Exporting from India, step by step: from IEC to bill of lading

Exporting from India involves more steps than domestic shipping, but none of them is mysterious. It is a sequence: register, classify, agree terms, prepare documents, declare to customs, move the goods to the port or border, and hand them over. Most delays come from doing a step out of order, such as booking a container before the HS code is settled, or trucking goods to the port before the shipping bill is ready.

This guide walks through the sequence for a typical sea export, then covers road exports to Nepal and Bhutan.

A note on how we work: SSL’s desk runs the road leg and arranges air, sea, rail, customs and forwarding. Our desk shares the operator’s licence and documents for your shipment on request.

Step 1: Register as an exporter

Importer Exporter Code (IEC)

The IEC is a ten-character code issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). It is applied for online, is linked to the business PAN, and is needed for customs clearance and for receiving export proceeds through a bank. The IEC must be updated on the DGFT portal every year, even if nothing has changed; an IEC that is not updated can be deactivated.

Other basics

• GST registration, since exports are zero-rated supplies and refunds or LUT arrangements run through GST.
• Letter of Undertaking (LUT), if you intend to export without paying IGST and then claiming a refund. It is filed on the GST portal.
• AD code registration with the port, linking your authorised dealer bank to your exports.
• Registration with an export promotion council relevant to your product, which some schemes require.
• Product-specific approvals, where your goods need them, such as for food, drugs, chemicals or restricted items.

Step 2: Classify the product

Every exported product needs an HS code, the international tariff classification. India uses an eight-digit ITC-HS code for exports. The classification decides:

• Whether the product is free, restricted or prohibited for export
• Which export incentives may apply
• What documentation the buyer’s customs will ask for

Get the classification right early. A wrong code leads to queries at assessment, and changing it after shipping is harder than getting it right first.

Step 3: Agree the Incoterm

The Incoterm in your sales contract decides where your responsibility for cost and risk ends and the buyer’s begins. The current version is Incoterms 2020, published by the ICC.

For many first-time exporters, FCA or FOB keeps exposure manageable. For container cargo, FCA often fits better than FOB, because container cargo is handed over at a terminal or CFS rather than loaded over the ship’s rail by you. Our Incoterms guide explains each term with Indian examples.

Step 4: Prepare the commercial documents

1. Commercial invoice: seller, buyer, description, HS code, quantity, unit price, total value, currency, Incoterm and place, payment terms.
2. Packing list: package-by-package contents, gross and net weights, dimensions, and marks and numbers.
3. Certificate of origin, if the buyer needs it for preferential duty under a trade agreement.
4. Any product certificates the buyer’s country requires: phytosanitary, health, analysis, fumigation.

The invoice and packing list must agree with each other, with the shipping bill, and with what is physically in the container. Mismatches are a leading cause of customs queries.

Good export packing matters too: it must survive road haulage, port handling and ocean transit. See our packaging guide.

Step 5: Appoint a customs broker and file the shipping bill

The shipping bill is the export declaration to Indian Customs. It is filed electronically through ICEGATE, either by the exporter or, more commonly, by a customs broker licensed under the Customs Brokers Licensing Regulations, 2018.

Customs then:

1. Assesses the shipping bill, checking classification, value and any restrictions
2. Examines the goods where the risk system selects them for examination
3. Grants Let Export Order (LEO), after which the goods may be loaded for export

Check the shipping bill draft carefully before filing. Errors in HS code, value, quantity or incentive claims can be difficult to amend later.

Step 6: Stuff the container

There are two main options.

For full container loads, factory stuffing usually reduces handling and damage. Choose the container size by volume and weight; our container size guide compares the common types.

Step 7: Move the container to the port

Port haulage is the road leg from your factory or CFS to the port terminal: for example to JNPT (Nhava Sheva), Mundra, Chennai or Haldia. Plan it around:

• The vessel cut-off: the latest time the container can gate into the terminal for its booked vessel
• Terminal gate-in documents: the booking, the shipping bill and the container details
• E-way bill where required for the road movement
• Traffic and queues at the port approach, which vary through the day and week

Missing a cut-off usually means rolling to the next vessel, with storage charges and a late shipment. See our port haulage service.

Step 8: Bill of lading and after shipment

Once the container is loaded, the shipping line or its agent issues the bill of lading (B/L). It is the receipt for the goods, evidence of the contract of carriage and, for a negotiable B/L, the document of title the buyer needs to take delivery.

After shipment:

• Send the documents to the buyer or bank as the payment terms require
• Track realisation of export proceeds through your bank
• Claim applicable export incentives. India offers schemes such as RoDTEP, which refunds certain embedded taxes and duties on exported products. Eligibility and rates depend on the product and are notified by the government, so check the current position for your HS code

Road exports to Nepal and Bhutan

Nepal and Bhutan are landlocked neighbours and much of their trade with India moves by road. Trucks cross at land border points such as Raxaul-Birgunj (India-Nepal) and Jaigaon-Phuentsholing (India-Bhutan). Several crossings have Integrated Check Posts run by the Land Ports Authority of India, bringing customs, immigration and other checks into one facility.

The process differs from sea exports:

1. Documents include the invoice, packing list, the export declaration at the land customs station and any product-specific certificates. Requirements differ by country and product.
2. Clearance happens at the land customs station or ICP, on the Indian side and then on the other side.
3. Queues at the border can be long in peak periods; plan buffers.
4. Vehicles may transship at the border or, where permitted, travel through to the destination.

SSL moved about 270 full truckloads to Kathmandu in FY2025-26. The recurring lesson is that document accuracy at the border saves more time than any speed on the road. See our cross-border service.

Common mistakes

• Booking a vessel before the HS code and export status are settled
• Invoice, packing list and shipping bill that do not agree
• Choosing EXW when the buyer cannot handle Indian export clearance
• Trucking to the port without the shipping bill filed, missing the cut-off
• Weak export packing that fails in port handling
• Forgetting to update the IEC each year

Checklist

Before your first export shipment:

• IEC active and updated on the DGFT portal
• GST registration and LUT in place, if exporting without IGST
• AD code registered at the port
• HS code confirmed and export status checked
• Incoterm and named place agreed in the contract
• Commercial invoice and packing list match each other
• Buyer’s certificate requirements identified
• Customs broker appointed and shipping bill draft checked
• Stuffing mode chosen and container size confirmed
• Port haulage booked against the vessel cut-off
• Payment documents and incentive claims planned

For the road leg to the port or border, see our freight forwarding and port haulage services, or request a quote.