Documents Required for CPT Shipments: Complete Checklist

A CPT shipment fails on paper more often than on the road. The goods arrive, but the document set does not prove where they changed hands, what carriage was paid for, or who was insured from when. This checklist is built for CPT's own shape: any mode of transport, delivery at the first carrier, and no insurance document from the seller. Work it in order, and tick each document only after it has been checked against the invoice and the contract.

Why this checklist matters

Under CPT, the seller delivers the goods to the first carrier, pays carriage to a named place of destination, and completes export formalities, while risk passes to the buyer at handover to that carrier.¹ The document set has to prove three things a sea-only set does not: the place and point of delivery, the carriage paid to the named destination, and the buyer's own cover from the handover date. The transport document is the proof of the first two, and it varies by mode: an air waybill for air, a bill of lading for sea, a CMR note for road, or the equivalent for rail and multimodal carriage.²

The missing document is just as important. Unlike CIF and CIP, CPT places no insurance duty on the seller: the ICC confirms Clause C remains the default under CIF and Clause A is now required under CIP, while CPT carries no such duty.^{1 3} The buyer arranges cover at its own risk and cost, from the handover date, on the strength of the seller's delivery notice.¹ A checklist copied from a CIF shipment will ask for an insurance document the seller never owed, and will miss the delivery notice and handover receipt that actually fix the risk point.

Where payment is by documentary credit, the bank examines the documents presented, not the goods. In the ICC Academy's worked CPT case, a credit was honoured at sight against a complying set of invoice, air waybill, certificate of origin, certificate of quality, and packing list, and the documents were then released to the buyer for import clearance.¹ A set that does not match the credit does not get paid, even when the goods are in order.

Before you start

Agree the document set in writing before booking: the CPT term in full, with both places named, the Incoterms 2020 version, the payment method, the document list, and the originals and copies required. Write the term as "CPT [named place of destination], Incoterms 2020", and add the place and point of delivery in the same clause, for example "delivery at the carrier's terminal, Dhaka". If payment is by letter of credit, get the credit text first and build the list from it, because the credit decides what the bank will accept.¹

Build every document from one set of data. Prepare the commercial invoice first, then copy its names, description, quantities, weights, marks, places, and carriage details into each later document. Name one person to check the finished set against the invoice and the contract before the goods are handed over, not after. A discrepancy found at the carrier's warehouse can still be corrected. One found at the destination usually cannot.

The diagram below shows the set in the order buyers usually check it, from the contract to the import file.

The full checklist

1. Sales contract or purchase order. Shows the CPT term in full, the named place of destination, the place and point of delivery, the Incoterms 2020 version, the goods, quantities, price and currency, the delivery date or period, and the payment method. Check that the delivery point and the destination are different places, and that both are named.¹

2. Commercial invoice. The seller issues it, showing the seller and buyer, the goods description, quantity, unit and total price, the CPT term with the named destination, the currency, and the invoice number and date. Under a letter of credit it must describe the goods as the credit describes them.¹

3. Packing list. The seller issues it, showing the carton or package count, the quantity in each, the net and gross weights, the measurements where required, and the shipping marks. Every figure must reconcile with the invoice and with the package count on the transport document.

4. Transport document for the mode used. The carrier issues it on the seller's instructions, showing the carrier, shipper, and consignee or order party, the places of receipt and destination, the goods description, the package count, and a "Freight Prepaid" notation to the named destination. For air, this is the air waybill. For sea, the bill of lading or multimodal bill of lading. For road, the CMR note. Check the carrier's signature and date, and the handover place and date, because this document is the evidence of delivery under CPT.^{1 2} No on-board notation is needed: delivery happens at handover to the carrier, not on loading.¹

5. Delivery notice and handover receipt. The seller sends the delivery notice in a timely manner, stating that delivery has occurred and giving the buyer the information needed to receive the goods at the destination.¹ Keep the carrier's handover receipt with it. Together they fix the moment risk passed and the date from which the buyer's insurance must run.

6. Buyer's insurance document. The buyer, not the seller, arranges this. It should show the insured party, the goods, the voyage or carriage, the sum insured and currency, the perils covered, and cover effective from the handover date. There is no seller insurance document under CPT, so do not hold the shipment for one. Where the buyer wants the seller to insure, the term should have been CIP, not CPT.¹

7. Certificate of origin. The Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) or a chamber of commerce and industry issues it for export goods from Bangladesh.⁴ It must show the exporter, consignee, goods, and Bangladesh as the country of origin, matching the invoice. Obtain it where the destination authority, a preference arrangement, or the letter of credit requires it.

8. Bill of Export, EXP form, and export enclosures. Goods may not be loaded for export in Bangladesh unless a Bill of Export, also called a shipping bill, has been submitted to Customs and approved, stating the goods, value, exporter, foreign buyer, and transport operator.⁴ Enclosed with it are the export letter of credit or contract, the signed invoice, the packing list, the EXP form certified by an Authorized Dealer bank, the certificate of origin, the VAT registration certificate, and the Taxpayer Identification Number.⁴

9. Export licences and product permits. For jute, jute goods, and tea, an Export Registration Certificate is among the additional documents listed, and tea also requires a consignment-wise export permit from the Bangladesh Tea Board.⁴ Check the product-specific requirement before booking.

10. Inspection or quality certificate. An independent inspector issues it only where the contract or letter of credit requires one, showing what was inspected, the quantity and lot, the result against the specification, and the date and place of inspection. Where none is required, do not add one, since its figures are another place for the set to disagree.

11. Letter of credit and payment documents. Check the issued credit against the contract before it goes to the seller, since an error in the credit becomes an error in every document prepared against it. Prepare any further documents the credit calls for, such as a beneficiary certificate, in the exact wording the credit uses, and only where the credit calls for them.¹

12. Buyer import documents and arrival notice. The buyer completes the import set at destination from the seller's documents: the import declaration, any import licence required, and the duty and tax payment evidence. Check that the notify party on the transport document can act on the carrier's arrival notice at the named destination.

Common failures and how to fix them

The most common failure is data that differs across the set: a quantity, weight, description, or place that reads one way on the invoice and another way on the packing list or transport document. Fix it at the source document, reissue every document that copied the error, and recheck the set.

The next failure is a transport document for the wrong mode, or one that does not show freight prepaid to the named destination. An air shipment needs an air waybill, not a bill of lading, and a multimodal movement needs a document covering the whole carriage to the destination. Ask the carrier for the correct document, with the prepaid notation, before handover.²

A third failure is the missing delivery notice. Without it, the buyer has no dated trigger for insurance, and no clear record of the handover. The seller must send the notice in a timely manner, with the information the buyer needs to receive the goods.¹ Chase it on the day of handover, not at arrival.

The fourth failure is waiting for a seller insurance document that CPT never required. The buyer arranges cover from the handover date, and the insurance document in the file is the buyer's own.¹ The fifth is a Bill of Export set missing an enclosure. Customs lists the export letter of credit or contract, the signed invoice, the packing list, the AD-certified EXP form, the certificate of origin, the VAT registration certificate, and the Taxpayer Identification Number for all export consignments.⁴ Check the enclosures against that list before the goods go to the carrier.

Downloadable summary table

Copy this table into the shipment file. It is the whole checklist on one page: what each document must show, who issues it, and when it is checked.

Next steps on Exportain

Read the full rule in the Incoterms guide for shipments from Bangladesh, compare the sea-only counterpart in the CIF cost, insurance and freight guide, and work the buyer-side costs into your landed cost for imports from Bangladesh. The how to buy guide explains the buying steps on Exportain.

Post a free RFQ on Exportain and get quotes from Bangladeshi suppliers → https://exportain.com/rfqs

When should this checklist be used?

Use it for every CPT shipment, whatever the mode: sea, air, road, rail, or a combination. The transport document changes with the mode, but the delivery notice, the handover receipt, and the buyer's own insurance document are needed in every case. Do not use it for CIF or CIP shipments without adding the seller insurance document those terms require.^{1 2}

Who should complete it?

The seller completes the contract, invoice, packing list, transport document instructions, delivery notice, certificate of origin, and export clearance set. The buyer completes the insurance document and the import set. One named person on each side checks the finished set against the invoice and, where applicable, the letter of credit, before handover.

What are the most common failures?

Data that differs across the set, a transport document for the wrong mode or without the prepaid notation, a missing delivery notice, waiting for a seller insurance document CPT never required, and a Bill of Export set missing an enclosure. Each is fixed by reissuing from the source document and rechecking the set before the goods move on.^{1 4}

Can a third party do it?

A freight forwarder or customs broker can prepare and check much of the set, including the Bill of Export and the transport document, and a broker can arrange the buyer's insurance. The seller remains responsible for the accuracy of its own documents, and the buyer remains responsible for import clearance and for cover from the handover date. A third party prepares papers; it does not take over the risk or the insurance duty.¹