Export compliance checklist for Indian exporters: documents, codes and checks

Export compliance is often described as a maze. In practice it is a checklist with three layers: the registrations you need before you can ship at all, the documents that make up every shipment file, and the checks that vary by product, buyer and destination. This article walks through all three. Rules change, so treat it as a structure to fill in with your current sources, not a substitute for them.

Layer 1: registrations you need before the first shipment

• Importer Exporter Code (IEC) from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).
• Authorised Dealer (AD) code from your bank, registered at each port of export.
• GST registration, and the Letter of Undertaking (LUT) if you export without paying integrated GST.
• Registration-cum-Membership Certificate (RCMC) with the relevant export promotion council where your product requires it.
• Product-specific registrations such as APEDA, FSSAI or drug licences, depending on what you export.

Layer 2: the documents in every shipment file

The common failure is not a missing document but a disagreeing one. Review the file as a whole and compare the fields that appear on more than one document.

Layer 3: checks that need a source

Three checks cannot be done from memory. Each needs an external reference, and the reference should be kept with the file.

• Classification: the ITC-HS code must be consistent across the file and defensible for the product. Record the reasoning.
• Buyer verification: confirm the buyer exists in its home registry, is not on a sanctions or denied-party list, and that the consignee matches. See our buyer verification guide.
• Destination requirements: labelling, certifications, prior notices and import licences differ by market. For example, food shipments to the United States involve FDA prior notice; many product categories need conformity marks in the United Kingdom and the European Union. Confirm the current rule for your product and lane.

After shipment: closing the loop

• Track the electronic Bank Realisation Certificate (e-BRC) so each shipment is matched to its payment.
• File scheme claims, such as duty remission, within their time limits.
• Keep the complete file, with the evidence for each check, for the retention period your advisers specify.

Turning the checklist into a routine

A checklist on paper is only as good as the person who remembers it on a busy Friday. The routine that holds up is one where the file is assembled in full, compared in one pass, checked against the buyer and the market, and approved by a second person with the evidence attached. That is the routine Verifi runs for exporters, and it is worth running even if you do it by hand.