1. The checklist approach
This is a document list for a first-time importer, organised by stage rather than by document type.
Use it as an order of operations rather than as a shopping list.
2. Before the order
Verify the supplier
Business licence, checked against the national credit information system.
Foreign trade operator registration.
Factory audit or a third-party inspection, for a first order.
Certificates relevant to the product.
Agree the terms
Incoterms, with the named place.
Payment terms.
Who bears document preparation and legalization cost.
Who arranges carriage.
3. At the order
The sales contract or the purchase order, with the goods description, quantity, price, delivery date and document requirements.
A proforma invoice, if a letter of credit or an import licence is being arranged.
4. Before shipment
The commercial invoice, prepared to the destination’s requirements.
The packing list.
The certificate of origin.
Where applicable: the export licence, the free sale certificate, the inspection certificate, the conformity certificate.
Any legalization: apostille or consular.
5. At shipment
The booking confirmation.
The shipping instructions to the freight forwarder, with the consignee and notify party.
The customs export declaration at the Chinese end.
The bill of lading, once the carrier issues it.
The insurance certificate, for CIF and CIP terms.
6. The destination set
The documents the importer files at destination.
The entry declaration.
The commercial invoice.
The packing list.
The bill of lading.
The certificate of origin.
The import licence, where required.
Product certificates, where required.
The payment evidence, where valuation is queried.
7. The five documents most often missing
The certificate of origin
Forgotten where the destination does not require it for clearance but the importer needs it for a preferential claim later.
The legalized invoice
Where the destination requires legalization and the exporter was not told.
The free sale certificate
Where the product is regulated and the exporter assumed the invoice was enough.
The conformity or inspection certificate
Where the destination operates a pre-shipment inspection programme.
The insurance certificate
Under CIF terms, where the exporter arranged insurance but did not send the certificate.
8. The mistakes first-time importers make
Assuming the exporter knows the destination’s requirements
The exporter knows their own end. The destination’s requirements are the importer’s responsibility to communicate.
Not specifying the certificate of origin form
Where a preferential claim is intended, the specific form has to be named at the order stage.
Not checking the goods description against the classification
The description on the invoice drives the classification and the duty.
Not planning the timeline
Four weeks for a consular destination, from the order rather than from the shipment.
9. The single most useful thing
Write the document requirements into the purchase order.
A purchase order that states the certificate of origin form, the number of copies, whether legalization is required and in what form, gives the exporter a specification.
A purchase order that says nothing about documents gives the exporter a guessing game.
10. Closing view
The first import fails on coordination rather than on knowledge.
The importer knows what they need at their end. The exporter knows what they can produce. The gap is the specification, and it closes with a written requirement in the order.
*This article is based on standard international trade documentary practice and destination customs requirements. Importers should confirm specific requirements with their customs broker.*