Export Documents from India: A Checklist for Wellness, Herbal and Pet Products

The goods are made, tested and packed. What stands between them and your warehouse now is paper. One missing certificate, or a weight that differs between two documents, can keep a container at the port for days while storage charges build up.

The fix is to agree the document list before production finishes, not when the goods are ready to ship. This checklist covers what a typical shipment of herbal, Ayurvedic or pet products from India needs, and who is responsible for each document.

Start with the Incoterm

Your Incoterm decides who arranges and pays for each stage of the journey, and so who prepares which documents. The four you’ll meet most often:

Incoterm	What the seller does	What you do
EXW (Ex Works)	Makes the goods available at the factory	Almost everything, including Indian export clearance
FOB (Free On Board)	Clears export and loads the goods at the Indian port	Freight, insurance, import clearance and duties
CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight)	FOB plus sea freight and insurance to your port	Import clearance and duties
DDP (Delivered Duty Paid)	Delivers to your door with duties paid	Receive the goods

For a first order, FOB or CIF is usually the simplest: the Indian side handles Indian paperwork, and your customs broker handles yours. EXW sounds cheap but leaves you managing Indian export formalities from abroad.

The core documents

Almost every commercial shipment from India carries these.

1. Commercial invoice. Issued by the exporter. Buyer and seller, product description, quantities, unit and total values, currency, Incoterm and the tariff (HS) code.
2. Packing list. Issued by the exporter. Cartons, units per carton, net and gross weights, dimensions and batch or lot numbers. It must match the invoice exactly.
3. Shipping bill. The Indian export declaration, filed electronically with Indian Customs through ICEGATE by the exporter or their customs broker. You won’t usually need a copy, but it must exist before the goods can leave.
4. Bill of lading or air waybill. Issued by the shipping line, airline or freight forwarder. It is the transport contract and the receipt for the goods, and for sea freight it can be the document of title.
5. Certificate of origin. Confirms the goods were made in India. Where your country has a trade agreement with India, a preferential certificate of origin can reduce the duty you pay. Ask whether one applies before the goods ship, because it is much harder to obtain afterwards. Certificates are applied for through the DGFT trade portal.
6. Certificate of Analysis (CoA). Issued by the manufacturer’s quality team or an external lab for the exact batch shipped. Regulators, retailers and your own quality team will ask for it.

Product-specific documents

Depending on what you’re importing and where, you may also need some of these.

• Phytosanitary certificate for plant products such as dried herbs, seeds and some spices, where the importing country requires one. In India it is issued by the Plant Protection, Quarantine & Storage directorate after inspection.
• Veterinary or health certificate for products of animal origin, including yak cheese chews and other dairy-based pet treats. The format is set by the importing country and the establishment usually has to be eligible to export there. We explain this in our yak chew sourcing guide.
• Safety data sheet (SDS), often requested by freight forwarders for oils, extracts and essential oils, which can be classed as dangerous goods for air freight.
• Free sale certificate confirming that the product is legally sold in India, which some markets ask for when registering products.
• Organic certificate and transaction certificate if the goods are sold as organic, so the claim can be traced through to your batch.
• Advance notice to your own authorities, such as FDA Prior Notice for food, supplements and pet food entering the United States. This is usually filed by your broker or the forwarder.

Agree the tariff code early

Every product is given a tariff code based on the international Harmonized System (HS). It sets your duty rate and can trigger extra checks. Herbal products can sit under several headings depending on their form and use, and pet supplements are often classified as preparations used in animal feeding. Confirm the code with your customs broker, and make sure the same code appears on every document.

Five mismatches that stop shipments

1. Quantities or weights that differ between the invoice and the packing list.
2. A CoA for a different batch than the one in the container.
3. Product descriptions that change from one document to the next.
4. Labels on the goods that don’t match the declared or registered product.
5. An incorrect or inconsistent tariff code.

Almost all of these are avoided by checking one draft set of documents, side by side, before the goods leave the factory.

A simple timeline

• When you place the order: agree the Incoterm, the document list, the HS code and who files what.
• Before production ends: confirm label artwork, request draft documents and book freight.
• At release: receive the batch CoA and approve it before final payment.
• Before arrival: your broker files any advance notices and prepares import clearance.

How we handle it

For TrueSource Global orders we prepare the export documents on the Indian side, share drafts for you or your broker to check, and send the batch CoA before the goods ship. Read more about how an order works with us, or tell us your destination and we’ll send the document list we would prepare for your shipment.

This article is general information, not legal, customs or regulatory advice. Requirements change; confirm them with your customs broker for each shipment.