Commercial Invoice and Packing List: Trade Documents
The two documents every customs authority examines, what each must state, and how they carry the Incoterm, the value and the classification into the declaration.
The commercial invoice is the seller’s demand for payment and the primary evidence of the transaction value on which duty is assessed. The packing list describes how the consignment is made up, package by package.
The full article will cover the required content of each document, the fields customs authorities examine, the treatment of discounts, commissions and assists, currency and exchange-rate rules, the separate identification of freight and insurance that an FOB-basis territory requires before it can deduct them, proforma invoices and their limits, and the electronic formats now accepted.
Both documents carry the Incoterms rule, and an invoice that states a term without a named place or an edition year creates an ambiguity that surfaces at the border rather than in the negotiation.