Which export documents do you need for a shipment from India to the USA?
Three parties produce the paperwork for one container: you (the exporter), the people you hire in India (your customs broker, the CHA, your forwarder or NVOCC, inspection and treatment agencies) and your buyer's side in the United States (the importer of record and its licensed customs broker). Indian Customs needs the documents to pass the shipping bill; the carrier needs them to load and to file its US manifest; US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) needs them to accept the security filing and the entry; your bank needs them to collect payment and close the export in RBI's reporting system.
The table is the whole checklist. "When" counts back from the vessel's estimated time of departure (ETD) and uses the legal deadline where one exists; where the timing is set by the carrier's cut-offs or by your contract, it says so instead of inventing a day count. The sections that follow explain each group. The step-by-step flow around these documents is in how to export from India to the USA; the shipping bill itself has its own guide, shipping bill and ICEGATE.
| Document | Prepared by | When (relative to ETD) | Needed by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proforma invoice | You | At quotation, before the order | Buyer (to place the order, open an LC, check its US duty with the tariff simulator) |
| Purchase order or sales contract | Buyer (PO) or both parties (contract) | Before production | You, your bank for an LC or collection, your CHA as the basis of value |
| Commercial invoice | You | Before the shipping bill is filed | Indian Customs (shipping bill), buyer, buyer's US customs broker (entry), your AD bank[1][2] |
| Packing list | You | With the commercial invoice | Indian Customs examination, the stuffing point, the buyer's broker[2] |
| GST tax invoice with the export endorsement | You | With the commercial invoice | Your GST records; the IGST refund or LUT trail[14] |
| Certificate of origin, non-preferential | An Appendix 2E agency, on your online application | After the commercial invoice, before documents are presented | Buyer, LC bank if called for, buyer's broker if asked[18] |
| Booking confirmation | Carrier or NVOCC | Before the shipping bill (it carries vessel, voyage and port details) | You, your CHA, your transporter |
| Shipping instructions | You, to your forwarder or NVOCC | By the carrier's SI cut-off, before gate-in | Forwarder and carrier, for the bill of lading and the US manifest |
| VGM declaration | You (the shipper) | Before the container is loaded; by the carrier's VGM cut-off | Carrier and terminal[11] |
| Shipping bill | Your CHA, on ICEGATE | Before the goods enter the customs area | Indian Customs; later DGFT, GST and RBI, which all key off its number[12][13] |
| Let Export Order (LEO) copy of the shipping bill | Indian Customs (ICES), as a PDF | After examination, before loading | Carrier (no loading without it), your records[12][13] |
| Departure manifest (EGM) | Carrier or shipping line | Before the vessel departs | Indian Customs; confirms export for drawback, RoDTEP and the IGST refund[12][13][15] |
| Importer Security Filing (10+2) | The ISF Importer (your buyer) or its agent, from data you supply | Eight elements no later than 24 hours before lading at the Indian port; stuffing location and consolidator no later than 24 hours before US arrival | CBP[3] |
| AMS cargo declaration | Carrier; an FMC-licensed or registered, bonded NVOCC may file its own house bills | 24 hours before lading | CBP[4] |
| House and master bill of lading | NVOCC (house), carrier (master) | After the container is shipped on board | You (for payment documents), buyer (for release), bank |
| Telex release or sea waybill | Carrier or NVOCC, on your instruction | After you are paid, or as the contract says | Buyer's broker or forwarder at the US port, for release |
| Air waybill (air shipments) | Airline or air forwarder | When the cargo is tendered | CBP advance data, buyer[5] |
| Phytosanitary certificate | India's plant quarantine authority, on your application | After inspection, before departure | US agriculture inspection at entry, buyer[23] |
| Fumigation or heat-treatment certificate | Accredited treatment provider | At treatment, before the container is closed | Plant quarantine authority, buyer, US inspectors if asked |
| ISPM 15 mark on wood packaging | The treatment provider that treats and marks the wood | At packing | CBP and APHIS inspectors at the US port[7] |
| FDA prior notice confirmation (food) | Whoever submits it: buyer, broker, you or an agent | Confirmed no less than 8 hours before arrival by sea, 4 hours by air | FDA and CBP at arrival[8][9] |
| Test, inspection or analysis certificates | Laboratory or inspection agency | Before shipment | Buyer, LC bank if called for |
| Safety data sheet (chemicals) | You or the manufacturer | With the booking and with the shipment | Carrier for acceptance, buyer, US workplace rules[10] |
| Bill of exchange (draft) | You | With the document presentation | LC or collecting bank |
| Insurance certificate (CIF or CIP sales) | Your insurer, on your request | Before documents are presented | Buyer, LC bank |
| Export Declaration Form (EDF) | Deemed part of the shipping bill at an EDI port | At shipping bill filing | RBI, through your AD bank (EDPMS)[16][17] |
| e-BRC | You self-certify on the DGFT portal from the bank's inward remittance message | After payment is received | DGFT, as proof of realization for its schemes[21] |
Commercial documents: proforma invoice, commercial invoice, packing list, certificate of origin
The proforma invoice is your offer in invoice form: goods, HS code, quantity, price, Incoterms rule, payment terms, ports. Your buyer uses it to order, to open a letter of credit and to check what the goods will pay at US entry. Nothing in Indian or US law prescribes its layout, but the US entry rules accept a pro forma invoice in place of a commercial invoice only in the cases 19 CFR 141.83 allows, so its figures should already be the ones you intend to invoice.[2][1]
The commercial invoice is the one document every authority reads. For the US entry, 19 CFR 141.86 requires: the US port of entry; the time, place and parties of the sale; a detailed description with grade or quality and the marks and numbers of the packages; quantities; the unit price in the currency of the sale; all charges itemized by name and amount, including freight, insurance, commission, containers and packing (packing and inland freight to the port may be left unitemized if included in the price and identified); any rebates or drawbacks allowed on export; the country of origin; and any assists such as dies, molds or tooling supplied by the buyer. It must be in English, state what is in each package, show every discount and name a responsible employee of your company who knows the transaction.[1] Some goods need more under 19 CFR 141.89: textile garments must give fiber content in percentages by weight for the whole garment and separately for shell and lining; footwear needs the manufacturer's style number and the material percentages of upper and outer sole; bed linen must say whether it has embroidery, lace or trimming; chemicals of chapters 27 to 29 need the use and the CAS number.[1]
On the Indian side, your GST tax invoice for an export must carry the endorsement "SUPPLY MEANT FOR EXPORT/SUPPLY TO SEZ UNIT OR SEZ DEVELOPER FOR AUTHORISED OPERATIONS ON PAYMENT OF INTEGRATED TAX" or "SUPPLY MEANT FOR EXPORT/SUPPLY TO SEZ UNIT OR SEZ DEVELOPER FOR AUTHORISED OPERATIONS UNDER BOND OR LETTER OF UNDERTAKING WITHOUT PAYMENT OF INTEGRATED TAX", as the case may be, and show the buyer's name and address, the delivery address and the country of destination in place of the recipient's GSTIN details.[14] Many exporters issue one document that serves as both the GST invoice and the commercial invoice; if you issue two, the values and quantities must agree, because the shipping bill is matched against your GST return before any IGST refund is released.[15] The LUT itself is covered in IEC, AD code, LUT and RCMC.
The packing list states what is in each package, with marks and numbers, gross and net weights and dimensions. CBP lists it among the entry documents "where appropriate", and the invoice rule itself requires the per-package detail, so the two must match package for package.[2][1] Indian Customs reads it at examination against the goods presented.[13]
The certificate of origin for the United States is non-preferential: no India–US free trade agreement is in force. The two governments announced a framework for an Interim Agreement on February 6, 2026, and as of October 15, 2026 no concluded agreement had been published, so there is no preferential CoO for Indian goods; the US rate your buyer pays is in US tariffs on India.[22] A non-preferential CoO evidences Indian origin and gives no tariff right. You apply online on DGFT's platform at trade.gov.in to any agency in Appendix 2E (DGFT regional offices, FIEO, the Textile Committee, chambers of commerce and export promotion councils), uploading the invoice and packing list; the fee is Rs.200 per certificate, Status Holder manufacturer-exporters may self-certify, and agencies may not issue CoOs outside the platform.[18][19] CBP's entry documents list does not include a CoO; buyers ask for one when their bank, their customer or a specific rule needs it.[2]
Transport documents: booking, shipping instructions, VGM, bill of lading, telex release, air waybill
The booking confirmation from the carrier or NVOCC fixes the vessel, voyage, ports, container type and the cut-offs. Your CHA needs it before filing the shipping bill, and the factory stuffing, CFS and ICD guide explains how the booking drives the stuffing plan. Shipping instructions are your draft of the bill of lading: shipper, consignee, notify party, description, marks, package count, weights and the freight terms. Whatever you write here is what the carrier transmits to US Customs, so take the names and addresses from the commercial invoice, not from memory.
The VGM declaration is a SOLAS requirement in force since July 1, 2016: the shipper must state the verified gross mass of every packed container in the shipping document and give it to the carrier and the terminal early enough for the stowage plan, using either Method 1 (weigh the packed container) or Method 2 (weigh the contents and add the tare, by a method certified by the competent authority of the country where the container was packed). A verified gross mass is a condition for loading.[11] Submit it by the carrier's VGM cut-off, which is usually earlier than the gate-in cut-off.
Before the container sails, two US filings depend on your documents. The carrier must transmit the cargo declaration to CBP through the Automated Manifest System 24 hours before the cargo is laden at the Indian port; an NVOCC licensed by or registered with the FMC and holding an international carrier bond may transmit its house bill data itself, otherwise it must give that data to the carrier to file.[4] The Importer Security Filing has ten importer elements: seller, buyer, importer of record number, consignee number, manufacturer or supplier, ship-to party, country of origin and six-digit HTS number are due by the same 24-hour mark; the container stuffing location and the consolidator may follow, but no later than 24 hours before arrival at the US port. They are filed at the house bill level, with manufacturer, origin and HTS linked at the line-item level, so the house bill number must exist before the filing can go in. The ISF Importer is the party causing the goods to arrive, normally your buyer as owner, purchaser or consignee, filing itself or through an authorized agent such as a licensed customs broker or an NVOCC that has set up CBP's filing link.[3] What the ISF needs from you is in US import rules for Indian exporters.
The bill of lading is issued after the container is shipped on board. On an NVOCC shipment you receive a house bill of lading from the NVOCC, which holds the carrier's master bill in its own name; the two must agree on container, seal, package count and weights because both are transmitted to CBP. An original negotiable bill is what an LC bank usually wants; where payment is secured you can instead ask for a telex release (originals surrendered at origin, cargo released at destination on identity) or a sea waybill (non-negotiable, no original to courier). Airlift issues its own house bill of lading as an FMC-licensed NVOCC.
For air shipments the air waybill replaces the bill of lading and is never negotiable. The airline, or another party eligible to file, must send CBP the advance cargo data no later than 4 hours before the aircraft arrives in the United States, and a subset of that data (ACAS) before the cargo is loaded in India.[5] Air freight on this lane is covered in the lane guide and the chargeable weight calculator.
Indian regulatory documents: shipping bill, Let Export Order, departure manifest, EDF, e-BRC
The shipping bill is the export entry under section 50 of the Customs Act, 1962, presented electronically on the customs automated system with a declaration of truth; the exporter is responsible for the accuracy and completeness of its contents and the validity of the supporting documents.[12] Your CHA files it on ICEGATE from the commercial invoice, packing list, booking details, your IEC, AD code and any scheme claims, and uploads the supporting documents on eSANCHIT, which covers every export location on the Indian Customs EDI System.[13] Before filing, you need an IEC from DGFT, which Customs receives online, and your bank's AD code must be registered, a request now made through your ICEGATE login.[13] The full field-by-field walk-through, including scheme codes, is in shipping bill and ICEGATE.
The Let Export Order (LEO) is the clearance under section 51: once Customs is satisfied that the goods are not prohibited and any export duty is paid, the proper officer orders clearance and loading, which can be done electronically on the basis of risk evaluation.[12] The carrier may not load export goods unless a shipping bill duly passed by the proper officer has been handed over.[12] Since June 22, 2020 the only LEO copy is the digital PDF of the shipping bill bearing the Final LEO, transmitted electronically to the exporter; printed copies for exporters and custom-house dockets were discontinued.[13] Keep it: it is your proof of export for the bank, for DGFT and for GST.
The departure manifest (still called the Export General Manifest, EGM) is the carrier's document, but it decides when the government pays you. Under section 41 the person in charge of the vessel must deliver it electronically before departure, listing the shipping bills loaded.[12] Customs treats the EGM as proof of shipment: drawback is sanctioned once the line's electronic EGM confirms the physical export, RoDTEP and drawback claims are risk-processed after it is filed, and your shipping bill becomes the IGST refund application only once the departure manifest covering it is filed and your GSTR-3B is furnished.[13][15] An EGM error therefore blocks RoDTEP, drawback and the IGST refund until the line amends it.
The Export Declaration Form (EDF) is RBI's declaration of the full export value. Under the Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2026, in force from October 1, 2026, the EDF is deemed submitted as part of the shipping bill for goods exported through an EDI port, so there is no separate form at Nhava Sheva, Mundra, Chennai or any other EDI location. The same regulations, as amended on September 22, 2026, require the full export value to be realized and repatriated within nine months from the date of shipment, twelve months where the export is invoiced or settled in rupees; your AD bank may extend the period on a request that states the reasons for the delay.[16] The RBI Master Direction describes how the AD bank reports the shipping bill and every inward remittance to EDPMS, RBI's export monitoring system; where shipping bill data flows to EDPMS directly, the exporter's EC copy is not required.[17]
The e-BRC (electronic Bank Realisation Certificate) closes the loop after payment. Since the system launched by DGFT Trade Notice 33/2023-24 of November 10, 2023, banks transmit inward remittance messages (IRMs) directly to DGFT and the exporter self-certifies the e-BRC on the DGFT portal against the shipping bill;[20] the system warns when the AD code in the shipping bill does not match the remitting bank's AD code.[21] The Handbook of Procedures treats the e-BRC as the Bank Certificate of Export and Realisation (Appendix 2U).[18]
Product and agency documents: phytosanitary, fumigation, ISPM 15, FDA prior notice, test certificates, SDS
A phytosanitary certificate is issued by the exporting country's plant protection authority after inspection; for India the national plant protection organization sits in the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, which is India's official contact point under the International Plant Protection Convention.[23] Whether the US requires one for your commodity depends on the product: check the APHIS import requirements for the exact article with your buyer's broker before you book.
Wood packaging (pallets, crates, dunnage) is regulated separately from the goods. Under 7 CFR 319.40-3 it may enter the United States only if treated under APHIS's treatment schedules and marked in a visible location, preferably on two opposite sides, with the IPPC mark: the symbol, the country code (IN), the producer number assigned by India's plant protection agency, and HT for heat treatment or MB for methyl bromide. An inspector at the first US port may order immediate re-export of unmarked wood packaging.[7] The fumigation or heat-treatment certificate from the accredited provider is your evidence that the mark is genuine; CBP reads the mark, not the certificate. Manufactured wood materials such as plywood, loose wood packing material and wood pieces under 6 mm thick are outside the definition of regulated wood packaging material.[7]
Food, beverages and dietary supplements need two FDA items: the manufacturer's food facility registration and prior notice of the shipment. The notice identifies the manufacturer by its FDA food facility registration number with its city and country, or by its full address with the reason no registration number is given, so ask the manufacturer for the number before the goods ship.[9] Prior notice of each shipment must be confirmed by FDA no less than 8 hours before arrival by water, 4 hours by air, and no more than 30 calendar days ahead when filed through CBP's ABI/ACE system (15 days through FDA's PNSI); FDA replies with a Prior Notice Confirmation Number.[8] Any person with knowledge of the shipment may submit it, including the exporter, the US broker or the importer.[9] In practice the buyer's broker files it with the entry; you supply the registration number and product details early.
Test, inspection and analysis certificates (lab reports, pre-shipment inspection, mill test certificates, quality certificates) are contractual: they exist because the buyer, an LC or a US agency asks for them. Issue them exactly as the contract names them, because an LC bank compares the title and the issuer word for word.
For chemicals the safety data sheet (SDS, formerly MSDS) travels with the booking and the goods. OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard (29 CFR 1910.1200) requires chemical manufacturers, distributors and importers to provide an SDS in the standardized 16-section format for each hazardous chemical to downstream users, in English.[10] Carriers also need it to accept or refuse the cargo and to classify any dangerous goods, so send it with the booking request.
Payment documents: letter of credit, bill of exchange, insurance certificate
Under a letter of credit the bank pays against documents, not goods, so the LC text is your document checklist for that shipment: typically the commercial invoice, packing list, a full set of original bills of lading consigned as the LC says, a certificate of origin, an insurance document when you sell CIF or CIP, any inspection or analysis certificate named, and a bill of exchange drawn on the bank. Read the LC before you book: the consignee and notify party on the bill of lading, the latest shipment date, the port names and the document titles must match it exactly, and every one of them comes from your shipping instructions.
A bill of exchange (draft) is your written order to the buyer or its bank to pay the invoice amount at sight or at a stated term; it accompanies the documents in an LC or documentary collection and is the instrument the bank negotiates. On open-account sales there is none.
An insurance certificate is yours to provide only when the Incoterms rule makes you buy the cover, that is CIF for ocean and CIP for any mode; on FOB, FCA and EXW sales the buyer insures. The certificate names the insured, the voyage, the goods and the value, and an LC will state the minimum cover and currency. Which rule to quote, and what each one makes you responsible for, is in Incoterms for Indian exporters and the Incoterms tool.
Payment documents also feed the Indian regulatory chain: the AD bank that negotiates or collects your documents is the bank that reports the realization to EDPMS and whose inward remittance message becomes your e-BRC, so the AD code on the shipping bill must be that bank's code.[17][21]
Common document errors that delay the shipping bill or the US entry
Almost every delay traces to one document disagreeing with another: nothing downstream can be right if the commercial invoice is not final before the shipping bill is filed. The authorities on both sides compare, and a mismatch stops the file until someone amends it, which has its own rules.
Amending a shipping bill is not free. After the goods are registered for examination, Customs normally entertains no amendment; a change to value, drawback or port sends the consignment for examination, an amendment after the Let Export Order needs the Additional or Joint Commissioner, and once the goods are exported the Customs Act allows amendment only on documentary evidence that existed at the time of export.[13][12] On the US side the ISF filer must update the filing whenever the information changes before arrival.[3]
- Value or HS code differs between invoice, packing list, shipping bill and ISF. Indian Customs assesses on the shipping bill; CBP matches the ISF's six-digit HTS and the entry to the invoice; the IGST refund is held when the shipping bill and GSTR-1 disagree. Freeze one invoice before anything is filed.[3][15]
- Consignee or notify party differs between bill of lading, ISF and invoice. The ISF's buyer, consignee number and ship-to party must be the parties on the house bill; a 'to order' bill under an LC still needs the right notify party.[3]
- Missing or inconsistent marks and numbers. The US invoice must carry the package marks and numbers and say what is in each package; the goods themselves must bear the English name of the country of origin.[1][6]
- Charges not itemized. 19 CFR 141.86 wants freight, insurance, commission, containers and packing itemized or identified as included; a bare figure on a CIF sale brings a query at entry.[1]
- Textile, footwear and chemical invoices missing the extra data. Fiber percentages, footwear material percentages, embroidery statements and CAS numbers are invoice requirements, not extras.[1]
- Wood packaging without a legible IPPC mark. The inspector can order immediate re-export of the packaging, and the goods wait with it.[7]
- Prior notice late or against the wrong arrival. Food must be confirmed at least 8 hours before the vessel arrives; a changed vessel or port means an updated notice.[8]
- Wrong AD code on the shipping bill. The e-BRC system warns when it does not match the remitting bank's AD code; the shipping bill must be amended first.[21]
- EGM errors. A shipping bill or container missing from the departure manifest is the carrier's error, but it stops your drawback, RoDTEP and IGST refund until corrected.[13][15]
What your forwarder prepares, and what stays with you
Even with a forwarder on both ends, you own the commercial documents and the declarations made in your name: invoices, packing list, the CoO application, the VGM figures, the EDF content in the shipping bill and the e-BRC. Your CHA files the shipping bill on your declaration; the carrier files the departure manifest and the US manifest; your buyer is the ISF Importer and the importer of record.
Airlift's 14 Indian branches, including Navi Mumbai near Nhava Sheva, Gandhidham for Mundra and Kandla, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Coimbatore, Kolkata, New Delhi, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai, arrange factory pickup, container stuffing, carrier bookings and Indian export clearance, including the shipping bill filed on ICEGATE, and Airlift issues its own house bill of lading. AIRLIFT (U.S.A.), INC., in business since 1999, is an FMC-licensed NVOCC and ocean freight forwarder (FMC No. 016162) with its own offices in New Jersey and Los Angeles; it files the ISF as the NVOCC and arranges the US customs entry through licensed customs brokers and US trucking as a non-asset FMCSA property broker. Airlift USA holds no US customs broker license; the US entry is arranged through licensed customs brokers. Find your nearest branch on the offices page, and the lane details on shipping from India to the USA.