Shipping document glossary: 40 terms for frozen food exports

How to use this glossary

The terms below are the words printed on the documents of one frozen food container: the bill of lading, the commercial invoice, the packing list, the health certificate, the certificate of origin, the import permit and, when the sale is paid that way, the letter of credit. Each definition is short and plain, and each term has its own link, so you can send a colleague straight to it: /guides/glossary#check-digit, for example.

Where a term needs more than a few sentences, a guide covers it:

• The facts the three main documents share: what must match between the bill of lading, invoice and packing list.
• Net weight, gross weight, tare and lot rows: gross vs net weight on a packing list.
• Shipper, consignee and notify party: consignee vs notify party.
• Discrepancies and the presentation period: letter of credit discrepancies.
• FOB, CFR and CIF: FOB, freight and insurance on the invoice.
• Approval numbers: how to read a plant approval number.
• The SPS import clearance: what it is and how long it is valid, and why the plant numbers must match it.
• Cargo tracking notes: ECTN, BESC and FERI.

To see the terms at work, follow one container from start to finish in the export document checklist for a frozen container, or read the documents needed to export frozen pork to the Philippines.

ACID number

The Advance Cargo Information Declaration number that Egypt's customs system issues for each shipment before it is loaded. Carriers such as ONE ask for it on the commercial invoice, the packing list and the shipping instruction, and will not load a shipment for Egypt without a valid one.

Approval number (plant number)

The number an official authority gives an approved slaughterhouse, cutting plant or cold store, also called the establishment number. It is printed on the health certificate and the cartons; in the EU it sits inside the oval identification mark together with the country. Some importing countries accept goods only from plants on their own list.

Bill of lading (B/L)

The carrier's receipt for the goods and its contract to carry them. A negotiable, or order, bill of lading can be used to transfer the goods while they travel, and the buyer usually needs an original to take delivery. A straight bill of lading names one consignee and is not negotiable.

Cargo tracking note (ECTN, BESC, FERI)

A certificate that certain African countries require for each shipment, known by different names such as ECTN, BESC, BSC, FERI or BIETC. It repeats the bill of lading number, the parties, the goods, the HS code, the weight, the vessel and the ports, so it must agree with the bill of lading.

Certificate of origin

A signed statement of the country where the goods were produced, usually certified by a chamber of commerce or another authorised body. Some countries and buyers require it even when the invoice already shows the origin.

CFR (cost and freight)

An Incoterms rule for sea transport. The seller pays the freight to the named port of destination, but the risk passes to the buyer when the goods are on board the vessel at the port of loading.

Check digit

The last digit of a container number, calculated from the ten characters before it. A number with a typing or scanning error usually fails the check, which makes it a quick test before you compare documents.

CIF (cost, insurance and freight)

Like CFR, but the seller also takes out insurance against the buyer's risk during the voyage. The required cover is the minimum, Institute Cargo Clauses (C), unless buyer and seller agree more.

Clean bill of lading

A bill of lading with no clause or notation declaring the goods or their packaging defective, such as 'cartons damaged'. Under a letter of credit, banks accept only clean transport documents (UCP 600, article 27).

Commercial invoice

The seller's bill to the buyer: what was sold, the quantity, the price and the sales terms. Customs uses it to calculate duties, and under a letter of credit its goods description must correspond with the credit (UCP 600, article 18(c)).

Consignee

The party the carrier delivers the goods to, named in the consignee box of the bill of lading. When a letter of credit asks for an order bill of lading, the box may say 'to order' or name a bank, and the buyer is then often the notify party.

Container number

The 11-character number of a shipping container under ISO 6346: a three-letter owner code, an equipment letter (U for freight containers), six digits and a check digit. CSQU3054383 is an example, and CSQU 305438-3 is the same number.

Discrepancy

A point where a document set does not comply with a letter of credit, such as data that conflict between documents or a late shipment. The bank may then refuse the documents, and the ICC estimates that 65 to 80% of documents presented under letters of credit are refused the first time.

Draft bill of lading

The carrier's proof of the bill of lading, sent to the shipper to check before the original is issued. Corrections are easiest at this stage, but check the final bill again, because a value can change between draft and original.

FOB (free on board)

An Incoterms rule for sea transport. The seller delivers the goods on board the vessel the buyer nominates at the named port of loading; from then on the risk and the costs, including the sea freight, are the buyer's.

Freight prepaid and freight collect

Notations on the bill of lading that say whether the sea freight is paid at origin (prepaid) or at destination (collect). Prepaid usually goes with a CFR or CIF sale and collect with FOB, so the bill of lading should fit the sales term on the invoice.

Gross weight

The weight of the goods with their packing: for frozen meat, the meat plus cartons, liners and labels. It does not include the container, and it is the weight a bill of lading usually shows.

Halal certificate

A certificate from an approved halal certification body stating that the meat was slaughtered and handled according to Islamic rules. Some destinations require it to name the shipment: Qatar, for example, asks for the invoice number and the health certificate number on it.

Health certificate

An official document, signed by a government veterinarian or certifying officer of the exporting country, that confirms the goods meet the health requirements of the destination country. It is also called a veterinary certificate or an export health certificate (EHC).

HS code

The Harmonized System number that classifies goods for customs, used by more than 200 countries and economies. The first six digits are the same everywhere, and countries add digits for their own tariffs: 0203.29, for example, is frozen pork that is not a carcass and not a bone-in cut.

Incoterms

The ICC's eleven three-letter trade terms, such as FOB, CFR and CIF, which say where the seller delivers, who pays the freight and insurance, and when the risk passes. The current version is Incoterms 2020; write the term, the named place and the version on the invoice, for example CFR Manila Incoterms 2020.

ISBP

International Standard Banking Practice, the ICC's detailed guide to examining documents under UCP 600. The current edition, ISBP 821, was published in 2023 and follows ISBP 745 of 2013.

Letter of credit (L/C)

A bank's undertaking to pay the seller when the seller presents documents that comply with the credit's terms. A credit issued under UCP 600 is irrevocable, and it is also called a documentary credit.

Lot number

The code that identifies a batch of product made or packed under practically the same conditions. It is printed on the cartons and repeated on the packing list and often on the health certificate, so each carton can be traced to its batch.

Net weight

The weight of the product itself, without any packing. Frozen meat is normally invoiced by net weight, and the health certificate usually states it.

Notify party

The company the carrier informs when the goods arrive, named in its own box on the bill of lading. It is often the buyer or the buyer's customs broker, and it can be the same company as the consignee.

On-board date

The date the goods were loaded on the vessel, shown in a dated 'shipped on board' notation on the bill of lading. Under UCP 600 it is the date of shipment; without such a notation, the issue date of the bill of lading counts (article 20(a)(ii)).

Original bill of lading

The signed bill of lading as the carrier issues it, often as a set of several originals. Under a letter of credit, the bank expects the sole original or, if more were issued, the full set the bill states (UCP 600, article 20(a)(iv)).

Packing list

The seller's list of how the shipment is packed: cartons, lots, marks, and net and gross weights, per row and in total. It does not replace the commercial invoice, but customs and the buyer use it to check the cargo.

Port of loading and port of discharge

The port where the goods are loaded on the vessel and the port where they are unloaded, both named on the bill of lading. Under a letter of credit they must be the ports the credit states, and wrong ports are among the discrepancies the ICC lists.

Presentation period

The time the seller has to present the documents under a letter of credit. If the credit sets none, it is 21 calendar days after the date of shipment, and never later than the credit's expiry date (UCP 600, article 14(c)).

Production date and expiry date

The day the product was made or packed, and the last day it should be used or sold, often printed as 'best before'. For the Philippines, meat labels must show the expiry date and the manufacturing and packaging dates.

Reefer container

A refrigerated container with its own cooling unit, kept at the temperature the shipper booked. For frozen food the setting is -18 °C or colder: the EU's rule for quick-frozen food is -18 °C or lower, with brief rises of no more than 3 °C in transport.

Said to contain

Wording on a bill of lading, like 'shipper's load and count', showing that the carrier did not count or weigh the cargo inside a sealed container and took the shipper's figures. Banks accept such clauses (UCP 600, article 26(b)), so the shipper's own figures must be right.

Seal number

The number on the seal fixed to the container door after loading, which shows whether the door has been opened. It must be the same, character by character, on every document that quotes it; high-security seals are classified under ISO 17712.

Shipper

The party that hands the goods to the carrier, named in the shipper box of the bill of lading, usually the exporter. Under a letter of credit the shipper need not be the beneficiary (UCP 600, article 14(k)), so a producer can ship goods that a trading company sells.

SPS import clearance (SPSIC)

The import permit the Philippine Department of Agriculture issues for plant, animal and fishery products, which the importer must obtain before the goods are loaded. It covers one shipment only and carries a must-ship-out-by date counted from its issue.

Tare weight

The weight of the packing alone. For a carton it is the gross weight minus the net weight; for a container it is the weight of the empty container, which is added to the cargo's gross weight to give the VGM.

UCP 600

The ICC's Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits, 2007 revision, which applies when a letter of credit says it is subject to it. Its article 14(d) says data in one document need not be identical to the others, but must not conflict with them.

Verified gross mass (VGM)

The weight of the packed container: the cargo with its packing plus the container's tare. Since 1 July 2016 the SOLAS convention has required the shipper to give it to the carrier before loading, either by weighing the packed container or by adding up its contents and the tare.