Before your first shipment
- Importer-Exporter Code (IEC): a 10-digit code from the DGFT, applied for online against your business PAN. You need it to export, and DGFT asks for IEC details to be updated online every year.
- AD code: the Authorised Dealer code from the bank that will receive your export payments, registered with Customs at each port you ship from.
- GST: exports are zero-rated. You can ship under a Letter of Undertaking (LUT) without paying IGST, or pay IGST and claim it back.
- Export Promotion Council membership (RCMC): needed for some export benefits; join the council for your product group.
Step by step
- Agree the order with your US buyer: price, quantity, payment terms and the Incoterm (for example FOB or CIF), which decides who books and pays for ocean freight.
- Check what the US side needs: product requirements such as FDA registration for food, country-of-origin marking ("Made in India"), and treated wood packaging.
- Book the shipment: choose FCL or LCL, confirm the sailing and the port, and arrange pickup from your factory to the port or inland container depot.
- Prepare documents: commercial invoice, packing list and any product certificates.
- File the shipping bill: your customs broker files it electronically on ICEGATE. After assessment and any examination, Customs gives the Let Export Order (LEO).
- Load and sail: the carrier issues the bill of lading once the container is on board.
- Send documents to the buyer: the buyer needs them for US Customs clearance and to collect the cargo.
- Receive payment and close the file: payment comes through your AD bank, and export incentives such as RoDTEP are claimed against the shipping bill.
Documents you will need
- Commercial invoice and packing list
- Shipping bill (filed on ICEGATE)
- Bill of lading (issued by the carrier or NVOCC)
- Certificate of origin, if your buyer asks for one
- Product certificates where they apply: phytosanitary, fumigation, test reports
How Atmavaan helps
Atmavaan has its own teams in Chennai and in the USA. We book FCL and LCL space from Indian ports, arrange pickup, coordinate the shipping bill with customs brokers, and share the data your buyer needs for the US ISF filing. You can follow the container to the buyer's door.
