Retirement of Import Documents

Posted on 27 April 2023 Category : Import Terms

(a) Loading of Goods and Receipt of Shipment Advice:

On loading of goods the overseas supplier despatches the shipment advice to the importer informing him about the shipment of goods. The shipment advice contains invoice number, bill of lading, airways bill number and date, name of the vessel with date, the port of export, description of goods and quantity and the date of sailing of the vessel.

(b) Retirement of Import Documents: After shipping the goods, the overseas supplier prepares the necessary documents as per the terms of contract and letter of credit and hands them over to his bank for their onward negotiation to importer in the manner as specified in the VC. The set normally contains bill of exchange, commercial invoice, bill of lading, packing list, certificate of origin, marine insurance policy, etc.

For the retirement of documents, the importer is required to submit the following documents to his bank:

A letter authorising his bank to debit the equivalent Indian rupees to the value of documents including bank charges.

Exchange control Copy of the Import Licence, if applicable.

Form Al duly completed for the remittance in foreign exchange.

Bill of Exchange accompanied by the above documents is known as the Documentary Bill of Exchange. It is of two types

Documents against Payment (Sight Drafts):

In case of sight draft, the drawer instructs the bank to hand over the relevant documents to the importer only against payment.

Documents against Acceptance (Usance Draft):

In case of usance draft, the drawer instructs the bank to hand over the relevant documents to the importer against his 'acceptance' of the bill of exchange.

(d) Scrutiny of Documents Received under UC:

After receipt of import documents from the exporter's bank, the importer's bank will scrutinise the documents as to their correctness as per the terms and conditions of UC and hands over them to the importer after payment. The importer should also scrutinise the documents and ensure that there are no discrepancies.

(e) Appointment of C&F Agent:

In India, the procedure for clearance of imported goods is very lengthy, time consuming and involves many legal formalities. Therefore, it is advisable to hire the services of C&F agents who are well versed with such formalities. The C&F Agent prepares the bill of entry containing details of goods to be cleared from the customs. In case, the C&F agent does not have relevant information about the goods to be cleared, he prepares a bill of sight in order to enable himself to physically check the goods imported and prepare bill of entry on that basis.

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