The Set, Not the Sheet
Import and Export Documentation
Nobody is held up by one document. They are held up because the set is incomplete or inconsistent — an invoice that does not match a packing list, a description too vague to classify, a certificate the destination wanted and nobody mentioned. Working out what a specific shipment needs is the first half of the job; making the pieces agree is the second. The submission itself is customs declarations. For re-export in particular the paperwork is unforgiving, and the complete checklist lists every document in order.
What a Set Contains
The Documents Behind a Shipment
Which of these applies depends on the goods, the route and the destination.
- Commercial invoice
- Packing list
- Bill of lading or air waybill
- Certificate of origin
- Product certificates and permits
- Insurance and transport documents
Need a Document Set?
Send the commercial details and the destination
Get Documents Prepared Call +971 4 239 7107What Decides the Document Set
There is no universal list. What a shipment needs is determined by four things, and changing any of them changes the set.
What the goods are
Product type drives whether certificates, approvals or permits apply on top of the commercial documents - see regulatory compliance support.
Where they were made
Origin determines duty treatment and whether a certificate of origin is needed, and in what form.
Where they are going
Each destination has its own requirements. Documents that satisfy UAE customs may not satisfy the receiving country.
How they travel
Sea, air and road each carry a different transport document, and the entry type follows the mode.
Documents outlive the shipment
Entries can be revisited long after goods have been sold, and the file has to still make sense then. Keeping the set complete and consistent is as much about the year after as the week of shipping.
Two Ways to Use This
Preparation or Review
Not every shipper needs documents written from scratch.
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Prepared from your information
You send the commercial details, we build the set - the usual arrangement where we are also handling the freight.
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Reviewed before submission
You have the documents; we check them for gaps and contradictions before they go anywhere. Cheaper than a hold.
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Filed as well
Where we are clearing the shipment, the same set goes straight into the entry.
Why Cannata
Written by People Who Submit Them
A document prepared by someone who never files it is prepared without feedback. Ours are prepared by the team that finds out immediately if they were wrong.
We file these ourselves
The same team prepares and submits, so mistakes come back to us before they reach you.
Checked against the cargo
Where the goods are with us, the paperwork can be reconciled against what is on the shelf.
Complete before it moves
Gaps found while the shipment is still here, not once it is at a border.
Rate Request
Get a price for this shipment
Give us the route and the cargo and we will come back with a rate, usually within one working day.
Our FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
What shippers ask about document sets.
