Shipping Bill

Customs

The primary export document filed by the Indian exporter with Indian Customs at the port of export.

Sources

1. Reserve Bank of India — Master Direction – Export of Goods and Services, FED Master Direction No. 16/2015-16 (updated as on 17 July 2026) rbi.org.in accessed 23 September 2026

For an Indian exporter, the shipping bill is the document that starts the foreign-exchange clock. Under the Master Direction, it is filed in duplicate with the Commissioner of Customs or the SEZ authority; after verification the exporter receives one copy “marked ‘Exchange Control (EC) Copy’ for being submitted to the AD bank within 21 days from the date of export for collection/negotiation of shipping documents”. The EC copy is disposed of exactly as an EDF would be. That step has since been largely automated away: where the EC copy is not printed under CBEC Circular No. 55/2016-Customs of 23 November 2016 and the shipping-bill data is integrated with EDPMS, “requirement of submission of EC copy of shipping bill with the AD bank would not be there”. The obligation the document evidences does not go with it — proceeds must still be realised and repatriated, as a rule within nine months of the date of export.

What this source settles. The Reserve Bank of India’s Master Direction is a direction to Authorised Dealer banks under sections 10(4) and 11(1) of FEMA 1999. It settles what an AD bank in India may do and what an Indian exporter must do — not what the instrument means in general commercial use elsewhere. Where the entry above states a rule, it is India’s rule for an Indian transaction; the market practice behind the term is wider than the Direction and is not defined by it.

Related terms

• Advance Authorisation
• Anti-Dumping Duty
• ATA Carnet
• Authorised Economic Operator
• Bill of Entry
• Binding Tariff Information

From the AJG lexicon archive (July 2026).