What are the shipping documents?
As you know, for all of the exportations and importations all over the world, there are a series of documents in which all the characteristics of the commercial goods are recorded. These documents are known as shipping documents. These documents are very important in the trade of goods because these documents are also known as goods identity certificate. These documents are very important for the buyer of the goods since after fulfilling the financial obligations and settling the accounts with the seller, it is only by presenting these documents that he can perform the affairs related to the customs formalities.
How many types of shipping documents are there?
It may be possible to divide shipping documents into two general categories, common shipping documents and special shipping documents, which we will explain in more detail below, follow us. Common shipping documents are commonly used to transport all types of goods. If the common documents are not available or in case if they are incomplete the customs formalities will be stopped. In the following paragraphs we will explain about common shipping documents.
The common shipping documents
The documents that are known as conventional shipping documents are the way bill, purchase invoice, certificate of origin, packing list, inspection certificate and finally the insurance policy. Each of these items is considered as a separate document and all of these items are packaged as common shipping documents. For example, a way bill is a type of ownership document that can be transferred to others. Also, this document is considered as a contract with the shipping company and is used to load the goods and deliver them to the destination. Usually, this document is issued by the companies that are responsible for transporting the goods and the buyer can take delivery of goods by presenting the document. It is necessary to know that after the issuance of the bill of lading, the ownership of the goods will be transferred from the seller company to the shipping company. As you know, goods are transported in different ways, and choosing the appropriate way depends on the cost or the immediate need of the buyer, etc. Therefore, there are different types of way bills, such as bill of lading, air way bill, etc. Each of which indicates that the goods have been shipped from origin to destination.
Different types of way bills
Although in the previous paragraph we explained the types of way bills, it can be said that there is a more general category for types of way bills, but it is not conventional and is usually used in certain cases. For instance, there is Clean way bill, this type does not contain any conditions for the goods to arrive safely and does not include cases of damage to the goods. The next type is conditional way bill. For instance, third party way bill which is used when the name of the sender of the goods is not mentioned in the contract and the name of other person is mentioned. Groupage bill of lading is another type, in this case, the shipping company uses one bill of lading for different goods since it wants to use all available space of the ship and put the goods together. The next one is exclusive way bill which is in contrary with groupage bill of lading and it is issued for special goods.
Special shipping documents
Documents for specific goods, as the name implies, are for goods with special characteristics, which are usually added to common documents. The special carriage of the goods is done by agreement of the parties to the goods transaction. Among the documents that are added to the shipping documents we can refer to certified list, approved list, weight certificate, consular black, manufacturer’s analysis certificate, black list of goods, health certificate for live animals, certificate of disinfection of goods and so on.