11 Documents Required for Exporting

1. Proforma Invoice
2. Commercial Invoice
3. Packing List
4. Certificates of Origin
5. Certificate of Free Sale
6. Shipper's Letter of Instruction
7. Inland Bill of Lading
8. Ocean Bill of Lading
9. Air Waybill
10. Dangerous Goods Forms
11. Bank Draft

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 11 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.

Be sure to date your proforma invoice and include an expiration date.

There can be a lot of volatility in the export process, so minimize your
risk by setting a specific time frame for your quote.

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.

I often get questions from people who look at this sample

commercial invoice and wonder why it looks so different from the
invoices their company uses for domestic orders. 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.

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.

The packing list identifies items in the shipment and includes the net
and gross weight and dimensions of the packages in both U.S.
imperial and metric measurements. It identifies any markings that
appear on the packages, and any special instructions for ensuring
safe delivery of the goods to their final destination.

If cargo is lost or damaged, a packing list is required to file an

insurance claim, and it is also used if there is a disagreement between
the carrier and the exporter regarding the weight or measurement of
the cargo.

4. Certificates of Origin
Some countries require a certificate of origin to identify in what
country the goods originated. These certificates of origin usually need
to be signed by some semi-official organization, like a chamber of
commerce or a country’s consulate office. A certificate of origin may
be required even if you’ve included the country of origin information
on your commercial invoice.

Usually a chamber of commerce will charge you a fee to stamp and

sign your certificate or require you to be a member of the chamber.
You’ll need to deliver a completed form to the chamber office where
they will stamp and sign it for you.
More and more companies are foregoing the time-consuming
process of relying on expensive courier services or taking the time to
hand-deliver a certificate of origin to a chamber of commerce for
certification and are relying on electronic certificates of origin
(eCO) for their shipments. An eCO is often quicker to turn around,
allows you the option of delivering the certificate electronically to the
importer, and can be registered with the International Chamber of
Commerce to provide added credibility.

Country-Specific Certificates

In addition to the generic certificate of origin form, there are also

country-specific certificates of origin. The United States currently has
signed 14 free trade agreements with 20 different countries in which
U.S. goods are eligible for reduced or zero duty rates when imported
into those countries. Some free trade agreements, including the
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and the United
States-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement
(CAFTA-DR), cover multiple countries, including the U.S. In our
article When to Use a Certificate of Origin Form for Your Exports, you'll
find links to country-specific certificates.

5. Certificate of Free Sale

Sometimes called a “Certificate for Export” or “Certificate to Foreign
Governments,” a Certificate of Free Sale is evidence that goods—such
as food items, cosmetics, biologics or medical devices—are legally
sold or distributed in the open market, freely without restriction, and
approved by the regulatory authorities in the country of origin (the
United States).

A Certificate of Free Sale is used when you are registering a new

product in a country. You’re essentially informing the customs
authority in that country, “This is a new thing I’m going to start
importing, and here are my support documents that confirm this
product(s) is legal to sell in the country of manufacture.”
If your international customer requests a Certificate of Free Sale, you
can easily apply for a certificate online (there’s no cost or obligation
for registering).

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. (Here are several good reasons why a
letter of instruction is necessary.)

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. Learn more
about how to fill out an SLI here.

AES Concerns

Depending on who hired the forwarder, the SLI may also grant the
forwarder permission to file the export information electronically
through the Automated Export System (AES). Most exports valued at
more than $2,500 per item must be submitted to customs via AES,
which makes filing through AES an important consideration for many
exporters.

If the freight forwarder is hired by the buyer, then the forwarder

typically does the AES filing. Even if you, as the seller, hire the
forwarder, you may pay the forwarder to do the AES filing on your
behalf.
In either case, even if you aren’t doing the AES filing yourself, you are
legally required to provide certain data elements to the forwarder for
filing purposes; this is usually done via SLI. As an aside, I strongly
believe that you, as the exporter, should almost always be the
party that does the AES filing—even in a routed export
transaction where the buyer picks a forwarder.

It’s simple to file the documents needed for shipping through AES,
and doing it yourself gives you more control over the process. More
and more of our clients are assuming that responsibility
for every export shipment for just that reason—get a step-by-step
guide to filing here.

However, I understand that many companies do rely on a freight

forwarder for their AES filings, so an accurately completed SLI is very
important.

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 evidence of 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.

For a more in-depth overview of different types of bills of lading, see

the article What is a Bill of Lading: 3 Things You Need to Know.

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 purpose of an air waybill differs from the purpose of a bill of

lading:

 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.

10. Dangerous Goods Forms

If your products are considered dangerous goods by either the
International Air Transport Association (IATA) or the International
Maritime Organization (IMO), you need to include the appropriate
dangerous goods form with your shipment. Shipping dangerous
goods or hazardous materials can be tricky. Before you do it, the
appropriate people at your company need to be trained to properly
package, label and document these shipments.

The IATA form—the Shipper’s Declaration for Dangerous Goods—is

required for air shipments. There is a different version of the form for
ocean shipments. Again, these forms need to be completed by
someone who has been trained to handle dangerous goods shipping.

Learn more about hazardous and dangerous goods in these articles:

 What You Need to Know about Shipping Dangerous Goods

 Hazardous Materials vs. Dangerous Goods: What's the Difference

11. Bank Draft

A bank draft is an important part of the international sales process for
transferring control of the exported goods from the seller in
exchange for funds from the buyer. It is often called a documentary
collection, because the seller attaches various documents to a bank
draft and a cover letter.

Usually the seller’s bank will send the bank draft and related
documents via the freight forwarder to the buyer’s bank or a bank
with which it has a relationship in the buyer’s country. When the
buyer authorizes payment for the goods, the buyer’s bank releases
the documents to the buyer and transfers the funds to the seller’s
bank.

The bank draft may or may not include a transmittal letter, which
includes details of the bank draft transaction, including the types of
additional documents that are included and payment instructions.