Export documents.
One page per document: who issues it, when you need it, and the thing it gets confused with. Every figure carries its source and the date we last checked it.
Issued in Indonesia
Required by Indonesian rules, produced before the goods leave.
V-Legal document (SVLK)
SVLK is Indonesia's timber legality assurance system. The document it issues for a shipment is called a V-Legal document, and every wood product leaving the country carries one. It confirms that the timber was legally harvested and that the chain of custody from forest to exporter holds up.
Phytosanitary certificate
A phytosanitary certificate states that a consignment of plants or plant products has been inspected and meets the plant health requirements of the importing country. For Indonesian exports it is issued by Badan Karantina Indonesia, the national quarantine agency, against the consignment itself.
REX statement on origin
Under the European Union's Generalised Scheme of Preferences, preferential origin is self-declared. An exporter registered in the REX database puts a statement on origin onto the commercial document instead of obtaining a certificate. Indonesian exporters have worked this way since 1 January 2021.
BPOM registration
BPOM is the Indonesian authority for food, drugs, traditional medicines and cosmetics. It registers products placed on the Indonesian market, whether made locally or imported. Exporters meet it because a producer selling domestically will hold it, and because buyers routinely mistake it for something it is not.
Halal certification (BPJPH)
Indonesia certifies halal through BPJPH, an agency under the Ministry of Religious Affairs, with audits carried out by accredited inspection bodies. Certification is being made mandatory in phases for products sold in Indonesia. For an exporter, the question is whether the destination recognises it.
PEB and NPE
Every consignment leaving Indonesia is declared to customs on a PEB, the export declaration. Customs check it, and if everything is in order they issue an NPE, the export service note. Without an NPE the goods cannot travel, which makes it the document that proves an export actually happened.
Fumigation certificate
A fumigation certificate records that a consignment, or the wood packaging around it, was treated against pests by an approved operator. Whether you need one depends on the destination and on what you are importing, and it has to be arranged before the container is sealed.
LARTAS restrictions
LARTAS is the Indonesian list of goods that are prohibited or restricted. It applies in both directions, so it reaches exports as well as imports. Goods on it either cannot move at all, or move only with a technical permit from the ministry that controls them.
SNI standards
SNI is the Indonesian national standard system, run by the national standardisation agency. Most standards are voluntary. A minority are made mandatory by the responsible ministry for goods sold in Indonesia, and those are the ones with legal weight at home.
ETPIK registration
ETPIK is the registration that makes a company a recognised exporter of forest industry products. Only a registered exporter can obtain the V-Legal document that every Indonesian wood shipment needs, which makes it the first thing to establish about a furniture supplier.
Required by the European Union
Conditions the EU sets on entry. None of them are arranged by an Indonesian rule.
EUDR due diligence statement
A due diligence statement is what an operator files before placing a covered commodity on the European Union market. It records the geolocation of the plots the goods came from and confirms the operator has assessed and mitigated the risk that they are linked to deforestation or illegal production.
EU catch certificate
The European Union requires a catch certificate for imported wild-caught fishery products. The flag state of the vessel validates that the catch was taken legally, and without that validation the consignment does not enter. The document originates upstream of the processing plant, at the vessel.
EU approved establishment number
Products of animal origin, fishery products among them, can only enter the European Union from an establishment that already appears on the EU's published list for that country. Each approved plant carries a number, and the approval has to exist before your consignment ships.
Export health certificate
An export health certificate is issued by the competent authority in the exporting country and travels with the consignment. It attests that the product meets the public health requirements of the destination. For fishery products into the European Union it accompanies the catch certificate rather than replacing it.
CPNP notification
A cosmetic product cannot be placed on the European Union market until it has been notified through the Cosmetic Product Notification Portal. The notification is made by a Responsible Person established in the Union, and for an import that is normally the importer.
EU organic certificate of inspection
A consignment sold as organic in the European Union has to arrive with an electronic certificate of inspection, issued in the Commission's TRACES platform by a control body the EU recognises. Without that certificate the goods are not released, and they cannot then be sold as organic.
TRACES
TRACES is the European Commission's own platform for the documents that accompany regulated consignments into the Union. Health entry documents, organic certificates of inspection and deforestation due diligence statements all pass through it, which makes it the single system most Indonesian shipments touch.
REACH
REACH is the European chemicals regulation, and an essential oil imported into the Union is a substance under it. The registration obligation falls on the EU importer. A producer outside the Union can lift it only by appointing an only representative established in the EU.
EU general product safety
The general product safety regulation applies to consumer products that no sector rule covers, which in Indonesian sourcing means furniture, homeware, décor and craft. It requires an economic operator established in the European Union to be responsible for the product, plus traceability and technical documentation.
EU packaging obligations
European rules make the party that first places packaging on a national market responsible for financing its collection and recycling. For an importer of Indonesian goods that is you, in each member state you sell into, and it is a registration and a recurring cost rather than a border document.
Responsible Person
European cosmetic rules require a Responsible Person established in the Union for every product placed on the market. They hold the product information file, they answer to authorities, and an Indonesian manufacturer cannot hold the role. For an importer buying direct, it is you.
Required by other markets
Destination requirements outside the EU. Almost none of them apply at the same time.
GACC registration
Overseas facilities producing, processing or storing food for export to China have to be registered with China's customs administration. The requirement took effect at the start of 2022, and a producer without registration cannot ship food to China whatever else is in order.
FDA prior notice
Food imported into the United States has to be notified to the Food and Drug Administration before the consignment arrives. The notice is filed electronically and it is a condition of entry, so a shipment that turns up unannounced is a shipment that waits.
SABER certificate of conformity
Goods entering Saudi Arabia are registered on SABER, the conformity platform run by the Saudi standards authority. Regulated products need a product certificate first, valid for a year, and then a shipment certificate for each consignment. The second cannot be issued without the first.
Korean food import declaration
South Korea controls imported food through its Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Each consignment is declared by the Korean importer before customs release, and the overseas manufacturing facility has to be registered separately. Both have to be in place before goods travel.
Hong Kong food import requirements
Hong Kong charges almost no import tariff, so the work is food control rather than customs. The Centre for Food Safety operates registration and permit requirements for particular categories, and importers of food generally have to be registered.
FSVP
The Foreign Supplier Verification Program requires the US importer of food to verify that their foreign supplier produces it to American standards. It belongs to you rather than to the Indonesian producer, it has to exist before the food arrives, and inspectors ask to see it.
Lacey Act declaration
The United States requires importers of plants and plant products to file a declaration stating the scientific name, the country where the plant was harvested, the quantity and the value. For Indonesian furniture, wood and rattan it is the single most commonly missed American requirement.
Canadian import licence
Canada licenses food importers under its Safe Food for Canadians rules and requires them to hold a written preventive control plan. The licence is the control point rather than the consignment, and both obligations sit on the Canadian side before any Indonesian food arrives.
FDA facility registration
Any foreign facility that manufactures, processes, packs or holds food for consumption in the United States has to be registered with the FDA, with a US agent named. It renews on a cycle, and lapsed registration refuses food as reliably as no registration at all.
JAS organic
Japan operates its own organic standard, and food sold there as organic has to meet it. Certification under European or American organic rules does not automatically transfer, so a producer selling organic to several markets usually holds more than one certification.
UKCA marking
UKCA is the British conformity marking that replaced CE for goods placed on the market in Great Britain under certain product regulations. It applies to regulated product categories, and most Indonesian furniture and homeware is not in one of them.
GCC conformity
The Gulf states develop common standards through a regional standardisation organisation, and individual members run their own conformity assessment on top. For an exporter this means a product certificate, a shipment certificate, or both, depending on the destination and the goods.
UK border requirements
Since leaving the European Union the United Kingdom operates its own border model for imported goods. Products of animal and plant origin are placed in risk categories that decide what certification and what checks apply, and the importer pre-notifies arrivals.
Australian biosecurity conditions
Australia runs one of the strictest biosecurity regimes in the world. Import conditions are set per commodity and per origin, and they decide whether goods may enter, what treatment is required and whether the container will be inspected on arrival.
NZ import health standard
New Zealand controls imports through import health standards, published per commodity. The standard states the conditions, the treatments and the documentation required, and goods that do not meet it are treated, re-exported or destroyed.
Swiss import requirements
Switzerland sits outside the EU customs union while running food law that is closely aligned with it. That combination catches importers who assume one answer covers both the customs position and the food safety one.
Norwegian import requirements
Norway applies much of EU food law through the EEA agreement while staying outside the customs union. It is also a major seafood producer, which shapes both what it imports and how carefully aquatic products are controlled.
Turkish import control
Turkey requires control certificates for many food and agricultural imports, issued before the goods arrive. It is in a customs union with the EU for industrial products, which does not extend to agriculture, so the two categories behave differently.
Singapore food import
Singapore requires food importers to be licensed, and for several categories the source establishment has to be accredited before anything ships. It is also a major re-export hub, so a good share of what arrives is not consumed there.
Japan import notification
Japan requires a food import notification for each consignment, submitted before release. Inspection and testing follow a monitoring plan, and a failure moves the product onto enhanced testing that applies to subsequent shipments.
Taiwan food registration
Taiwan requires food importers and, for several categories, foreign producers to be registered, and imports are inspected at the border under a risk-based plan. Registration is done before shipping rather than at arrival.
ANVISA registration
Brazil's health surveillance agency controls food, cosmetics and related products. Depending on the category a product is registered or notified before it may be sold, and the obligation sits with a Brazilian entity rather than the exporter.
COFEPRIS requirements
Mexico's federal health risk authority controls food, beverages, cosmetics and supplements entering the country. The obligation sits with the Mexican importer, and labelling follows national standards in Spanish.
Trade documents
Neither government issues these, and all of them get treated as proving more than they do.
ISPM 15 treatment mark
ISPM 15 is the international standard for wood packaging material in trade. Crates, pallets and dunnage made of solid wood have to be treated and stamped with the recognised mark. The rule applies to the packaging around a consignment whatever the consignment happens to be.
Certificate of analysis
A certificate of analysis is a laboratory report on a specific lot. It records the measured values for whatever the contract names: moisture, defect count, active content, microbiology. Its usefulness depends entirely on whether the sample it describes came from the goods that shipped.
Safety data sheet
A safety data sheet describes a substance for the people who handle it: composition, hazards, first aid, firefighting, spill response, storage and transport classification. For essential oils and for charcoal it travels with the goods and decides how the carrier treats them.
Certificate of origin forms
A certificate of origin proves where goods were made so they can enter at a preferential rate. There is no single form. Each agreement has its own, and presenting the wrong one for the route means the preference is refused even though the goods qualified.
HACCP
HACCP is a food safety management system. A plant identifies where its process could go wrong, sets controls at those points, monitors them and records the result. It runs continuously at the factory, and nothing about it travels with a consignment.
Bill of lading
A bill of lading is a receipt for the goods, evidence of the contract of carriage, and a document of title. That third role is the one that matters commercially: whoever holds the original controls release of the cargo at the other end.
Commercial invoice and packing list
The commercial invoice states what was sold and for how much. The packing list states what is physically in the container and how it is packed. Every other document in the set is read against these two, and a disagreement between any of them stops the consignment or the payment.
Pre-shipment inspection
A pre-shipment inspection is an independent check of the goods before the container is sealed. An inspector attends the factory or warehouse, samples against your specification, watches the loading and reports what they saw. It is the last point in an order where a problem is still cheap.
Marine insurance certificate
A marine insurance certificate evidences cover for a specific consignment. Whether the seller arranges it depends on the Incoterm: CIF and CIP oblige them to insure, and every other rule leaves the buyer to do it. The level of cover differs between those two.
Verified gross mass
Under the international convention for safety of life at sea, a packed container may not be loaded onto a ship until its verified gross mass has been provided to the carrier and the terminal. It applies to every container on every route, and a missing figure means the box does not sail.
Letter of credit
A documentary credit is a promise by your bank to pay the seller's bank when a named set of documents is presented exactly as the credit specifies. It moves the argument from the goods to the paperwork, which is a real improvement and the source of every complaint about it.
Certificate of free sale
A certificate of free sale states that a product is legally sold in the country that issued it. Several importing markets require one for food, cosmetics and supplements. It attests to legality at home, and nothing about compliance with the rules of the market you are shipping to.
CITES permit
The convention on international trade in endangered species controls trade in listed plants and animals through permits issued before the goods move. Several Indonesian export products are affected, and the listings change, so the check is per species and per shipment rather than once.
Weight and quality certificate
On bulk agricultural shipments an independent surveyor weighs the cargo and draws samples at loading, issuing a certificate that both sides contract against. It exists because weight and quality disputes on bulk goods are otherwise unresolvable once the container has sailed.
Dangerous goods declaration
Goods classified as dangerous for transport need a declaration prepared by somebody trained to prepare it, correct packing and marking, and a carrier who accepts the class. Many Indonesian essential oils fall in scope because of their flash point, and buyers discover it at booking.
Voluntary schemes
Nobody's law. Your own customers may ask for these, and a producer without them can still be entirely legitimate.
FSC certification
FSC is a voluntary certification scheme covering responsible forest management and the chain of custody that follows the timber. No country requires it. Indonesian buyers meet it because their own customers ask for it, and it sits alongside the compulsory legality documents rather than replacing them.
ASC and farm assurance
ASC certifies responsible aquaculture and GLOBALG.A.P. certifies farm practice across aquaculture and crops. Neither is required by any importing government. Both are asked for by retailers, and for a supplier they represent a real cost that has to be earned back on price.
Organic certification
Organic is a regulated claim rather than a voluntary label, and the regulation is the destination's. The European Union and the United States run separate systems with separate approved control bodies, so an Indonesian producer selling to both usually holds two certifications and two sets of records.
GLOBALG.A.P.
GLOBALG.A.P. is a private standard for good agricultural practice at farm level, covering food safety, worker welfare and environmental practice. European retailers frequently require it, which makes it a commercial requirement rather than a legal one.
ISPO certificate
Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil is a national certification scheme run by the Indonesian government, and it is mandatory for palm oil businesses in Indonesia. It is a legality and good practice scheme under Indonesian law rather than a voluntary market standard.
Not sure which documents your shipment needs?
Tell us the product and the destination. We come back with the documents that actually apply to that route, and who issues each one.