subject: What Kind Of Paperwork Do I Need To Ship From Canada To The Usa? [print this page] International shipping always requires more paperwork than domestic shipping. People often don't think about the fact that even shipping from Canada to the US is considered an international shipment, but it is, and so there is a lot of extra paperwork that sometimes has to be looked after in order to successfully send shipments between the two countries. One of the things that it is most important to do is to ask your Austin courier service to walk you through all the paperwork that is required even before you start shipping internationally, that way you're prepared and have some idea of what the process entails.
There are different documents that have to accompany different types of shipments. Things like the nature of the goods, and their overall value, can determine what sort of specialized paperwork you might need in order to ship certain things across the border. A perfect example of this is things which are covered under certain trade agreements. If, for instance, you were shipping goods under the regulations involved in the NAFTA agreement, you may need special permits in order to ship across the border.
There are some documents which are universal to all goods going across an international border and which have nothing to do with the specific goods inside. These are the commercial invoice and the bill of lading, and no shipment going across a border is ever going to get across without these documents.
The commercial invoice is a straight forward document. It is simply the invoice that you would normally send your customer. The Bill of Lading is a document that the courier company prepares. This is a piece of paper that shows where the package is coming from, and where it is going. It will list the costs that were paid for shipping, and any other important details of the transaction between your organization and the courier company that you're dealing with.
There are some business situations where ignoring the paperwork or making mistakes on it won't cause any large repercussions, and this tends to make people lazy. This certainly is not the case when dealing with international shipping. A mistake here could get your shipment stopped at the border, greatly delaying your customers' products. This is going to create you a customer satisfaction problem that you clearly don't want, so take the time to make sure all paperwork is filled out correctly before shipping.
