Singapore import documentation checklist
Most import problems are documentation problems, and most documentation problems are timing problems — the document existed, just not early enough. This is what to have, and when.
Always needed
These four apply to essentially every commercial import into Singapore:
- Commercial invoice — specific goods description, value, currency, Incoterm, country of origin.
- Packing list — package-by-package contents with dimensions and weights.
- Transport document — bill of lading for sea, air waybill for air.
- Import permit — obtained through TradeNet before arrival.
Needed depending on the goods
These apply where the goods or the arrangement calls for them:
- Certificate of origin — where preferential treatment is claimed, or a buyer or authority requires it.
- Competent Authority licence or approval — for controlled goods, before the permit.
- Safety data sheet and dangerous goods declaration — for regulated substances.
- Phytosanitary certificate — for plant material and certain wood products.
- CITES permit — for protected species material, including in finished goods.
- ISPM 15 marking on wood packaging — a marking rather than a document, but checked.
- UN 38.3 test summary — for lithium batteries.
- Insurance certificate — where insurance value feeds the customs value.
- ATA Carnet — for temporary admission of professional or exhibition goods.
The ones that must exist before shipment
This is the part that matters most. Several documents can only be issued at origin, by the exporter or an origin-country authority, before the goods leave — a certificate of origin, a phytosanitary certificate, a CITES export permit, ISPM 15 treatment of packing. If the goods sail without them, they cannot be produced retrospectively in any straightforward way. Everything else can, at a cost, be fixed later. These cannot.
When to build the list
At purchase-order stage. By the time you are booking freight, the supplier has often already packed, and asking for treated packing or an origin certificate at that point means unpacking or delay. Write the document requirements into the order: what the invoice must state, what certificates are required, what packing standard applies. Suppliers comply with clear requirements far more readily than with late requests.
Official sources
Requirements, rates, and thresholds change. These are the authorities that set them — check the current position with them before acting on anything here.
Last reviewed August 2026. This page explains how the process generally works; it is not advice on your specific shipment, and it does not replace guidance from Singapore Customs, the relevant Competent Authority, or a licensed Declaring Agent.
Questions we get asked about this
Which document causes the most problems?
The commercial invoice, by a wide margin — specifically the goods description. It is also the easiest to fix, provided you read it before the goods ship rather than after.
Can documents be sent electronically?
Trade documentation is largely electronic now, and Singapore's systems are built around that. Some certificates still have originals-in-transit conventions attached to them, so confirm per document type rather than assuming.
What if a document is missing on arrival?
It depends which one. A missing invoice detail can often be corrected. A missing phytosanitary certificate or CITES permit generally cannot be obtained after the goods have left origin, and the outcome can be re-export or disposal. This is why the pre-shipment documents deserve the attention.
Do I need original paper documents?
Increasingly not, but it varies by document and by the parties involved. Where an original bill of lading is issued, its handling has commercial consequences beyond customs. Ask early which documents in your chain are originals.
More in Singapore import guides
HS codes
How goods get classified, why it matters more than it looks, and who is responsible.
Commercial invoice
What the invoice has to show, and the descriptions that get shipments held.
Certificates of origin
What certificates of origin do, the two types, and when you actually need one.
Free trade agreements
The agreement network, and an honest account of what it does and does not do for importers.
Wood packaging (ISPM 15)
The treatment standard for wooden packing, and why it holds so many shipments.
LCL vs FCL
When sharing a container makes sense, and the costs that do not show up in the LCL rate.
Related pages
Commercial invoice
What the invoice has to show, and the descriptions that get shipments held.
Certificates of origin
What certificates of origin do, the two types, and when you actually need one.
Wood packaging (ISPM 15)
The treatment standard for wooden packing, and why it holds so many shipments.
Controlled goods
Which agency regulates what, and how to find out whether your goods are affected.
Customs and import coordination
Help understanding what a shipment needs before it clears — permits, declarations, and the information a Declaring Agent will ask for.
Special cargo into Singapore
Coordination for shipments that fall outside standard freight categories — awkward shapes, unusual materials, or one-off commercial goods.
Have a shipment that fits this?
Start the guided enquiry and describe it in plain terms. We will tell you what is involved — including if the answer is that you do not need us.