While people are most familiar with the concept of an import Customs clearance; many exporters don’t know about their responsibility when shipping goods out of the country.

Many government agencies have jurisdiction over the export process including Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the State Department, the Defense Department and the Commerce Department, specifically Census who collects export information.

Whether the shipper is arranging the transportation or the consignee (a so-called “routed transaction”), there are still key pieces of data that must be provided to submit to the government prior to export. The form on which this information is submitted is called the Shipper’s Letter of Instruction, or SLI.

In 2014, the NCBFAA’s Educational Institute hosted a webinar featuring Paulette Kolba and Matilda Vazquez on the changes made to this critical form.

It is about an hour and fifteen minutes, and I’ve embedded it below. It’s worthwhile to go through the slide deck and familiarize yourself with the key terms and information that is required.