Partnered carrier shipping from India to the US

The Partnered Carrier program allows you to send your Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) inventory from India to Amazon fulfillment centers in the US at Amazon negotiated rates. The program enables you to commercially ship your FBA shipments in a cost-effective manner. Once the partnered carrier picks up your shipment, they will handle shipping from customs clearances to delivery to an Amazon fulfillment center. Doorstep pickup and drop-off at a carrier facility in India is available.

Below is a detailed list of program features:

• Integration into Seller Central

  You can book shipments, enter customs information, schedule pickup by the carrier, pay logistics freight charges, and track your shipments directly in Seller Central while creating your FBA shipment.

• Amazon-facilitated shipping

  You don’t need to create a separate account with the carrier or do any credit checks to use the Partnered Carrier program for global shipments. Ensure that your shipment documents and Know-Your-Customer (KYC) documents (details mentioned in further sections) are ready at the time of pickup. KYC documents establish your proof of identity and address.

• Commercially cleared

  Partnered carrier shipments will be commercially cleared, with the carrier taking care of both origin and destinations customs clearance.

• Amazon-negotiated rates and seamless payments

  You can rely on Amazon’s negotiated rates along with seamless Seller Central integrated payments.

• Door-to-door pickup and delivery

  Once you schedule pickup from your location, the carrier will come to your door for pickup and will take ownership for delivery to a US fulfillment center.

• End-to-end tracking

  You can track the status of your FBA shipment within Seller Central.

You can buy shipping by using the existing FBA workflow for sending your shipments to fulfillment centers. The shipping options available to you will be based on the ship-from location that you provide. Book an FBA shipment with a participating carrier in thirteen steps.

1. To create an FBA shipment, select Manage FBA Shipments from the Inventory drop-down menu in Seller Central and select Send to Amazon.
2. In Step-1, select the inventory with quantity which you to send to FBA. Once you have selected the inventory with quantity, select Pack individual units. Make sure that Ship from address is correct.
3. This will take you to Step-1b where you need to provide the packaging box details. After providing the box details, select Confirm and continue.
4. Post this, you will land onto Step-2 where you need to provide the shipping details.
5. Provide accurate information under Shipment packing, including box weights in pounds and dimensions in inches. For multiple boxes, enter box weights and dimensions for each box in the shipment.
6. Select shipping mode as Small parcel delivery (SPD) and select UPS (Amazon partnered carrier).
7. After confirming the boxes and their dimensions, enter the information required for customs clearance listed below:
   • Description of the commodity: Full description of your inventory, along with the intended use. Example: Thermometers for non-clinical use; shampoo for washing hair; face moisturizer for facial cleansing. Be as precise as possible in your descriptions to avoid issues during customs clearance.
   • Declared value: Value of the product based on which customs duties and taxes are charged.
   • GST number: GST stands for Goods and Services Tax.
   • CSB selection (CSB V/Regular Shipping Mode - high value commodity): CSB-V is courier clearance, and Regular Shipping Mode is high-value clearance. Generally, if the declared value of shipment is less than INR 5 lakhs, you can select CSB-V for faster customs clearance. Regular Shipping Mode entails formal clearance, which is intended for shipments with a declared value more than INR 5 lakhs. If you intend to claim duty-drawback for your shipment, choose Regular Shipping Mode as the clearance mode, as duty-drawback is not available for CSB-V clearance.
   • Invoice type: GST/Non-GST
   • Terms of invoice selection: Delivery duty unpaid (DDU). The carrier will collect any customs duties paid from Amazon at the destination and we will charge your seller account once we receive the carrier invoice.
   • Against bond or undertaking (UT) selection: Refers to customs bond or letter of undertaking (LUT), whichever is applicable. If you don’t intend to pay GST against your export invoice, you must provide an LUT or a customs bond.
   • E-com shipment selection
     • GST paid: Value of GST paid (if any).
     • Invoice date: Enter the date listed on the invoice.
     • Invoice number: The number of the invoice.
8. After confirming the customs information, choose the pickup date and slot for the carrier to pick up the shipment. If you choose drop off, the carrier’s contact details will appear to coordinate for the drop off.
   
   1. Click Get Shipping cost to generate the estimate for shipping fees based on the box dimensions and weight. The fees do not include customs duties charged by US customs.
   2. Click Accept charges to agree to the carrier’s terms and conditions and accept the charges.

   Amount from your seller central disbursement account will be deducted once the item is delivered. Note that the actual charges may differ from estimated charges subjected to weight correction/additional charges.

9. After you accept the charges, download the print box labels and CSB-5 template. You can also download the CSB-5 template by clicking here. Fill the CSB-5 template and mail it to the following addresses as per your location:

   Center	Email Address
   UPS Delhi	Sanjiv Seth - sseth@ups.com
   TSPL Panipat	Shiv Sharma - sbsharma@ups.com
   UPS Delhi Airport	Karan - kkaran@ups.com
   UPS Chennai	Bangaru Babu - brbabu@ups.com
   UPS Jaipur	Himanshu - hjoshi@ups.com
   UPS Delhi	Karan - kkaran@ups.com
   UPS Gurgaon	Shiv Sharma - sbsharma@ups.com
   UPS Bangalore	Raghu - sraghu@ups.com
   UPS Mumbai	Rupesh - srupesh@ups.com
   UPS Moradabad	Sanjiv Seth - sseth@ups.com
   UPS Pune	Rupesh - srupesh@ups.com
   OGP Vapi	Rahul - panditarahul@ups.com
   UPS Delhi Airport	Sanjiv Seth - sseth@ups.com

10. Click Complete shipment to send a notification to the carrier for pickup slot confirmation. You can then track the shipment on Seller Central.
11. You need to register your e-mail ID in ICEGATE by following the process in advisory document by ICEGATE. You can use this ICEGATE account to download the regular mode shipping bills. UPS will share the CSB5 mode shipping directly with you.
12. You can reach out to global-fba-azn@amazon.com for any Amazon related query or call UPS helpline 1800 102 7171 for any UPS related concerns.
13. Note that any claims related concern has to be taken directly with UPS. The shipments are not insured and UPS will provide up to $100 in case of any losses/damages

Mandatory Clearance documents required for all the shipments*:

Arrange the following documents depending on the mode of your shipments. You can click on the link to download the formats.

*Ensure that the exporter’s details including the company name and address mentioned in your invoice/Shipper’s Letter of Instructions (SLI)/Packing List etc. matches with the details (including the address) mentioned in your generated shipping labels.

**Transporter ID based on Seller Location

Regulatory documents required, specific to commodity

You might need to share some of the following documents, depending on the product commodity, as per the applicable regulations in India, and the USA. Note that this is an indicative list of documents – you would need to work with any compliance consultant to identify the specific documents required for your products.

• IOR- For shipments with value less than $50,000, the carrier will act as the IOR, if the following conditions are met:
  
  1. The commodities are not regulated by a US Government agency (FDA, EPA, FWS, DOT, etc.)
  2. The commodities are not subject to anti-dumping/countervailing duties.

     For shipments with value less than $500,000, but are not meeting the aforementioned criteria (A&B), the carrier will not become the IOR. You will need to have your own US-resident IOR or arrange for a third-party US-resident IOR. You can utilize IOR services from third-party service providers on the Service Provider Network (for example, Stelcore, Parshotam & Associates). You need to mention the IOR details under “Importer” in the invoice.

     For shipment with value more than $500,000, and not meeting the aforementioned criteria, you can opt to register as a Non-resident IOR. In such cases, you will need to get a POA from the carrier to send shipments through this solution. For this, send a mail to customer_support_POA@ups.com to get the POA form, and send it to them post filling, signing and stamping the same.

• FDA registration, and Prior Notice – You need to get FDA registration for products related to Animal and Veterinary, Drugs, Food, Medical Devices, Radiation-Emitting Products, Tobacco Products, Vaccines, Blood, and Biologics. You may refer to US FDA website where you can find the details of registration process related to your commodity. FDA must be notified in advance of any shipments of food for humans and other animals that are imported into the U.S., unless the food is exempt from prior notice.
• Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) certificate – Imports of chemical substances, ink in pens, composite wood products, mixtures or articles that contain a chemical substance or mixture must comply with the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in order to enter the U.S. You can refer to TSCA guidelines here. The US entity (IOR) has to provide either Positive Certification Statement or Negative Certification Statement.
• MSDS (Battery) (for products with batteries)
• Battery checklist (for products with batteries)
• Products without harmful chemicals
• Certificate of Analysis (COA) – For Health and Beauty
• Radiation Declaration – For Laser Products
• Non-DG (Dangerous Goods) declaration
• Phytosanitary Certificate – For tea, spices and anything made of plant seeds
• Certificate of Origin
• Import Export License under Fisheries and Wildlife Department

To get guidance on product specific documentation, contact your compliance consultant, or reach out to third-party service providers on the Service Provider Network. You can also browse Amazon Export Compliance Website to get information on documentation.

Dangerous goods

Dangerous goods or hazardous materials may not be sent using the Partnered Carrier program for global shipments. To ensure safe transportation, dangerous goods must comply with all applicable regulations and will be subjected to additional terms. To learn more, visit FBA Dangerous Goods program.

Disclaimer

The information related to documentation is provided on best-effort basis and provide guidance on applicable compliances with respect to your business, and there is no assurance as to its accuracy, completeness, updates or usefulness or that such information is error-free. Take help of your compliance consultant or any of the SPN vendors to understand the documentation requirement.