Invoice, packing list, bill of lading, certificate of origin, insurance, and Bangladesh's own EXP, IMP and Bill of Entry: who issues each, and why it matters.
In trade, a container is worth only as much as its papers. Lose the bill of lading and you may not get your goods. Get the buyer's name wrong and the bank may hold up payment. One missing certificate and Customs may hold the goods at the port.
This lesson is your field guide to the papers. For each one: what it is, who makes it, and why everyone cares about it. Think of it as a family photo album of trade, with a caption under every face.
The seller prepares these:
When you send a gift box abroad, you list what's inside for the courier (packing list) and keep the shop receipt to show its value (invoice). Trade just does it more carefully.
The company that carries the goods issues the transport document:
A bill of lading is like the token you get at a cloakroom. Hand over your bag, get a token; whoever brings the token back gets the bag. Lose the token, and getting your bag becomes a long story.
Many deals also need:
Applying for a job, you bring your certificates: school, university, character. Each proves one thing about you. Goods carry certificates the same way: where they were born, whether they are healthy, and whether they are insured.
On top of the international papers, Bangladesh has its own:
Banks report these to Bangladesh Bank's online systems, OEMS for exports and OIMS for imports.
Think of a child's school life in Bangladesh: admission form, admit card, mark sheet, testimonial. Each paper marks a stage. EXP, Bill of Export and PRC mark the stages of an export; LC application, IMP form and Bill of Entry mark the stages of an import.
All these papers describe the same deal, so they must tell the same story. They need not be word-for-word copies, but names, goods, quantities, weights and amounts must not contradict each other.
Under an LC, banks pay against documents, so even a small mismatch can delay payment. Customs compares papers too, and mismatches can mean extra checks or penalties. And wrong prices or descriptions on papers can be a sign of trade-based money laundering, which banks are trained to spot.
If the invoice says 20,000 T-shirts and the packing list says 18,000, someone will ask which is true. In trade, differences like that cost days, and sometimes money.
Well done, you've finished the Level 1 lessons of How trade works! You now know why countries trade (Lesson 1), who takes part (2), how one shipment travels (3), the ways to get paid (4), how money crosses borders (5), and the papers that hold it all together (6).
From here, step into the Export and Import rooms to see the real Bangladesh rules, line by line. A Level 3 deep dive on Bangladesh's place in world trade is coming next in this room.
Four quick questions. Nobody sees your answers but you.
A negotiable bill of lading is a document of title. An air waybill is not.
Under trade agreements and preference schemes, the country of origin can lower or remove the duty.
The Bill of Entry is the importer's declaration to Customs; once certified, it proves the goods were cleared.
Banks pay LCs against documents, Customs compares papers, and mismatched prices or descriptions are a classic warning sign of trade-based money laundering.
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