When you import or export goods it’s important to know that there are a number of necessary documents to do this. Those documents inform essential data and details about the goods that make all the customs process easy and without legal impediments. Those are some of the essential documents for customs clearance process.

• Commercial Invoice

This is one of the most important and necessary documents to make the customs clearance process in the port of entry easy. A Commercial Invoice is a monetary value declaration of goods and it allows goods clearance through all ports during transportation without problems. It’s necessary to fill it up with higher attention.

With monetary values informed, calculating tariffs is the main purpose of this document. They are also used by the international trade bodies to check information on the cargo loaded and prepared to ship. Some available information in this document:

• The manufacturer;
• Origin of the product;
• Destination of the product;
• Description of the product;
• Type of packaging;
• Where the goods were purchased;
• Date and terms of the sale;
• Others;

This document needs to be filled out in English as demanded by customs departments. Pay attention to that document, it works together with a packing list, both are essential to customs clearance of your cargo in the port of entry. Even a small mistake can bring to you a big problem.

• Packing list

Partner of the Commercial Invoice, Packing List is the document that brings the list of all products that were commercialized among the companies. You don’t need to provide this document, shipper or freight forwarder are responsible to create and make it ready for you, but you must analyze it, carefully. Packing list is necessary to confirm the type of cargo and onto this document the type of package must be specified, minimally.

Imagine the following situation: You bought 1000 boxes with 50 units of 250g pasta packages, but onto this document is informed only 1000 units. This kind of information can bring huge trouble for you because products can be transported in vast ways. It can be just a detail, but the lack of that information can deliver to you only 1000 units of 250g pasta packages. Details are important, don’t forget that!

• Bill of lading

This document is extremely essential, it guarantees the reimbursement of the value of the goods if something happens with the loading in the entire journey. This document is required for compensation in the event of damage, loss, or delay in shipment. On this document, you can find information like tracking number and international shipping details. This document is also crucial to the customs clearance process, it makes the process easy to get the merchandise in the port entry.

• Documentation for each country

As possible as you can imagine, each country has its own rules and specific obligatory documentation for importing of goods to there. Pay attention to this, and always make deep research about crucial documentation required by each country and for specific goods to trade into this country.

Always keep in mind that everything in customs clearance is about proper documentation. Our tip for you, if you’re a company that is looking for a company to import from, it’s important to deal with a corporation that already has the knowledge about the necessary documentation to export to your country.

• Documentation for each product

The customs for each country requests specific documents for each type of product when it is going to be imported or exported. Following some rules of the market, always pay attention to the kind of product you’re trading. There are obligatory documents for foods, technology, and medicaments. Each one of them demands mandatory documents to easily enter the port.

To reduce and minimize all the problems with bureaucracy, it’s essential to find a company that supports you in all processes of import goods. Those companies are familiarized with documents, better routes, and all crucial paperwork to facilitate the customs clearance process.