Documentation

Areej Aftab Siddiqui

Why is export documentation necessary?
Export documentation is used to
• keep shipment and delivery on schedule
• to describe cargo
• for customs clearance
• to indicate the ownership of goods for collection purposes
or in the event of dispute
• to obtain payment.

Export Documents are needed to comply with commercial,

legal and incentive requirements.
 Export Documentation in India
• Export Documentation in India has evolved since 1990.
• Prior to 1990, documentation was manual and it lacked proper
co-ordination.
• The result was a lot of delays and mistakes, rendering the task
very clumsy, tiresome, repetitive, and truly frustrating.
• India adopted the ADS (Aligned Documentation System) in
1991 which is the Internationally accepted documentation
system
Parties involved in Documentation
 Aligned Documentation System (ADS)
• To ensure benefits to everyone in the international trade chain
from easier documentation
• To enter information on an easy basis and access the
information with greater convenience
• Aligned Documentation System is based on the U.N. layout
key
• Main advantage of this system is to enter the data quickly and
read them with greater ease and speed.
• Document alignment leads to trade facilitation
Advantages of ADS
 Master Document-I (14 Commercial
Documents)
• Standard A4 size paper is used
• It should measure 297mm x 210 mm with standard margins 10mm top, 20mm left,
6mm right and 7mm bottom leaving inside of size 280mm length and 184mm
width.
• Typed out in light blue ink
• Size of individual boxes should be as per specifications. Maximum tolerance is
1mm
• Captions inside boxes should be printed in 6 pts, Sans Serif face and should be
located near to the top left of the boxes
• Weight of the paper should be 70-85gms
• Paper should be stable in conditions of 50-60% relative humidity
• Thereafter the individual aligned document is prepared by using suitable masks
made of polyester transparent film and reproduced by photocopying method.
• The masks being transparent enables in having only the required information
• Additional information specifically required for a particular document can be
inserted in the appropriate slot as and when required.
 Master Document-II (Regulatory Documents)
• Foolscap size paper is used.
• It should measure 345mm x 215mm and with margins 15mm on top and bottom,
18mm left and 5mm right. Inside measurement would be 315mm length and
192mm width.
• A Master Document (Master Document-II) is prepared containing all the
information, in the three aligned regulatory documents viz. Shipping Bill, GR
Form and Export Application.
• It is so aligned that all the common data is accommodated on the front side so that
all the three documents can be reproduced without using any mask but with only
blanking the heading "Master Document - II".
• Specific requirements for the 3 aligned documents are provided for on the reverse
side.
• The complete data should be typed (not handwritten) in the respective column of
the Master Document.
• Each copy of the three documents should be signed in ink by the
Exporter/Forwarding Agent so that it becomes a legally valid document.
 Versions of the Master Document - II
Master Document - II (A) : For Shipping Bill for Export of Dutiable Goods
and Shipping Bills for Export of Goods under
claim for Duty Drawback.

Master Document - II (B) : For Shipping Bill for Export of Duty Free
Goods.

Master Document - II (C) : For Shipping Bills for Export of Goods Ex-
Bond.

Master Document - II (D) : For Bills of Export for Dutiable Goods and
Bills of Export for Goods under claim for Duty
Drawback.

Master Document - II (E) : For Bills of Export for Duty Free Goods.

Master Document - II (F) : For Bills of Export for goods Ex-Bond.

Classification of Export Documents
 Commercial Documents
• To discharge their respective legal and other incidental
responsibilities under sales contract.
• To effect physical transfer of goods from the exporter’s place to
the importer’s place.
• To transfer property and title of goods from the exporter to the
importer
• Realization of export proceeds from the exporter to the
importer.
• Out of the 16 commercial documents,14 documents have been
standardized and aligned one to another (Shipping Order And
Bill of Exchange)
Classification of Commercial Documents
 Regulatory Documents
• Prescribed by different government departments and bodies in
the context of export trade.
• Comply with the various rules and regulations under relevant
laws governing export trade such as export inspection, foreign
exchange regulations, export trade control and customs etc.
• There are 9 regulatory out of them, 4 have been standardized
namely:
• GR form
• Shipping Bill/ Bill of Export
• Port trust copy of Shipping Bill
• Receipt for payment of port charges (now deleted an
incorporated in Port Trust Copy of Shipping Bill)
Types of Certificate of Origin
Importer insists on the “clean on-board shipped”
bill of lading with the
prohibition of transhipment of goods
B/L is a negotiable document; It is a transferable document.

Transferability enables the exporter to claim payment from

the bank even before the goods reach the destination.

Similarly, it enables the importer to sell the goods even

before they reach the destination.
 Types of Bill of Entry

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Types of Bill of Exchange