How to prepare commercial invoice for international shipping?

What is commericial invoice?

The Commercial Invoice Form is prepared by the shipper for all shipments containing non-documents goods to prove ownership, valuation, duty determination and arrange for payment.

When does commericial invoice need?

All international non-document shipments need commericial invoice by foreign customs for import control, valuation and duty determinations.

Content needed for the commericial invoice form

the commercial invoice should includes:
• Name and address information for both shipper and consignee
• Phone numbers for both shipper and consignee
• Terms of Sale (Incoterm)
• Reason for export
• A description of the commodity/goods
• Harmonized Tariff Codes (H.S. Code), if known
• Country of origin (where manufactured) for each commodity
• Number of units, measurement of unit, unit value(purchase price) of each item
• Total weight
• Shipper’s signature and date

H.S. Code

An HS code or HTS code stands for Harmonized System or Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Developed by the World Customs Organization (WCO), the codes are used to classify and define internationally traded goods.

In most cases, in order to import or export a product internationally, the traded good should be assigned an HTS code that corresponds with the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the country of import. Providing the corresponding H.S. code can help to accelerate the customs processing speed.