How to Export Goods From Nigeria To Other Countries

How to Export Goods From Nigeria To Other Countries  (Export Documents and Procedures)

Learning how to export goods from Nigeria to other countries could be an opportunity that will open a new or another source of income for you. Export entrepreneurs have equipped themselves with skills on how to export goods from Nigeria to other countries while their get paid in foreign currencies.

Understanding how to export goods from Nigeria to other countries is a prerequisite if you want to part in export business, an opportunity any one can venture into but it’s highly recommended you learn before exporting because trading in international markets is more complicated than domestic trade. You can check out our export training how to export goods from Nigeria to other countries, the training offers both online and offline workshop training organized for new or intending exporters.

One of the key element to note on how to export goods from Nigeria to other countries is documentation. Export business is all about documentation.

A vital information you need to know on how to export goods from Nigeria to other countries is that you must get familiar with export documents because there are essential for successful clearing of an export shipment.

Inasmuch as you are learning how to export goods from Nigeria to other countries, you should seriously consider having the freight forwarder handle the documentation that exporting requires.

The number and kinds of documents that the exporter must deal with vary according to the destination of the shipment. Because each country has different import regulations, the exporter must be careful to provide all proper documentation.

Ready to Know How to Export Goods From Nigeria To Other Countries Then Get Familiar with Export Documents

To know how to export goods from Nigeria to other countries is to know export documentations especially the specific documents a given export requires.

Most international trade documents can be placed into the following categories.

• Commercial documents
• Banking documents
• Transportation and insurance documents
• Government formalities documents

In general, the purposes of all of them are to facilitate, control, and keep track of international cargo movements. We will discuss each of them in turn.

COMMERCIAL DOCUMENTS

Am important point on how to export goods from Nigeria to other countries is the commercial documents, the commercial documents are prepared by the buyer and the seller for each other. The ones to be discussed here are the following.

• Request for quotation
• Quotation
• Pro forma invoice
• Terms and conditions of sale
• Purchase order
• Order acceptance and confirmation
• Sales contract
• Commercial invoice

Buyers and sellers can exchange any number of letters, telephone calls, faxes, and e-mail messages as the initial steps of an international transaction. This will normally lead to a request for quotation.

You, as the exporter, would logically follow with a quotation, which is basically the price for which you can supply the goods for the specified shipping and payment terms. All your costs, and your profit or commission, should be included. Your quotation should reference the number on the request, if there was one, and include a date until which it is valid.

You will want the quotation to be as specific as possible to avoid misunderstandings. It is often signed, and it is now possible to send e-mail messages with your signature on them.

Sometimes an importer will want a more formal document that will help in getting an import permit or foreign exchange authorization and/or to open a letter of credit. If this is the case, the importer may go one step further and ask for a pro forma invoice.

It looks like a regular commercial invoice except that it says “Pro Forma” at the top. These words mean that the document in hand isn’t the actual commercial invoice but is almost exactly what the actual invoice will look like.

Once satisfied with the quotation and/or pro forma invoice, the importer may place an order.

When the order is by phone, the exporter should send a sales confirmation, which the importer signs and returns. This procedure creates a contract of sale.

As an exporter, once you ship you will need to supply a commercial invoice that says how much the importer owes you (even if he or she has already paid) and for what. Many countries have their own requirements for commercial invoices, which you can obtain from customs brokers/freight forwarder.

BANKING DOCUMENTS

One of The processes of paying and getting paid require relatively few documents. Cash in advance may be as simple as the importer’s sending the exporter a check or depositing it in the exporter’s bank account. It is rarely more complicated than filling out a simple form to buy a bank draft or to order an airmail or a cable transfer.

Consignment, open-account, and credit card transactions are equally uncomplicated.

With payment by bill of exchange (sight or time draft), the exporter must complete a form to instruct his bank to prepare the draft and send it to the importer’s bank. The first time you do this, you should sit down with your banker and go over each of the options that are presented on the form.

A letter of credit sale is somewhat more complex than other forms of international payment. There are at least four documents involved.

1. Application for letter of credit
2. Letter of credit
3. Advice of letter of credit
4. Drafts (drawn on a bank for payment)

The application for a letter of credit must be completed by the importer and given to the opening bank. It is fairly complicated and should definitely be completed the first few times with the help of your banker. Major international banks now accept applications from established customers by computer.

The importer simply fills in details on a form in his data-processing system and transmits it to his bank by modem.

The actual letter of credit is transmitted by the opening bank to its branch or correspondent in the exporter’s country. It tells the exporter exactly which documents to provide to get paid.

The advice of a letter of credit is a simple form that is sent to the exporter by a bank in its country. It says that a credit has been opened in the exporter’s favor, and it is followed by the actual LC. It gives the exporting firm assurance that it “can begin preparing” the goods for shipment.

Finally, the exporter must present drafts for collection to the paying or negotiating bank. For example, if you receive a letter of credit that is payable upon presentation of documentary evidence that you have shipped as instructed, you can go directly from the port to the bank, armed with a draft for collection and the required documents. More likely, you will ask your freight forwarder to do this for you. To save time, the forwarder will probably send the draft and other documents to the bank by courier (at your expense, of course).

TRANSPORTATION AND INSURANCE DOCUMENTS

The transportation documents that will be mentioned in this section

include:

• Packing list
• Delivery instructions to domestic carrier
• Inland bill of lading
• Dock receipt
• Insurance request and insurance certificate
• Shipper’s letter of instructions
• Ocean bill of lading or airway bill
• Booking request
• Arrival notice
• Carrier’s certificate and release order
• Delivery order and freight release

The purpose of most of these documents is to keep track of merchandise as it passes from one hand to another and to make sure it isn’t delivered to someone who is not supposed to receive it. If a shipper delivers goods to a trucking company, the shipper gets a receipt to show they have been delivered (the inland bill of lading). The truck driver needs proof of delivery when the goods are delivered to the dock (a dock receipt) or to any other location. If a shipment disappears, there should be a trail of documents that will tell investigators who had custody of it at the time it was lost.

There is another important aspect to this paper trail. No one wants to be held accountable for damage to merchandise that was caused by someone else. Therefore, each party who receives goods is supposed to make a visual inspection of the boxes.

The packing list is a simple document that shows how many boxes there are in a shipment, how to identify each one, and what is in each one.

As an exporter, you are likely to be shipping goods by truck to seaports and airports. You must provide delivery instructions to the domestic carrier. The carrier, in turn, will provide you with a signed inland bill of lading. This document shows that the carrier has received the goods and to whom they are to be delivered.

When your trucking company delivers goods to an ocean terminal, it will obtain a dock receipt.

This is the domestic carrier’s proof of when and where it made delivery.

If the exporter is responsible for insuring the shipment, he or she will fill out an insurance request and obtain an insurance certificate. If you export CIF under a letter of credit, the insurance certificate will have to be included in the package of documents you present to the bank for payment.

Assuming the exporter uses the services of an international freight forwarder, it must tell the forwarder which goods it will receive for forwarding, where and when to find them, and what to do with the goods and with the documents. This information is communicated by means of a shipper’s letter of instructions

If both you and your freight forwarder are doing your jobs, the forwarder will send a booking request to the chosen carrier as soon as you give the information he or she needs. Then, when the goods reach their country of destination, the airline or steamship line will send an arrival notice to the importer or his or her customs broker.

Airlines usually phone, too, to make sure the message gets through. Then the carrier will provide customs with a carrier’s certificate and release order; the consignee will give his or her broker or the carrier release order; and the carrier will provide the consignee with a freight release. More and more, this transaction is being conducted electronically between the carrier, the broker, and Customs.

GOVERNMENT FORMALITIES DOCUMENTS

Nigeria and foreign governments all want to know which goods enter and leave their countries. They need information, which is provided by documents, both for statistical purposes and to facilitate control. A country can’t limit imports of certain goods, or restrict exports to certain countries, unless it knows what is moving in and out.

The government control documents we will mention in this section include:

• Import license, foreign exchange authorization
• Export license application, validated license
• Certificate of origin
• Inspection report
• Commercial, special, and consular invoices
• Shipper’s export declaration
• Customs entries

Nigerian government require all their exporters to be licensed and/or to apply for a license to make each shipment. That way they can control what leaves the country and make sure that at least most of the foreign exchange is sent to the country.

Every national government wants to know the country of origin of imported goods, and often an exporter must provide this information by means of a formal document called a certificate of origin.

There are many cases in which governments or importers (and sometimes exporters as well) demand inspection reports. Some developing countries insist on inspection of outgoing shipments to make sure their exporters are not sending illegal or low-quality merchandise.

Finally, some importers want goods to be inspected by independent organizations as a condition for payment to be made to the exporter.

Your commercial invoice, discussed previously, is a government control as well as a commercial document. Importing country authorities use it to see information such as types and quantities of goods, countries of origin, and values.

There are a few countries that still require documents known as consular invoices. This is a special form that must be “legalized” by a consulate of the country to which you are shipping. It is theoretically to prevent prohibited or overpriced, or in some cases under priced, goods from being shipped to a country,

but its main function is probably to give some countries’ consulates a bit of extra income.

To document your shipments correctly, you need information about which documents are required and how to complete them.

If you really want to practically know how to export goods from Nigeria to other countries, I suggest you join our export business training where you will be practically exposed to export skills and strategies needed to how to export goods from Nigeria to other countries.