Export terms, in plain language.

Money and terms.

The words that appear on a quotation and decide what you are actually agreeing to.

Incoterm

A three-letter rule dividing cost and risk between seller and buyer. The trap: it changes what a price includes, so an FOB number and a CIF number are not comparable.

FOB

Free on board. The seller delivers on the vessel. The trap: almost every Indonesian quotation says this, and for containers it leaves a window at the terminal where the seller carries risk they cannot control.

FCA

Free carrier. The seller delivers to a named place, and it generally suits containers better than FOB. The trap: the named place matters and is often left off.

CIF

Cost, insurance and freight. The trap: the minimum insurance cover under this rule is narrower than most buyers assume they are getting.

Proforma invoice

A formal offer restating what will be supplied. The trap: it is not a commercial invoice and sending it to a broker as one causes delays.

T/T

Telegraphic transfer, meaning a bank wire. The trap: it protects nothing on its own, and what matters is what the balance is released against.

L/C

Letter of credit. A bank pays against documents presented exactly as specified. The trap: it checks paperwork rather than goods.

Shipping.

The words a forwarder will use on the assumption you already speak them.

FCL and LCL

Full container load and less than container load. The trap: LCL adds two handling operations and is not automatically cheaper than filling your own box from several suppliers.

Bill of lading

The carrier's document, and in original form a document of title. The trap: originals arriving after the vessel is the most common documentary delay from Indonesia.

Telex release

The seller surrenders the originals at origin so the goods can be collected without them. The trap: the seller has given up their hold on the cargo when they do it.

Demurrage and detention

Charges for keeping a container beyond free time, at the terminal and outside it. The trap: the clock runs regardless of whose fault the delay is.

VGM

Verified gross mass. The container cannot be loaded to the ship without it. The trap: it is cargo plus packing plus the empty container, not the packing list weight.

Transhipment

Transferring to another vessel at a hub. The trap: normal on Indonesian cargo, and each transfer is a chance for delay.

Reefer

A refrigerated container with a temperature recorder. The trap: the recording becomes part of the goods in any dispute.

Paperwork and quality.

The documents and terms that decide whether goods can enter and whether you have to accept them.

Certificate of origin

Establishes where goods originated. The trap: a generic one may not support a preferential duty claim, which needs the specific form the arrangement requires.

Phytosanitary certificate

Plant health, issued by the Indonesian quarantine authority against the destination's requirements. The trap: issued against a shipment, so it cannot be produced retrospectively.

Certificate of analysis

What a laboratory found in a sample. The trap: which sample, which method and which date are the questions nobody asks.

AQL

The proportion of defective units you accept in a lot, used to set a sampling plan. The trap: it gives a defensible decision rather than certainty.

Pre-shipment inspection

Checking goods before the container is sealed. The trap: it is only as good as the specification and the retained sample it compares against.

Retained sample

A sealed duplicate held at the producer. The trap: without one, as per sample means as per whatever either side remembers.

First article

One unit made to your specification and approved in writing before the run starts. The trap: skipping it makes variation across a batch a matter of opinion.

Questions buyers ask.

Read next.

• Incoterms for Indonesian shipments

  Almost every quotation out of Indonesia says FOB. For a container that is the wrong rule, and the body that writes the rules says so.

• How to read an export quotation

  Nine things a quotation has to say before it can be compared to another. What each line means and which absences matter.

• Export documents, by category

  Four categories, four different sets of paperwork and almost no overlap. Built from the reference pages, so it cannot fall behind what is published.

• Original, telex or seaway bill

  Three ways to release a container, with completely different consequences if payment goes wrong. What each gives up.

• Certificate of origin forms

  Form D, Form E and the rest exist because each agreement has its own. The wrong one loses the preference, and nobody tells you until it is refused.

• Certificate of analysis

  The laboratory report on a shipped lot. What belongs on it, why sampling matters more than the figures, and why retained samples settle disputes.

• Pre-shipment inspection

  An independent check before the container is sealed. What it covers, what it cannot, and why it costs a fraction of the problem it prevents.

• Verified gross mass

  A container cannot be loaded to a vessel without a verified gross mass. Who provides it, how it is obtained, and why it catches first-time shippers.