Documents that come with a lot from China and what to check in them

A lot arrives with many documents, but only a little needs checking in each. The contract says what you bought. The invoice says what it costs. The packing list says how it is packed. The waybill says who carries it and where. The product passport says what exactly the plant made. The customs papers say the cargo was imported legally. The acceptance report says what you actually got. Almost all errors are caught by one method: compare the same lines between documents and with the cargo.

Contract and specification

The contract with the supplier is the basis for everything else. A specification is attached to it: the list of items.

What to check:

• Who the seller is and who the manufacturer is. If they are different companies, this should be visible.
• The part number and version of each item, not just the name. "15 kW motor" is not a version. You need voltage, speed and mounting type.
• Terms of delivery: up to which point the seller is responsible for the cargo and costs. This is usually written with an Incoterms rule: three letters and the name of a place.
• How a defect is claimed: on the basis of which document, to whom, and who supplies the replacement.

Invoice and packing list

The invoice is the supplier's bill for the lot. It covers the money: items, quantity, price, currency, delivery terms. Customs calculates payments from the invoice.

The packing list covers the physical cargo: how many packages, what is in each, net and gross weight, dimensions, package marking. It usually has no prices. Net weight is the item without packing; gross is with the crate and pallet.

What to check:

• Names and quantities of items in the invoice and the packing list match the contract specification.
• The number of packages in the packing list matches the waybill and what arrived.
• The marking on the crates matches the package numbers in the packing list.

A mismatch even in one crate is a reason for a customs query and delay.

Transport waybill

This is the contract of carriage. The type of waybill depends on the transport:

The SMGS note is used on the railways of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, and is filled in in Russian or Chinese. The CMR note is the document of international road carriage under the Geneva Convention of 1956. The SMGS note is issued to a named consignee and is not transferred to anyone else. If the cargo goes by air, it has its own air waybill.

Product passport and the plant's quality certificate

For equipment the plant issues a passport or an operating manual. It has the model, serial number, main data and warranty terms. For serial items there is a quality certificate or a test report for the lot.

What to check: the serial number in the passport matches the number on the nameplate. The data in the passport match the version in the contract. A passport without the item's number confirms the model but not your particular unit.

Certificate of origin

It confirms the country where the item was made. It is issued by an authorized body of the exporting country. Under the Customs Code of Uzbekistan, the certificate is submitted with the declaration, and in some cases it is mandatory. Without it, release of the goods is not prohibited, but customs may apply an additional duty. So the certificate is requested from the plant before shipment, not after.

Customs documents and certification

In Uzbekistan the cargo is cleared with a cargo customs declaration. It is filed electronically. The declaration states the goods code under the commodity nomenclature (HS code), which determines the payment rates and whether permits are needed. Products on the mandatory certification list need a certificate of conformity. Customs checks its authenticity, its validity period and whether it matches the name and code in the declaration.

What to check: the HS code and the name in the declaration correspond to what you bought. If the code is chosen wrongly, the payments and the certification requirements will be wrong too.

Acceptance report

The report is drawn up at your warehouse. It closes the delivery and becomes the basis for a claim if something is wrong. The report contains:

• a count of packages and items against the specification;
• the condition of the packaging: intact, opened, wet, damaged;
• mismatches: what exactly and how many;
• signatures of the parties and the date.

Inspect the cargo at once. Under the law and the Vienna Convention, non-conformity must be reported to the seller within a reasonable time, describing what it is. Damage noticed a month later is harder to prove.

How we do it

• We sign the contract with the manufacturing plant: plant, part number and version, quantity and terms are in the paper.
• We send you what we found, with a price, photos and specifications, before the order.
• TAMINOTA prepares the invoice, packing list and transport documents, not you. The HS code, certificate of conformity, declaration and import permits are also on TAMINOTA's side.
• The acceptance report is signed at your warehouse. A defect noted in the report is replaced: the contract obliges the manufacturing plant to supply a replacement.