CHECKLIST
Export Documentation Checklist
The documents that keep a food shipment moving through customs.
Most delayed containers are delayed by paperwork, not by the goods. This is the set that covers the majority of food-ingredient shipments — confirm the specifics with your customs broker, because requirements vary by destination and by product.
Always required
Commercial invoice, showing the parties, the goods, the value and the Incoterm. Packing list, showing carton counts, net and gross weights and dimensions. Bill of lading or air waybill as the transport document. Certificate of Origin, usually issued by a chamber of commerce.
Usually required for food
Certificate of Analysis covering the parameters your specification names. Phytosanitary certificate for plant products. Health certificate where the destination demands one. Fumigation certificate where packaging or product requires treatment.
Worth checking early
Destination-specific labelling rules, any import licence or registration your side needs, and whether your market requires an accredited laboratory rather than the supplier's own. Ask for draft documents before the goods ship — correcting an invoice on paper costs nothing, correcting it at the border costs storage.
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