Why the documents matter
Customs at your border will not release a shipment until it can classify the goods, put a value on them for duty, and confirm they meet your market's rules. Every document supports one of those checks, so a missing or contradictory paper stops the container. It then sits in a bonded warehouse while storage and demurrage charges build, often tens to hundreds of dollars a day, and the hold can run past your delivery date. None of it is box-ticking. Good paperwork is what separates a container that clears in a day from one held for a week.
The four documents every shipment needs
Four documents travel with almost every order, whatever you are importing.
- Commercial invoice. The supplier's bill for the goods. It states the seller and buyer, a description of each item, the quantity, the unit and total price, the currency, the agreed Incoterm (FOB, CIF, DDP), and the HS code. Customs uses this to assess duty and tax, so the value on it has to be honest and match your payment records. Under-declaring the value to save duty is fraud, and it voids your cargo insurance.
- Packing list. A physical breakdown of the shipment: how many cartons, what is in each, net and gross weights, and box dimensions. It carries no prices. Customs and your forwarder use it to check the container against what was declared.
- Bill of lading, or air waybill. The transport document from the carrier. For sea freight it is the bill of lading (B/L); for air it is the air waybill (AWB). This one is also a title document: whoever holds the original B/L controls the goods, which is why the release terms (original, telex release, or seaway bill) matter. Your consignee needs it to collect the cargo at destination.
- Sales contract or proforma invoice. The proforma invoice (PI) is the quote you approve and pay a deposit against before production. A fuller sales contract adds terms for quality, penalties, and payment. Customs does not always ask for it, but it is your commercial backbone, and every later document should match it.
Do I need a certificate of origin?
Usually yes. A certificate of origin (CO) states where the goods were actually made. For China it is issued by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) or an authorised chamber of commerce, and the supplier arranges it. A plain CO answers the basic rule-of-origin question. A preferential certificate of origin does more: if your country has a trade agreement with China, it can cut or zero the import duty. Examples include the China-Australia agreement (ChAFTA), the ASEAN-China agreement, and RCEP across much of Asia-Pacific. If one covers your route, ask the supplier for the specific preferential form, because without it you pay the full rate.
Origin sits next to the other number that decides your duty: the HS code. This is the commodity classification, six digits worldwide and more at national level, and it sets the duty rate and any restrictions. Getting it wrong is your liability as the importer, not the supplier's, so confirm the code with your broker rather than copying whatever the factory typed on the invoice. (More on that in how to find the right HS code.)
Product compliance documents
Shipping paperwork gets the box to the border. Compliance paperwork gets it into your market. What you need depends on the product and the destination.
- Test reports. Independent lab reports from a firm such as SGS, TÜV, Intertek, or Bureau Veritas, showing the product meets the relevant safety standard. Ask for these before shipment, not after.
- EU. Most regulated products need CE marking backed by a Declaration of Conformity, a document you as the importer must be able to produce, plus a technical file. Chemicals and materials fall under REACH; electronics under RoHS.
- UK. The UKCA mark and its own Declaration of Conformity, similar in substance to CE.
- United States. Electronics need FCC compliance; food, cosmetics, food-contact items, and medical devices fall under the FDA; children's products need a Children's Product Certificate (CPC) under CPSIA; goods sold in California may need Proposition 65 warnings.
- Chemicals, cosmetics, and batteries. A Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS or SDS) describing the substance and how to handle it.
The part that catches first-time importers: for own-brand goods, most of these rules make you, the importer, the responsible party. The factory's certificate is your evidence, but the legal duty to hold the paperwork is yours. See who is responsible for CE marking if you sell into the EU.
What paperwork do I need on my side?
The supplier cannot import for you. As the importer of record you carry your own documents.
- Importer registration. In the EU and UK that is an EORI number. In the United States you register with Customs and Border Protection and post a customs bond (single-entry or continuous). Most countries have an equivalent trader registration.
- Customs entry. The formal declaration that clears the goods, filed against the invoice, packing list, and B/L. In practice a licensed customs broker files this for you.
- Power of attorney. The short document that authorises your broker to clear shipments on your behalf.
- Advance filings. For US ocean freight you also file an Importer Security Filing (ISF, the 10+2) before the vessel sails; missing it draws a fine.
- Product licences. Some categories need an import licence or permit whatever the rest of the paperwork looks like, for example certain foods, medical devices, radio equipment, or restricted materials. Check your category before you order.
Special-case documents importers forget
A few documents only appear for particular cargo, and they are the ones that strand shipments because nobody thought to ask.
- Wood packaging (ISPM 15). Any wooden pallet or crate has to be heat-treated or fumigated and stamped with the ISPM 15 mark, with a fumigation certificate. Untreated wood gets whole containers refused at the border.
- Batteries and dangerous goods. Lithium batteries need a UN38.3 test report and an MSDS, and the shipment needs a dangerous goods declaration. Airlines and ocean carriers enforce this hard.
- Food, plants, and animal products. These need a phytosanitary or health certificate from the Chinese authority and usually an import permit at your end.
- Insurance certificate. If you bought on CIF terms the supplier insures the cargo and issues a certificate. On FOB terms you arrange and hold it yourself.
Who prepares what, and a pre-shipment checklist
Most of the commercial paperwork is the supplier's job: the commercial invoice, the packing list, the certificate of origin, and the product test reports all come from the factory or its forwarder. The transport document (B/L or AWB) is issued by the freight forwarder or carrier. Everything on your side, the importer registration, the customs entry, the bond, and the power of attorney, is yours or your broker's.
Before you release the balance payment and let the goods ship, confirm you have:
- Commercial invoice and packing list that match each other and your PI
- Bill of lading or air waybill with the release terms you agreed
- Certificate of origin (preferential, if a trade agreement covers you)
- Test reports and the conformity declaration your market needs
- Any special certificate your cargo triggers (ISPM 15, UN38.3, phytosanitary)
- Your EORI or bond in place, broker appointed, entry ready to file
Run that list once and the container clears. Skip it and you find out which paper was missing while the goods sit at the port.
Where Mila Sourcing fits
Chasing the right documents out of a factory, in the right names, before the balance is paid, is part of what a sourcing partner does. Our agents collect and check the commercial invoice, packing list, certificate of origin, and test reports against your order, coordinate the forwarder on the bill of lading, and flag the compliance paperwork your market needs before anything ships. That runs through Sourcing Activation and Full Production Management.
Related answers if you are getting a first order ready: