Compliance
Five documentation mistakes that hold a container at the border
By Susan Smith · 8 minute read
Almost every detention we are called about comes down to a mismatch between documents rather than a problem with the goods. Customs authorities read the paperwork as a set; if the set disagrees with itself, the shipment stops while a human resolves it.
1. Descriptions that differ between invoice and packing list
“Cotton throw blanket, 50×60 in.” on the invoice and “blanket” on the packing list is enough to trigger a query in several markets. Agree one description string per SKU and reuse it everywhere, including the label.
2. Weights that do not reconcile
Gross, net and tare should add up across cartons, pallets and the total. When they do not, the discrepancy suggests either an error or an undeclared item, and both are inspected.
3. Origin stated as the shipping point
Country of origin is where the goods were produced or substantially transformed, not where they were loaded. Consolidating in a different state does not change origin, and neither does repackaging.
4. Incoterms® without a named place
“CIF” alone is incomplete. The rule requires a named port or place — “CIF Rotterdam, Incoterms® 2020” — and without it, responsibility for cost and risk is genuinely ambiguous.
5. Consignee details that do not match the buyer of record
Where a buyer asks for the goods to be consigned to a third party, confirm in writing who the importer of record is and who is paying. Payment terms and consignment should tell the same story.
A practical habit: before releasing any shipment, print the invoice, packing list and transport document side by side and read the four fields that must match — description, quantity, weight and value. It takes four minutes and prevents most of what we get called about.
Pricing
Landed cost: the line items owners forget
By Susan Smith · 6 minute read
A first-time exporter usually models three costs: the product, the freight and the duty. The margin then disappears somewhere between the three, and the conclusion drawn is that exporting does not work. Nearly always, the model was simply incomplete.
Costs that belong in every model
- Export packing and palletisation, which is rarely the same as domestic packing
- Inland haulage to the port and any drayage at destination
- Terminal handling charges at both ends — frequently overlooked, rarely small
- Documentation and certificate fees, including chamber of commerce charges
- Customs brokerage at destination
- Cargo insurance premium
- Bank charges on the payment method, and the currency spread
- An allowance for demurrage and detention, because at some point you will pay it
The two variables that move most
Freight rates and the exchange rate. If your quote is valid for ninety days, both can move against you meaningfully. Either build in a validity clause or hedge the exposure — but do not price as though the number you got on Tuesday is permanent.
A rule of thumb worth ignoring carefully
Some advisers suggest adding a flat percentage for “export overhead”. It is a reasonable placeholder for a first conversation and a poor basis for a real quotation. Build the model line by line once, and reuse it for every subsequent market.
Contracts
Choosing an Incoterms® rule when the buyer has already chosen one
By Susan Smith · 5 minute read
Buyers frequently open with EXW because it looks simplest for them, or DDP because it looks simplest for you to be blamed. Neither is automatically wrong, but both put responsibility in places first-time exporters do not expect.
EXW is not “no responsibility”
Under EXW the buyer arranges everything from your loading dock, which sounds ideal — until you are asked for export filing data you are legally best placed to provide, and there is no agreement about who files it.
DDP means you own the destination problems
Delivered Duty Paid puts import clearance, duty and taxes on you in a country whose procedures you do not operate in daily. It can be the right answer for a strategic account, but price it honestly and appoint a competent broker before you agree to it.
Where most of our clients settle
FCA or CIF for ocean movements, with a named place spelled out and cargo insurance arranged deliberately rather than assumed. It splits responsibility at a point both sides can actually control.
Incoterms® is a registered trademark of the International Chamber of Commerce. This article is general information, not legal advice.
Operations
The first order should be small on purpose
By Susan Smith · 4 minute read
There is a strong temptation to make the first international order as large as possible to justify the effort. We advise the opposite. The first shipment is an experiment whose purpose is to reveal what your process gets wrong while the consequences are still cheap.
A small first order tests the label wording, the carton spec, the document set, the forwarder's competence, the buyer's payment behaviour and your own internal handoffs. Every one of those will produce at least one correction. Learning that on twelve pallets rather than a full container is worth the lower revenue.
Set the expectation with the buyer at the outset: a trial shipment, then a standing order once both sides have proven the process. Serious distributors respect it, because they have watched other suppliers fail the other way.