Exporting Terms 101

When exporting and importing items, it’s important to know key logistics terms which will help you understand the process better. 

List of Terminologies

• Actual Weight - The weight of your shipment that appears on the weighing scale
• Volumetric Weight - This refers to the weight of a parcel measured in volumetric kilograms, or the equivalent weight that the volume of a box takes up. This can be computed by multiplying the Length, Width, and Height of the box in centimeters and dividing that all over 5000.
• Chargeable Weight - This refers to the weight to which your shipment will be charged. This is taken by comparing the volumetric weight of the box and the actual weight of the shipment and using whichever has the higher number between the two.  Chargeable weight is usually measured in increments of 0.5 and the weight of the shipment is automatically rounded up by 0.5, meaning that a shipment with a chargeable weight of 23.64KGs would be rounded up to 24KGs.
• Packing List - Refers to list of items for every shipment. A packing list is used to itemize the contents of each shipment to ensure that all items are accounted for and declared. The packing list is the basis for customs to check if the item can be accepted into the destination country or not. Any items not in the packing list runs the risk of having the entire shipment held, returned, or destroyed.
• De Minimis - Refers to the minimum value of goods below which no duties and/or taxes are charged by customs authorities upon importation. If your items are declared to be a value less than the country’s de minimis, then the chances of your goods being charged duties and taxes are very low. The de minimis value per country varies. For example, some countries like Hong Kong have a value of $0 (automatically taxed), while others may have a higher value, like $800 for the United States.
• Duties and Taxes - These are extra charges imposed by the government in the destination country. Duties and taxes are usually imposed to protect domestic industries. Note that the majority of shipments have the recipient pay for the duties and taxes. Only under special arrangements are duties and taxes charged to the sender.
• Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) - This document is important for certain items that may be deemed as dangerous to ship, like liquid items or items that are likely to be flammable. Couriers and forwarders may request this document as it provides information on the safety precautions for the shipment of your items.
• Delivered Duties Unpaid (DDU) - Refers to the terms of service that an air courier provides. The quote of service it lists covers all of the handling and transportation fees up to the delivery of the items, but does not include the duties and/or taxes associated with the shipment. The majority of courier services offer this since the actual computation of  duties and taxes is done by the customs of the destination country and not the courier.
• Waybill - This is the document that carries all the important details of the shipment such as the sender and recipient details. Items sent via express delivery or courier usually have their waybill attached to the boxes. Items sent via freight forwarding have a more formal waybill which is used in processing the release of the cargo.