The four variables
Any competent checklist is derived from these, not copied from a generic list of twenty:
- What you are shipping. Food, plants and wood packaging attract sanitary and treatment requirements. Chemicals and batteries attract dangerous-goods paperwork.
- Where it is going. Destination rules differ sharply. The EU asks for things Gulf markets do not, and vice versa.
- How it travels. Sea produces a Bill of Lading; air produces an Air Waybill. Related documents follow from that choice.
- How you are being paid. A letter of credit imposes its own document set, presented exactly as the LC specifies. Open account does not.
What almost every shipment carries
- Commercial invoice — what was sold and for how much
- Packing list — how it is packed, weights and dimensions
- Shipping bill — the customs declaration, filed before export
- Bill of Lading or Air Waybill — the carrier’s receipt and title document
- Certificate of Origin — where the goods were made
What depends on your shipment
- Phytosanitary certificate — plant and agricultural products
- Fumigation certificate — wooden packaging into markets that require treatment
- Certificate of Analysis — where the buyer or regulator requires stated specifications
- Insurance certificate — under CIF and similar terms where you carry the cover
- Inspection certificate — where the buyer or destination mandates third-party inspection
- Dangerous goods declaration — hazardous cargo
- Export licence — restricted or controlled goods
A missing document rarely stops a shipment at the point of packing. It stops it at the port, at the destination, or at the bank — where it costs far more to fix.
Build your own list once
For each product-and-destination combination you ship regularly, write the list down once and reuse it. Most exporters ship a handful of combinations repeatedly; the checklist work is finite.