Fewer documents than the exporter, more of the risk
Importers write fewer documents than exporters, but carry more of the legal risk. The customs entry is filed in your name. The duty is yours. A supplier's mistake on a document you never saw becomes your penalty. The documents here are the ones where the buyer sets the terms.
Your offer to buy, on your terms. Every later document should quote its number.
| Item # | Description | HS Code | Qty | Unit | Unit Price (USD) | Amount (USD) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Parties, ports, container and line items carry across every document.
Invites a supplier to price a specified list of goods against stated delivery terms and a response deadline.
The buyer's formal instruction to supply goods on stated terms, prices and delivery dates.
The agreement itself: goods, price, delivery terms, payment and the clauses both parties sign against.
The ten data elements a US importer must file with CBP at least 24 hours before cargo is laden aboard a vessel bound for the United States.
The primary customs valuation document: what was sold, to whom, on what terms, and for how much.
Full itemised packing list with HS codes, marks and numbers, package types and per-item dimensions.
Set the terms before the goods move
A purchase order is your offer. It becomes the contract when the supplier accepts it. Whatever is printed on it generally governs the sale. If you send a bare order with only a price and a quantity, the supplier's terms apply instead. State the Incoterm with its named place, the payment terms and the delivery date.
Errors on the supplier's documents become yours
Customs judges a shipment on the paperwork it receives, and the importer of record is responsible for the entry. If a supplier describes goods vaguely, understates a weight or names the wrong country of origin, the problem lands on you at destination. Checking the invoice and packing list before shipment is cheaper than sorting it out after.
Deadlines that fall before loading
The importer security filing for ocean cargo bound for the US is due 24 hours before the container is loaded at the foreign port, not before it arrives. So you need ten data elements while the goods are still being packed on the other side of the world. That only works if you asked for them in the purchase order.
Field-by-field walkthroughs of the documents above.
+The supplier made the mistake. Why is it my problem?
Because the customs entry is filed in your name. The importer of record is responsible for the declaration. So a vague description or a wrong country of origin on a document you never saw becomes your penalty at destination.
+When is the importer security filing due?
Twenty-four hours before the container is loaded at the foreign port, not before it arrives. So you need the ten data elements while the goods are still being packed on the other side of the world. That only works if you asked for them in the purchase order.
+Is my purchase order a contract?
Generally it becomes one when the supplier accepts it, and whatever is printed on it usually governs the sale. If you send a bare order, the supplier's terms apply instead of your own.
+Should I ask to see the documents before the goods ship?
Always. Checking the commercial invoice and packing list before shipment costs one email. Correcting them after the container has sailed costs storage fees, and sometimes an amended customs entry.
Exporters
Make the invoice, packing list and certificate of origin for a shipment in one go, without typing the consignee's address four times.
Freight forwarders
Turn a client's spreadsheet into a clean set of documents that a customs broker will accept.
Customs brokers
Rebuild a missing or unusable document from the details you already have.
Try it with a real shipment.
The generator on this page is the real product. Fill it in, download the PDF, and see if it is what you need.
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