Glossary—consular legalization

GISTnet Glossary—consular legalization

The approval and/or processing of certain shipping documents in the country of export by a consular official of the destination country. Consular legalization is required by only a few countries, exact requirements vary, and certain types of shipments are exempted (i.e., low value, personal effects, etc.). The process involves an examination by a consular official of the commercial invoice, the certificate of origin and/or consular invoice, and perhaps the B/L, for overall accuracy, completeness, consistency among documents, and perhaps compliance with an import license. The consular official will also typically check to make sure the parties involved are approved for import in the destination country and/or are not sanctioned by the destination country. If the documents are in order, the consular official will affix a visa or other stamp of approval, and signature, to one or more of the documents. A fee payable by the shipper is always charged for this service, such fees ranging from nominal to significant—sometimes a percentage of the value of the goods. In addition, many consuls require their fee to be paid in cash, cashier's check or money order at the time documents are presented, which places an additional burden upon the freight forwarder (or shipper) to precisely determine the fee in advance and arrange acceptable payment. Most consulates will process documents prior to departure of the goods (especially for airfreight), but others require evidence of export in the form of a B/L prior to processing. Processing times vary, and can range from one to five-plus days, plus round-trip transit time. Many consulates have limited office hours in which to deliver or pick up documents; some accept documents only by mail or courier for security reasons. Adequate time must be allowed for processing of consular documents, which can be of special concern for short sailing times when processing must include the OBL. A forwarder wishing to determine if a country may require consular legalization of shipping documents should begin with a general trade reference containing country information, (such as the GISTnet Country Guides) and then contact the particular consulate to confirm exact requirements. Relatively few countries still impose such requirements, but for those who do, failure to comply may result in penalties, non-admissibility or even seizure of the cargo.