Import glossary
Plain definitions of Incoterms, shipping, quality and payment terms — written for importers, not freight forwarders.
Acceptable Quality Limit (AQL)
The most defects per hundred units you agree to accept before a shipment fails inspection.
Air freight
Goods flown in, usually in days rather than weeks — the fastest and most expensive way to move freight.
Balance payment
The part of the order value you pay after the goods pass inspection, before they ship.
Bill of Lading
The transport document that proves what was loaded, who owns it, and where it is going.
CIF
The seller pays cost, insurance and freight to your port — risk passes to you once the goods are on board.
Certificate of Origin
The document that certifies where your goods were made, used to clear customs and claim duty rates.
Customs clearance
The process of getting goods through customs: declarations, duty payment and release.
DAP
The seller delivers to your named place, handling export, freight and import clearance — but not duty.
DDP
The seller delivers to your door with everything paid, including import duty — maximum seller obligation.
Demurrage
Daily charges when your container sits at the port or with the carrier past free time.
Deposit
The upfront share of the order value that starts production — commonly 30%.
EXW
You collect the goods at the factory gate — the cheapest quote and the most work for you.
Export licence
The government permission a Chinese factory needs to sell goods abroad.
FCA
The seller clears the goods for export and loads them at your forwarder's facility or port terminal.
FCL
A full container booked for your goods alone, whatever the size from 20ft to 40ft high-cube.
FOB
The seller loads your goods on board at origin port — the classic sea-freight term.
Freight forwarder
The company that books and manages your freight without owning ships or planes.
HS code
The international product code that decides your duty rate at customs.
Import duty & VAT
What you pay on top of duty when goods enter your country — reclaimable if you are VAT-registered.
Incoterms 2020
The eleven standard three-letter terms that define who does what in international shipping.
Pre-shipment inspection
Checking the finished goods against your sample and specification before the balance is paid.
Landed cost
The true per-unit cost with product, freight, duty and delivery all added in.
LCL
Your cartons share a container with other importers' goods — cheaper for small volumes, slower and more handled.
Lead time
The calendar time from confirmed order to goods ready — production plus inspection, not just production.
MOQ
The smallest quantity a factory will produce in one run — negotiable more often than it looks.
ODM
The factory designs the product and you put your brand on it — fastest route to a custom range.
OEM
The factory builds your design to your specification — you own the product, they own the capacity.
Packing list
The list of what is in each carton — quantities, weights and dimensions for customs and the warehouse.
Proforma invoice
The supplier's quote in invoice form — your price confirmation before the deposit, not a demand for payment.
Quality control (QC)
Independent eyes on your order during production and before shipment — your cheapest insurance.
Sample
A physical unit made or pulled from production for you to approve before the bulk run.
Sea freight
Goods shipped by ocean in containers — the default for anything heavy, bulky or non-urgent.
Supplier verification
Confirming a factory is real, licensed, capable and export-ready before you pay anything.
Telex release
An electronic release that lets the consignee collect goods without the paper Bill of Lading.