How to Export from Indonesia- Guide for beginners (Documents and Information Needed)

Exporting goods to another country can sometimes become a rather tedious and bureaucratic process. Often enough, there seem to be countless rules and regulations to obey in order to successfully export to another country.  That is why in this article, we have condensed and simplified a list of documents as well as information that is needed by the individual or business who is seeking to ship goods from Indonesia to the rest of the world be it by air or land freight.  To see more articles related to logistics in Indonesia, feel free to click here. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Knowing The Type Of Service You Need

You have to be sure of exactly the kind of service you want from your freight forwarder or logistics company (Yes there is a difference, if you were not aware about it , click here). To break it down, firstly you have to classify if your goods need to have a Door to Door service, Port to Port service, Port to Door service or a Door to Port service.

Secondly, you need to provide your HS codes to the entrusted agency. HS codes are basically Harmonized System codes which are a group of numbers used to classify the various types of goods. Providing the HS codes help the freight forwarder to understand more about the goods that you are exporting.

Sea Freight or Air Freight

Sea freight is usually longer, but is also  a more affordable option. If you need sea freight, you need to classify if  your goods are Less than Container Loads (LCL) or Full Container Loads (FCL). You can read all about LCL and FCL shipments here. To identify the type of sea freight shipment, it helps alot to calculate the dimensions of  your goods in Cubic meters (CBM). Having the numbers in CBM would give you a better idea as to how much of a space your goods are going to occupy in a container.

Air Freight on the other hand is a little different. Usually more expensive but faster, air freight also has weight restrictions to the cargo. Which is why, you need to know the weight of your goods (in KG or LBS). You also have to provide the dimensions of your goods. Furthermore, make sure the goods that you export are not prohibited by the airline that you are utilising for the air freight service.

Documentation

To export from Indonesia, you typically need to provide with 2 main documents. They are the Invoice and the Packing List. The invoice in essence describes the the order details such as from and to destinations, consignee information etc. The packing list on the other hand provides the details of  the goods being packed, such as weight, dimensions, quantity etc. Furthermore, you also have to provide the address for pick up and delivery if it is a door to door shipment.  Lastly, do take note that if you are exporting restricted items such plants or meat, you may have extra steps to take.

All in all, these are the type of information and documents needed for export shipments from Indonesia. To read more articles about logistics, click here. Comment below on what you think.

PS: If you are going to export from Indonesia, fill in the inquiry here