Consular Invoice
An invoice signed by the Trade Commissioner or commercial Attache is called a consular invoice. It is a document certifying a shipment of goods and shows information such as the consignor, consignee, and value of the shipment. It shows the transaction details and origin of the goods. It is a document certifying the genuineness of a shipment of goods and shows information such as the consignee, consignor, and value of the shipment, among others. It provides the value, quantity, and nature of a shipment and all these contents are pre-verified. The main purpose of the consular invoice is to enable the authorities of the importing country to collect accurate information about the volume, value, quality, grade, source, etc., of the goods, imported f the purpose of assessing import duties and also for statistical purposes.
Consular Invoice is an invoice visaed by a consular officer of the country of destination. It helps to speed up the entry of goods into a country. It is required by some countries to facilitate customs and collection of taxes. The country’s consul affixes his/her signature on the invoice and thereby certifies it. This invoice is an important document, which needs to be submitted for certification to the Embassy of the importing country concerned. The main purpose of a consular invoice is to provide a complete and detailed description of the goods to the foreign customs authority, so as to ensure that the correct import duty is levied on the goods.
- Importance to the Exporter – It enables prompt clearance from the customs of the exporter’s country for shipping the goods.
- Importance to the Importer – In the importer’s country, the customs do not normally open the packages. It helps the importer to get speedy delivery of goods.
- Importance to the Customs – The customs of the importing country need not open the packages for checking and can easily calculate the import duties.
