QUESTION: Our shipping site asked me the other day if it was a requirement when shipping documents internationally, that we create a commercial invoice and have it accompany the shipment? My initial thought was that every international shipment requires an invoice regardless of what is being shipped. Is this correct? Can anyone point me in […]
QUESTION: We have some shipments that ship directly from Asia to South America to the following countries. The products that we shipped are consumer products like keyboards, power cords, docking stations, backpacks, etc… Argentina Brazil Chile Colombia Costa Rica Mexico (random) Panama (random) Peru According to the customs brokers at these countries, due […]
QUESTION: We import tires from overseas that are subject to anti-dumping duties. We put products from 2-3 factories in the same container, buy on FOB origin basis, and arrange with steamship lines on the freight side. The factories file for export with origin government, and are listed as “exporter” on the country’s official document. We […]
QUESTION: I am somewhat new to my company and have little experience with ocean freight from Asia – any help would be greatly appreciated. I recently learned that our AP department has a requirement of our international suppliers that the supplier name on the BOL must match the supplier name on our purchase order. I […]
QUESTION: We have a customer in the Middle East who requires both a commercial invoice and certificate of origin to be attested by the chamber of commerce in the country of origin of the product. The product is ordered through our US office, who in turn places an order with an unrelated supplier in China. […]
QUESTION: Are there any requirements regarding where US Customs documentation must be generated? Many of our commercial invoices for US Exports are generated by our Customer Service team in Mexico. Adhering to Responsible Supervision, I do have access to those documents to view and audit. Appreciate your comments. ========== Answer: On exports you are OK […]
QUESTION: I have taken over less than a year ago as the customs manager at a company and have been trying to obtain complete entry package records from a current broker for almost as long. The broker requirement is to send complete scanned entry packages (3461, 7501, commercial invoices, BOL/AWB, certificates, their invoice, etc.) to […]
Question: We purchase from a company in China who has a location in Hong Kong. The items we purchase physically ship from the location in Hong Kong, though their country of origin is China. A part of our purchase agreement is that we agree to pay the Chinese company for the transport costs from China […]
Question: I am being asked to provide an Export Trade Control Order (Japanese regulation) certificate for a certain product. While I’m able to find information online about the Japanese Export Trade Control Order, I’m unable to find any information related to a certificate pertaining to this order. I’m also unable to find any examples. The […]
Question: I’m not familiar with master bill of ladings and house bill of ladings and don’t quite understand them. A supplier shipped 3 containers under one commercial invoice. All containers departed on the same vessel. The shipment ended up being booked under 3 separate master bills and therefore my broker is telling me that 3 […]
Question: We have seen a couple of times recently where we are notified in transit that the quantity ordered, booked and shown on the bill of lading is not the quantity that shipped for some reason. Then when we push back to get them to correct documents to what actually shipped so we can clear […]
Question: Looking to see how other importers are handling documentation for their import supply chain. We utilize both steamship lines and handful of forwarders We are a medium size importer (3000-3700 containers per year). Right now, documentation is a manual process, meaning it is emailed from suppliers (over 100 suppliers) to us. We enter into […]
