List of documents required for cross-border shipping? A complete guide
When you start international deliveries for your E-Commerce business, there are so many aspects you need to take care of. You need to connect with suitable e-commerce logistics companies. Along with it, you also need to meet the document requirements for cross-border shipping. Whether you decide to provide COD shipping services or prepaid deliveries to your international customers, paperwork is a must.
So here, we will be sharing all the compulsory documents you need for your international shipping.
List of documents required for cross border shipping:
A bill of lading is a document that is one of the essential paperwork for cross-border shipments. It is a legal document that is required for putting goods on a shThe shipper, importer, and shipping line need to sign this document here. A complete and correct bill of lading is required for easy goods transportation from its origin point to the delivery destination. The shipper needs to get a document from the freight forwarder and send it to the receiver.
Following are the details that a bill of lading includes:
Weight, quantity, and description of the items.
Valid address and the full name of the recipient.
2. The commercial invoice that contains a list of packing
We mean a form of sale contract that a shipper issues to the receiver by a commercial invoice. It assesses customs to determine the value of the goods to analyze the taxes and duties that are due. In a commercial invoice, you will find the following information:
Full name and valid address of the seller.
Full name and valid address of the buyer.
Accurate quantity and value of the good.
A packing list contains specific information about the goods. The list helps in examining and having a correct tally of the goods at the time of customs clearance. Following are the information a packing list contains:
A detailed description of the good.
Gross and net quantity and weight of the goods.
The total number of packages.
Type of the packaging such as drum, pallet, box, crate, etc.
Marks and numbers. For example, specific numbers or symbols are put on every cargo piece in order to identify them.
The number of export licenses.
Earlier shippers needed to maintain two separate documents for the packing list and commercial invoice. But as per current rules, these two documents are presented as one.
It is also known as the bill of export; the shipper submits this document as an application. This document helps the shipper to get clearance from the customs.
Also, it allows customers to check if the shipper has leveraged government incentives. The shipping bill will contain the following data:
Details of rebates, exceptions, or refunds on numerous duties and taxes.
Avail benefits under numerous government export schemes.
If the shipper is re-shipping any goods of previously imported items, then the shipping bill will contain these details as well.
This is the list of necessary documents required for cross-border shipping. However, it is not the end of the list. Cross-border shipping requires a lot of paperwork. For goods to move forward from customs, receivers and shippers might need to provide extra supporting documents. However, it will depend on many other factors as well as the destination country's regulation. You should check out custom duties and taxes, and other requirements before planning to perform international deliveries for E-commerce businesses.
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