What Your Sri Lankan Supplier Must Give You Before You Can List a Product

wrzesień 2, 2026

Before you can list a food or consumer product you have imported, somebody will ask you to
prove what is in the box. Most of that proof has to come from the producer, and it is far
easier to ask for it while you are still negotiating than after the container has sailed.
This is the list we ask a Sri Lankan producer for on a buyer’s behalf, and what each item is
actually for.

One standing caveat. Every marketplace and every retailer sets its own requirements, and they change without notice. We do not restate them here and we do not track them for you. Check the current policy at source. What this guide describes is what a Sri Lankan supplier can put in your hands, which is the half we can speak for.

What to ask the producer for

DocumentWhat it establishes
Certificate of analysis, per batchWhat was tested, by which laboratory, against which method, on a dated sample. A generic specification sheet is not a certificate of analysis.
Packing listUnits per case, cases per pallet, net and gross weight, and the carton dimensions. This is what your freight quote and your warehouse both run on.
Case and pallet specificationCarton size, cases per layer, layers per pallet, pallet type and whether it is heat treated. A pallet that fails at the border is an expensive surprise.
Label artwork and barcode dataWho owns the barcode matters. If the producer supplies it, the product is registered to the producer, not to you.
Shelf life and storageStated from date of manufacture, with the storage condition it assumes. Ambient shelf life in Colombo and in a cold winter warehouse are not the same claim.
Tariff classificationThe producer’s view of the code. Your own customs authority decides the code that governs your duty, so treat this as a starting point rather than an answer.
Ingredient and allergen statementFull declaration including processing aids and shared line risk. This drives your label, and relabeling a landed pallet costs more than asking early.

What travels with the goods, and what does not

The commercial invoice, the packing list, the bill of lading and any certificate of origin
travel with the shipment because your customs broker needs them. A certificate of analysis, a
specification sheet and a producer’s own quality certificate generally do not, and you have to
ask for them separately. If you need one at the border, say so before the goods are booked.

What we issue

Where we sell you the goods on our own account, we issue the commercial documents in our own
registered name: a proforma invoice, a commercial invoice, and a supply letter naming the goods
we actually sold you. We chase the producer for the certificates above and pass them on as they
were given to us. What we do not do is write a document about goods we did not supply, or about
a brand we do not own.

Ask for the whole document set at once

Tell us the product and the destination, and the request that goes to the producer carries this list with it.

Post a Sourcing Request →