Exporter of Record (EOR) Services in India

What is an Exporter of Record (EOR)?

The Exporter of Record is the person or company named as the exporter on the shipping bill. It is the party Indian Customs holds responsible for the export: what the goods are, what they are worth, whether they are allowed to leave India, and whether every declaration on the shipping bill is true.

To act as the exporter on a shipment out of India, the EOR needs:

• An Import Export Code (IEC) issued by the DGFT. The shipping bill is filed under it.
• An AD Code registered with Customs at the port of export, which links the exporter’s bank account to its shipments.
• ICEGATE registration, the Indian Customs portal where shipping bills are filed and tracked.
• A licensed customs broker to file the shipping bill and clear the goods at the port.
• The GST position settled. Exports are zero rated, so goods ship either under a Letter of Undertaking (LUT) without paying IGST, or with IGST paid and refunded later.
• Records that hold up later: the shipping bill, the Let Export Order, the invoices and, where the export is paid for, the e-BRC that shows the payment came in.

Think of it as the export side of an Importer of Record. The IOR brings goods into India in its name. The EOR sends goods out of India in its name.

When do you need an Exporter of Record?

You need an EOR whenever goods have to leave India and there is no Indian exporter able or willing to stand on the shipping bill. The usual cases:

• Returning leased, rented or project equipment. Machinery, test rigs or tools came into India for a project or a lease, the job is over, and the equipment has to go back.
• Repair and return. Faulty units or parts have to go back to the manufacturer abroad for repair or replacement.
• Samples, prototypes, R&D and trial goods. Goods used for testing, trials or evaluation in India are going back to head office or on to another country.
• Goods bought from Indian suppliers. You sourced the goods in India, but the supplier sells only domestically, has no IEC or will not take on the export, so the shipment needs an Indian exporter.
• Indian businesses without an IEC. A one-off or occasional export that does not justify setting up your own export registrations.
• First-time exporters. You have the goods and the buyer but not the export experience, and you would rather not learn on a live consignment.

What it costs to wait

An export without an Indian exporter does not get filed. The goods stay where they are, and the costs keep running:

• The goods sit idle. Equipment that should be back at work abroad, or stock a buyer is waiting for, sits in a warehouse or on site while storage, rent and lease charges keep adding up.
• Setting up an entity takes longer than the shipment. A company, a director, a bank account, GST, an IEC and an AD Code is a lot of setup for one consignment, and the shipment waits for all of it.
• Small filing mistakes get expensive at the port. An AD Code not registered at that port, a wrong HS code or value, or the wrong choice between LUT and IGST paid leads to queries, held containers, missed vessels and refunds that do not come through.
• The paper trail breaks. Without a proper shipping bill and export records, you cannot show that the goods left India, which matters for your books, your bank and any duty or tax claim later.

What we handle as your Exporter of Record

As your EOR, we take the legal and compliance side of the export off your desk. JPARKS INDIA handles:

• Checking the export policy for your goods (free, restricted or prohibited) and any licence or certificate needed before they can leave India.
• Structuring the shipment the right way: a sale, a return, a repair or a no-charge shipment, and the GST route that fits, LUT or IGST paid.
• Filing the export in our name, with our IEC and registrations on the shipping bill, so you do not need an Indian entity or an IEC of your own.
• Preparing the commercial invoice, packing list and export declarations, checked against what is actually in the boxes.
• A Certificate of Origin where your buyer or the destination country needs one.
• Coordinating with S. K. Agency for the shipping bill, examination and Let Export Order at the port.
• Recording every document used in the export for current use and future reference, with copies to you.
• Closing out the IGST refund or LUT reporting and the e-BRC after shipment, where the export is paid for.

What stops being your problem: finding an Indian exporter, briefing a broker who was not part of the plan, and chasing three different firms when Customs raises a query.

Who clears the cargo at the port?

Note: JPARKS INDIA is an EXIM compliance consultancy and does not hold a customs broker licence.

Physical clearance is handled by our sister concern, S. K. Agency, a licensed customs broker clearing cargo at Mumbai, JNPT, Mundra and Kandla. S. K. Agency files the shipping bill on ICEGATE, handles examination and the Let Export Order, and can arrange air and sea freight forwarding, warehousing and inland transport if you need them. Two firms, each doing its own part of the work, run as one job.

Documents we need from you

The exact list depends on the goods and the reason for the export. For a first look, send us what you have:

• A description of the goods, with quantity, value and the HS code if you know it
• A catalogue, data sheet or technical literature for anything that needs classification
• The supplier invoice, if the goods were bought from an Indian supplier
• The Bill of Entry and import documents, if the goods came into India earlier (returning equipment, repair and return, re-export)
• The name and address of the buyer or receiver abroad
• Any licence, certificate or test report the goods already have
• The pickup address in India and the date the goods will be ready

After the export policy check, we tell you what else is needed, before anything is booked.

How the EOR process works

Six steps, and nothing is booked until you have a written quote.

1. Tell us what is shipping. The goods, their value, where they are, where they are going and why: a sale, a return, a repair or a sample.
2. We check the goods and the route. Export policy, licences, certificates, the port, the GST route, and how ownership and payment are structured.
3. You get a written quote and agreement. Scope, fees and who is responsible for what, agreed before anything moves.
4. We prepare the export documents. Invoice, packing list and declarations in the exporter’s name, checked against the goods.
5. S. K. Agency files and clears. The shipping bill goes in on ICEGATE, Customs examines the goods if it calls for it, and the Let Export Order is granted at the port. You can follow it through shipping bill status on ICEGATE.
6. We close it out. The shipping bill, Let Export Order and export records stay on file with copies to you, plus the IGST refund or e-BRC follow up where the export is paid for.

Timelines and fees

Every EOR job is quoted per shipment. The work depends on the goods, their value, the port, any licence involved, and whether the export is a sale, a return or a no-charge shipment, so one flat price would be wrong for most of them. Send us the details and we reply with a written quote and a realistic timeline for your consignment.

Planning to export regularly? Then it usually pays to export in your own name, and we set that up too:

• IEC registration within 24 hours of a complete document set
• AD Code registration in about 4 working days, including the export promotion registration
• ICEGATE registration in 2 to 3 working days

Exporter of Record vs Importer of Record

Same job, opposite direction. The Importer of Record is named on the Bill of Entry and answers for goods coming into India: classification, valuation, duty and import licences. The Exporter of Record is named on the shipping bill and answers for goods leaving India: export policy, the declarations, GST on the export, and proof that the goods left and, where they were sold, that the payment came in.

Many foreign companies need both. Equipment comes in through an IOR for a project or a trial, and goes back out through an EOR when the work is done. We handle both sides, so the export can be matched to the original import.