This page exists because most first conversations with an importer cover the same ten questions. Here are the answers, so you can decide whether to spend a call on us.
Incoterms
Depending on the product, destination and how the transaction is structured, we work with the commonly used international trade terms:
EXW
Ex Works — you take over at the supplier's premises
FOB
Free On Board — our responsibility ends when cargo is loaded at the Indian port
CFR
Cost and Freight — we cover ocean freight to your named port
CIF
Cost, Insurance and Freight — freight plus marine cover to your named port
Preferred terms: FOB, CFR or CIF, depending on the product and buyer. Other Incoterms are considered against the nature of the transaction, the destination and how the commercial responsibilities should sit.
Ports and logistics
Shipments are routed through the gateway that suits the cargo origin, destination, product type and shipment economics — not through whichever port is nearest to us.
- Nhava Sheva / JNPT
- Mundra
- Chennai
- Kolkata
- Cochin
- Other suitable Indian ports
We coordinate with freight forwarders, shipping lines, customs brokers and logistics partners for FCL and LCL and, where it makes commercial sense, air freight. Temperature-sensitive cargo such as seafood moves under the required cold-chain and reefer arrangements.
Documentation we handle
The set depends on the product, the destination country, your requirements and the applicable Indian regulations. In practice it is drawn from this list.
- Commercial invoice
- Packing list
- Purchase order / sales contract
- Bill of lading or air waybill
- Certificate of origin
- Shipping bill
- Insurance documents, where applicable
- Inspection certificates
- Fumigation certificate, where applicable
- Phytosanitary certificate, where applicable
- Health or sanitary certificates for applicable food products
- Product-specific certificates and declarations
Category compliance
We work with approved suppliers, processors, manufacturers and service partners to meet the regulatory and buyer requirements attached to each product category. Depending on what you are buying, that may involve:
- MPEDA and seafood export requirements
- FSSAI requirements for food products
- APEDA requirements for agricultural products
- Spices Board requirements for spices
- Textile and apparel buyer-specific compliance
- Factory, social and quality audits
- Destination-country regulatory requirements
Who holds what
Where a certification or licence has to be held by the actual exporter, manufacturer or processing facility, that documentation is provided by the entity that holds it.
We will tell you at enquiry stage which registrations sit with which party on your particular shipment. It is a question worth asking any Indian supplier, and a straight answer to it is worth more than a page of certification logos.
Inspection and quality
Quality and compliance requirements are aligned to your specification, the destination market's requirements and the inspection standard agreed before production. Depending on the order this can include pre-production checks, inline inspection, final inspection, measurement checks, packing verification and third-party inspection or testing.
Insurance
Export shipments can be arranged with cargo and marine transit insurance where this is required or where it falls to us under the agreed Incoterm. Under CIF it is included; under FOB and CFR it sits with you unless we agree otherwise in writing.