subject: How To Prepare The Documents For Shipping Internationally [print this page] When you have to ship something to another country, the paperwork requirements are always more complex than they are when you are shipping within your own borders. If you are using a New York delivery service to move goods to another country for you, you will quickly learn that making sure that all your documentation is in order is a very important thing. The good news is that the courier company should do most of the work for you, but it pays to stay informed about what documents need to go out with any given type of shipment.
There are two documents which have to go with every shipment that is moving across a border. There are other pieces of paperwork which are often going to be needed for different types of shipping, but no matter what you're sending the requirements for these two things is never going to change. This should also hold true no matter which international borders you are shipping between. These most basic requirements are the bill of lading and the commercial invoice.
The commercial invoice is something that any business should be able to easily figure out. This is just the document which shows what was sold, and for how much, to your customer. This can be essentially the same as any invoice which would be presented at your physical store. You must include an invoice with every shipment sent over the border, even small personal sales made through a website or eBay.
The bill of lading is a very important document in any international shipment because it gives the people at the border all of the information which they need in order to make sure that all of the important legalities are being observed. It will show where the shipment is being delivered too, which is important for tax reasons, and where it is coming from, which is important for international shipping, especially when goods are moving through more than one country. It will also show the dates involved in the shipping, and the prices which were paid for the transit of the goods.
When you ship goods which are subject to trade agreements, such as lumber, there are going to be much more complicated paperwork requirements. Your courier company can help you learn which documents you might need, such as a NAFTA certificate, and how to obtain those. Always consult with your courier company if shipping something new internationally, as they can help you spot any problems.
by: Nathan Alexander
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