What is an Export Cargo Shipping Instruction(ECSI)?

An Export Cargo Shipping Instruction (ECSI) is a shipping document used during international trade activities, and the logistics associated with the handling of your cargo during transportation from your home country (e.g. UK) to an overseas destination (e.g. United States).

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What is an ECSI document use?

It is good practice, in international trade, to almost always create an Export Cargo Shipping Instruction, or at least complete one as part of your export documentation suite, so that you can clearly instruct the logistics provider on how to handle your goods in transit from you to your customer.

The document will also instruct the provider as to how the transport documents should be distributed and the name of the party responsible for the respective carriage charges  Normally, the logistics company can generate an ECSI on your behalf. However, the goods are yours and you know best how they should be treated during transit, so it’s advisable that YOU understand and complete the ECSI document yourself.

Why do I need an Export Cargo Shipping Instruction?

You need an ECSI to clearly instruct your freight forwarder or logistics provider on how to:

– handle your goods during collection and delivery.
– store your goods during storage and transportation.
– apply any special requirements or care needed in handling.
– handle export fees, charges and customs clearance .
– route your consignment to the destination.
– hand-over your goods to the recipient .

Additionally, in the case your goods arrive damage or lost in transit, then for dispute resolution an Export Cargo Shipping Instruction provides documentary evidence of pre-shipment agree responsibilities. Having an ECSI that YOU understand makes it harder for logistics and freight forwarding firms to shirk any responsibilities they may have breached as part of their transport obligations.

Where can I get an ECSI document?

You can get your logistics firm or freight forwarder to provide you with a blank template of their ECSI form. Just make sure it’s the UN align format. Alternatively, if you’d like a sample ECSI, click the link for a free UN aligned ECSI pdf template . If you want to have an ECSI template onto which you can type, save and print your own data, then take 60 seconds to sign-up here for EdgeDocs Pay-Per-Doc. Go to Documents then ECSI and the system will generate a sample with your own data on it. If you like it then you can generate an actual document for an insanely low price of £1.99.