Everything in Customs Clearance is about proper documentation. To this, no importer can do without dealing with customs documents. As a matter of fact, customer clearance involves the preparation and submission of documents required to facilitate export or imports into the country. Understanding the documents for Customs Clearance is essential to our everyday understanding of how logistics works.
Another way to describe this is that it is “the act of passing goods through customs so that they can enter or leave the country.” In passing goods to and fro or through customs, documents must be given by customs to the shipper to show that customs duty has been paid and the goods can be shipped.
In this post, we’d be touching on some most important documents required for customs clearance. Some of the documents involved are :
- Exports Documentation: Purchase order from Buyer, Sales Invoice, Packing List, Shipping bill, Bill of Lading or air waybill, Certificate of Origin and any other specific documentation as specified by the buyer, or as required by financial institutions or LC terms or as per importing country regulations.
- Imports Documentation: Purchase Order from Buyer, Sales Invoice of the supplier, Bill of Entry, Bill of Lading or Air waybill, Packing List, Certificate of Origin, and any other specific documentation required by the buyer, or financial institution or the importing country regulation.
Also, See Different Types of Bill of Lading and Relative Transportation Mode.
We’d be dwelling on 5 most basic Import documents required for Customs Clearance purposes. All the documents are equally important that they must be sorted before approaching the customs. However, these are basic and must be explained. So, if you are an importer, whether you import by Air or by Sea shipping, within the global network, this post is for you.
Most importers are oblivion of the importance of these documents as they risk being deprived due to incomplete or inadequate preparation. Know about these documents can solve over 40% of the problems importers and exporters make. These documents must be sorted out either by the importer or with the assistance of the freight forwarders involved.
Read About: Airport Customs Clearing in Nigeria
See Also: How to Process and Obtain Form M in Nigeria
