo has been shipp on board the ship. In the Export Import documentation bill of lading is the foremost important. Document that a bank considers while checking the documents under a letter of credit.
Bill of lading is issue by the shipping line that receives the cargo for shipment. Bill of lading contains information such as consignor of the goods, the consignee of the goods. port of loading. port of discharge. Date of loading of goods, expected date of departure of the ship. container number on which the cargo is load for tracking of cargo.
Export Import documentation should be prepare by experience staff. All the documents are then sent to the freight forward for clearance of goods at the port. It must be kept in mind that the documents should always reflect the true value and nature of goods. Any wrong declaration may result in fines and penalties. And it is consider a serious offense. So all the importer and exporter should prepare their documents on the true. Representation of value and nature of goods to be export and import.
