Export documentation is important for shipping goods internationally. Key documents include proforma invoices, commercial invoices, packing lists, bills of lading, and consular invoices where required. Accurate and properly completed documentation is necessary for customs clearance, obtaining payment, and transporting goods legally according to the regulations of the exporting and importing countries.

1. Export Documentation

2. Export documentation
 Once the goods are ready the exporter has to prepare
and execute various documents of different tags of
sending the shipment of goods to the importer
 The various documents are vital to the exporter and
bank which is a media of payment

3. Importance of Export document
 As an evidence of shipment and title of goods
 For obtaining payments
 Transportation of the goods
 Custom clearance of the goods
 And many other purposes

4. Export document
 The documentary requirement are both regulatory and
operational in nature and have to comply with the rules
and regulation with the Indian government as well as the
importing countries for different type of products.
 These requirement are different for different type of
products
 Accuracy and completeness are the prime necessities in
documents covering export shipments

5. Export document cost
 Export documentation work constitutes a heavy charge
in exports activity
 Its costly, complex and cumbersome
 Minor discrepancies of any kind either in the date itself
or any typing error in the document which looks harmless
might proves costly

6. Export document
 Any alteration or addition made by an authority issuing
the documents should be endorsed properly, with the
signature of the person issuing the document only
 If the documents are not the correct ones and not filled
properly the importers may not be able to get the goods
when the ship carrying them arrives

7. Legal importance

8. Legal Importance
 Before granting the permission, the custom officer
however ensures that the goods being exported are in
accordance with the different regulation particularly in
terms of following:
 The goods are same type, sort and values as declared
by the exporter
 The duty or cess livable has been properly determined
and paid

9. Legal importance

10. Aligned documentation system
 The Government of India made it mandatory for every
exporter to use standardized preshipment export
documents w.e.f. September 1,1991
 This is properly known as aligned documentation system
 The preshipment document on a standard layout was first
introduced by Sweden in 1956

11. Paper size and specifications
 All documents under the system are to be prepared on
A4 size of paper
 Standard margin 10mm---top 20mm----left
 The size of the individual boxes should be as per the
specification
 Maximum tolerance is 1 mm

12. Specifications
 The captions inside the boxes should be printed in 6
points sans serif face and should be located as near on
the top left corner of the boxes as possible
 Documents need to generated mechanically
 Paper should be found in stable form 50-60% relative
humidity

13. Documentation practice in India
 In India, on an average about 25 documents are
associated with the preshipment stages to export
transaction
 These documents are classified in to two categories:
commercial
regulatory

14. Commercial Documents

15. Regulatory

16. Important documents
 Proforma invoice
 Commercial invoice
 Consular invoice
 Packing list
 Mate receipt
 Bill of lading
 Letter of Credit (not a export document)

17. Performa Invoice
 The starting point of the export contract is in a form of a
offer made by an exporter to the foreign customer
 The offer made by an exporter is in the form of a
proforma invoice
 It is a quotation given as a reply to an enquiry

20. Importance of proforma invoice
 It forms the basis of all trade transaction
 It may be useful for an importer to obtain
the import license or foreign exchange

21. Commercial Invoice
 A commercial invoice is a bill for the goods from the
seller to the buyer
 Its an important and basic export document
 These invoices are often used by the government to
determine the true value of goods for duty purposes

24. Significance

25. Significance

26. Consular invoice
 A consular invoice is a document that is required by
some countries
 It describes the shipment of goods and information such
as importer, exporter and value of the consignment for
custom purposes
 Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Mauritius, New Zealand,
Myanmar, Iraq, Australia, Fiji, Cyprus, Nigeria, Ghana,
Guinea,

27. Packing List
 Export packing list is considerably more detailed and
informative then a domestic packing list
 It also shows the individual net, gross weight, and
measurement for each package
 The list is used by the shipper or forwarding agents to
determine the total shipment weight & volume and
whether the correct cargo is being shipped

29. Bill Of lading
 The bill of lading (in ocean transport), waybill or
consignment note for rail, air, or road transportation and
receipt in postal or courier delivery are collectively
known as transport document
 Bill of lading is issued by shipping company or its agent
stating that goods are either being shipped or have been
shipped

30. Bill of lading

31. Bill of lading

32. Significance
 Bill of lading is the only evidence to file a
claim against a shipping company in the
event of no delivery, defective delivery or
the short delivery of the cargo at the
destination