Paperwork does not sell fruit, but it can stop it at a border for four days. Most consignments that lose time at arrival do not lose it to a defect — they lose it to a mismatch between documents.
Phytosanitary certificate
The core import document for fresh produce. It must name the commodity and variety as you declared, the origin, the treatment (if required) and the declared quantity. Any divergence from the packing list becomes a question to answer at the border.
Certificate of origin
Determines the duty regime. For preferential agreements, wording is prescribed — the declaration text must appear verbatim, and the exporter's statement must match the invoice exactly.
Commercial invoice
Incoterm, unit price, currency, weight (net and gross), package count, and the HS code. The HS code is where most disputes start: it must match the receiving authority's tariff schedule, not the shipper's habit.
Packing list
Weights and counts per lot, pallet configuration, and lot codes traceable to the harvest block. A clean packing list is also a recall insurance policy: it turns a wide search into a narrow one.
Bill of lading and temperature clauses
Check the set point stated on the booking appears on the carrier's documents. Where the voyage record differs, that document is the one that wins a claim.
The discipline that saves days
Send drafts before the container is stuffed, not after. Confirm names, codes and weights match across every document, then lock them. Buyers who do this rarely speak to a customs broker — and buyers who skip it always do.
