Lead time is the whole problem
A certificate that takes a week is not a problem if it was started two weeks ago and is a lost sailing if it was started yesterday. We work backwards from the cut-off, not forwards from the booking.
Services
Certificates, licences and duty refunds
Certificates carry their own lead times, and a shipment that arrives ahead of its paperwork simply sits at the port. We apply alongside the booking, not after it.
Overview
Documentation & Compliance
Every certificate on a shipment has an issuing authority, a lead time and a condition that has to be true before it can be granted. None of that is visible from a booking screen, and it is the commonest reason a shipment that was planned properly still misses its sailing.
We treat the document set as part of the routing rather than as an administrative afterthought: what each one requires, who issues it, how long it takes, and which of them has to exist before the cargo moves rather than before it arrives.
- Certificate of Origin (COO) — Ordinary and preferential forms, prepared for the specific trade agreement your buyer intends to claim under — the two are not interchangeable.
- Phytosanitary certificates — For plants, produce and plant-based products subject to inspection at origin or destination, arranged with the inspection booked rather than assumed.
- CITES permits — For goods containing species listed under the convention, arranged before the cargo moves. These cannot be obtained retrospectively.
- Import License per Invoice (LPI) — Per-invoice licensing for the product classes that require it, applied for against the actual commercial invoice.
- Thai FDA compliance — Support for food, cosmetics and other FDA-controlled goods, from product registration through to release — including the licence and product registration that must both exist before the goods arrive.
- Tax refund under Section 29 — Reclaiming import duty paid on materials that leave again as finished exports, with the input-output relationship documented as the claim requires.
- Document set reconciliation — Invoice, packing list, bill of lading and letter of credit terms checked against each other before anything is submitted, because a bank rejects on a discrepancy the shipper can no longer fix.
Good to know
Three things that decide the cost and the timing
Some permits cannot be issued late
CITES permits and several inspection certificates have to exist before the goods move. There is no retrospective route, and a shipment that left without one is a compliance problem rather than a delay.
Section 29 needs its trail built early
A duty refund on re-exported materials depends on being able to tie the imported inputs to the exported outputs. That record has to be kept from the import, not assembled at the claim.
Common questions
Documentation & Compliance: common questions
Which certificate does my shipment actually need?
It depends on the goods, the destination and sometimes the buyer's own contract. The tariff classification is the starting point, because the HS heading carries the permit conditions attached to it. Send us the product description and the destination and we will tell you what is required, what it costs and how long it takes before you book.
What is the Section 29 tax refund?
It is the mechanism for reclaiming import duty paid on materials that are subsequently exported again as part of a finished product. It depends on being able to evidence the link between what was imported and what was exported, so the records have to be kept from the import onward. We prepare and file the claim where the trail supports it.
Our other services
Sea Freight
FCL and LCL on the major lanes, with the chargeable basis and the port pair settled before you book.
Air Freight
Urgent, high-value and perishable cargo, priced on chargeable weight and moved on the first available uplift.
Land Freight
Port haulage, domestic distribution and cross-border road freight with the border formalities arranged in advance.
Customs Clearance
Import and export declarations, tariff classification, duty assessment and FTA preference claims, handled in-house.