What Documents Are Required to Export My Household Goods or Commercial Product?

If you have invented the perfect air freshener or toilet bowl cleaner, you want to give everyone a chance to buy it. You already have your product patented in America, and now you want people in other countries to experience its amazing benefits. According to Dedola Air Freight Forwarder, selling a product overseas is not only expensive but also involves quite a bit of paperwork. It is a good idea to know what documents you will need before planning to export your product.

Bill of Lading

Whether you or sending your products to Montreal or Micronesia, you're going to need several bills of lading. This is essentially a contract/inventory sheet that lets a shipper know the detailed contents of your shipment. A person signs a bill of lading to acknowledge that they have received a product. The truck driver who comes to your warehouse to get your product will sign a bill of lading, and so will one of the crew members of the ship on which your product travels. It also works as a kind of contract between the freight shipper and carrier. 

Certificate of Conformity

Some countries have high standards for the kind of products that they will import. They will want to make sure that your product does what it says it will, so you will have to have it tested. This certificate will be proof of the test.

Insurance Certificate

It is always very important to carry insurance when you are shipping a product overseas. It protects both you and the person to whom you are shipping the product. An insurance certificate will document that your customer investment is protected.

Export License

The first thing you should find out about a country you are considering shipping your product to is whether or not they require an export license. There are some countries that will ask for a license for everything that you export, and there are others that will only need such a license if you are shipping a very large quantity of a product or one that contains materials that may be hazardous. Your freight forwarder will need your license information as soon as they take you on as a client.

Air Waybill

Although it can be quite expensive, some people choose to send their products overseas by air instead of by sea. It will get there much faster, and there is less chance of damage to the product. 

If you decide to ship your product by air, you will need an air waybill. When you ship your product to another country, it must go through customs when it gets there. The waybill will list important details about the product as well as the dimensions of the shipment. 

Regulations for imports can be very stringent in some countries. The waybill has to be completely accurate in terms of all the details of your product. If some of the information on the waybill is inaccurate, it may impede the shipping process.

Dotting every I and crossing every T is very important when exporting goods. If you pay attention to detail and work with a shipping forwarder, your product can be flying off the shelves of a store in your favorite country before you know it.

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