Shipper's Letter of Instruction for Export Forwarders

The forwarder's booking desk gets a two-page PDF at 16:50 on a Thursday: a shipper's letter of instruction with the Schedule B box copied from last quarter's order, the value typed from a pro forma, and "originals to consignee" ticked although the payment term is documents against payment. By Saturday the container is on the water, the Electronic Export Information carries the wrong classification, and the bills of lading are on a courier to a buyer who has not paid.

Every one of those failures started on the SLI, the document that tells the forwarder what to file, what to book and whom to release to. Treat it as a controlled record with an owner for each field and a cut-off, and the forwarder files once, releases correctly and can show which party supplied what. Treat it as a cover sheet, and the exporter carries the liability for data it never checked.

• What this guide covers: what an SLI is and is not under US rules, the fields that feed the export filing, written authority, standard and routed exports, value at the port of export, release instructions, cut-offs and the Indian practice for exporter instructions to a customs broker.
• What it adds: a field-to-regulation map, a worked value conversion in dollars and rupees, a structured SLI payload and an onboarding checklist for exporters and forwarders.

An instruction letter with legal weight but no prescribed form

No US regulation prescribes an SLI form. The SLI is a commercial document in which the exporter tells its forwarder how to move and document a shipment; its legal weight comes from the Foreign Trade Regulations, which make the party supplying export data answerable for it, and from the authorisation language most SLI templates carry.

The definitions in 15 CFR 30.1 never use the phrase "shipper's letter of instruction". They define the authorized agent, the power of attorney and the written authorization, and they refer to "export shipping instructions" as one of the places a filing citation may appear. Since 15 September 2025, section 30.3 also states that Incoterms and other terms of sale do not determine the type of export transaction or its parties, because they have no regulatory basis.

That makes the SLI the evidence file for two questions an auditor will ask: who supplied each data element, and did the agent have authority to file. Our guide to EEI filing, AES and the ITN covers the filing itself, exemptions and penalties; this article stays with the instruction document that feeds it.

Mapping SLI boxes to the data elements the filing needs

Every SLI box that feeds Electronic Export Information should map to a numbered data element in 15 CFR 30.6, and each one needs a named owner on the exporter's side. Boxes that only steer the booking, such as insurance or document instructions, need an owner too, but they are commercial rather than regulatory.

The remaining boxes on most templates are instructions rather than data: freight prepaid or collect, whether the forwarder should insure and for how much, how many original bills to issue, who receives them, and which certificates to prepare. They do not reach AES, but they decide who gets paid and who can take the cargo, so they deserve the same owner-and-signature discipline.

Written authority: when an SLI doubles as the agent's mandate

A forwarder may file EEI only with a power of attorney or written authorization from a principal party in interest. Many SLI templates embed that authorization in the signature block, which is acceptable if the wording meets 15 CFR 30.3(f); a signature under a page of shipping boxes alone does not.

Section 30.3(f) says the authorization should specify the parties' responsibilities with particularity and state that the agent may act as the principal's true and lawful agent for creating and filing EEI under US law. Census's Appendix A to Part 30 gives a sample. Two operating patterns follow: a standing power of attorney held on file, with each SLI referring to it, or a per-shipment SLI that carries the full authorization text.

• Standing authority: one signed power of attorney per legal entity, renewed on a set cycle, with each SLI citing its reference and date. Easier to audit, but a stale signatory can survive a reorganisation.
• Per-shipment authority: authorization wording printed above every SLI signature. Self-contained, but only as good as the template version in use that day.
• Routed exception: in a routed export the foreign party authorizes the agent, and 30.3(f) states the USPPI need not give that agent a power of attorney or written authorization.
• Licensing authority: under 15 CFR 758.3(b), licensing responsibility moves to the foreign party's agent only if the foreign party assumes it in a writing given to the USPPI.

A shipper's letter of instruction authorizes a forwarder to file Electronic Export Information only when its signature block meets 15 CFR 30.3(f), naming the agent as true and lawful agent for creating and filing EEI; exporters should hold that wording in one controlled template and re-sign it at every signatory change or every 12 months.

Standard and routed exports change who fills which SLI boxes

In a standard export the USPPI gives its own forwarder the whole SLI. In a routed export, the foreign buyer's US agent files, and the USPPI supplies only the elements Appendix C to Part 30 assigns to it, so the SLI shrinks to a data hand-off plus release terms.

The September 2025 rule moved the routed split into Appendix C. The USPPI column covers its own identity, state of origin, origin indicator, classification, description, quantities, value, export information code, hazardous material indicator, in-bond code, licence data, ECCN, FTZ identifier and vehicle details where relevant. The agent column covers export date, consignees, destination, mode, carrier, ports, shipping weight, the routed indicator and the transportation reference number.

Routed exports usually arise on EXW or FCA sales where the buyer nominates the forwarder, which our EXW versus FCA comparison discusses from the contract side. Whatever the term, request the ITN and the filed Appendix C data on every routed shipment and compare them with your SLI, because the agent must file your data exactly as you gave it.

Turning an invoice price into the value the SLI must carry

The SLI value box should hold the value at the US port of export, not the invoice total. Under 15 CFR 30.6(a)(17), that is the selling price plus inland freight, insurance and other charges to the port, with loading on the exporting carrier and costs beyond the port taken out of a delivered price.

India uses a parallel concept. Section 14(1) of the Customs Act, 1962 values export goods at the transaction value for delivery at the time and place of exportation, so a shipping bill on a CIF sale also needs freight and insurance beyond the port separated from the price. The table below works both directions with illustrative figures.

The EXW line shows why the SLI should carry the adjusted figure rather than leaving the forwarder to guess. The forwarder knows the ocean freight it booked; it does not know whether the inland haul sat inside the price or was billed separately. A $235 difference on one line rarely matters alone, but repeated across a year it is the pattern an export audit samples.

EEI value under 15 CFR 30.6(a)(17) is the selling price at the US port of export: for an illustrative $46,250 CIF Rotterdam invoice, subtracting $2,900 ocean freight, $55 insurance and $310 loading gives $42,985, reported in whole dollars, and the SLI value box should carry that adjusted figure.

Release and document instructions decide who can take the cargo

The SLI's document boxes control payment security. A wrong tick on the number of originals, the consignee line or the release method can hand the goods to a buyer who has not paid, and the forwarder will usually have followed the instruction exactly.

• Consignee line: "to order of" a named bank or the shipper for documentary collections and letters of credit; a named consignee only when the buyer has paid or the term is open account.
• Number of originals: state the full set, usually three, and who receives them; never "originals to consignee" when documents go through a bank.
• Release method: original bills, a surrendered bill or a sea waybill, chosen from the payment term; see our comparison of telex release and surrendered bills for the trade-offs.
• Freight terms: prepaid or collect, matching the Incoterm, so the bill does not show collect freight on a CIF sale.
• Insurance instruction: whether the forwarder should place cover, the insured amount and the clause set, or "no insurance" in writing.
• Hold condition: an explicit hold, such as "release only after shipper's written payment confirmation", where the exporter wants control after sailing.

Downstream, the forwarder turns these instructions into carrier shipping instructions, often as an X12 304 message; our note on EDI 304 shipping instructions covers that carrier-facing step. Errors on the SLI travel straight into that message and onto the bill of lading.

Cut-offs: when a late SLI turns into a late or wrong filing

The SLI must reach the forwarder early enough for the EEI to be filed and the ITN given to the carrier inside the 15 CFR 30.4(b)(2) deadlines: 24 hours before loading for vessel cargo, 2 hours before departure for air, and 1 hour before a truck reaches the border. Set your SLI cut-off backwards from the carrier's documentation cut-off, not from the sailing.

A practical rule is SLI receipt at least one business day before the carrier's documentation cut-off for ocean, and four working hours before the airline's acceptance cut-off for air. That leaves time to resolve an AES fatal error, which must be fixed before export on a predeparture filing. The trace below shows how a late SLI with a stale field produced a wrong filing that was accepted without complaint.

1. Thu 16:50, forwarder inbox: SLI for order SO-77140 arrives with Schedule B 8483.40.5050 copied from a prior order and value $61,400 typed from pro forma PF-2219. Vessel documentation cut-off is Friday 15:00.
2. Fri 09:10, forwarder AES session: EEI filed from the SLI; AES returns ITN X20261113004417 with no fatal error, because the wrong number is still a valid Schedule B code.
3. Fri 13:40, carrier portal: shipping instructions and ITN submitted; container MRKU 552190-6 accepted for Saturday loading in Houston.
4. Mon 10:25, exporter billing: final commercial invoice INV-90314 issued at $67,800 after a price revision, and the product team confirms the gearbox belongs under a different subheading.
5. Mon 15:05, forwarder: correction transmitted under 30.9 after the exporter's revised SLI arrives; the file shows the original error came from the SLI, which supports the forwarder's reliance under 30.3(a)(3) and leaves the finding with the exporter.

Nothing in that trace was caught by AES, because both the stale code and the pro forma value were plausible. The control that works is upstream: block SLI release when the value differs from the posted invoice adjusted to the port, and require the classification field to come from the item master rather than free text.

India: exporter instructions to the customs broker and the shipping bill

India has no statutory SLI. The exporter instructs its customs broker and forwarder through a commercial shipping instruction and an authorisation, and the legal weight sits with the exporter's declaration on the shipping bill under Section 50 of the Customs Act, 1962.

Section 50(2) requires the exporter to subscribe to a declaration as to the truth of the shipping bill's contents. Section 50(3) makes the exporter ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information, the authenticity and validity of supporting documents, and compliance with any restriction or prohibition. Clearance then follows a Section 51 order permitting clearance and loading, which may be made electronically on risk evaluation; traders call it the let export order.

Indian export instructions to a customs broker carry no prescribed form, but Customs Act Section 50(3) makes the exporter answer for the accuracy of every shipping bill field, and CBLR 2018 regulation 10(n) obliges the broker to verify the IEC, GSTIN and declared address before filing, ideally within one business day of onboarding.

The practical consequence mirrors the US. The exporter should approve the broker's shipping bill checklist against its own invoice, packing list and classification, and keep that approval with the shipment file. Our page on ICEGATE shipping bill reconciliation in the ERP covers matching the filed bill back to sales and GST records after clearance.

SLI checks a forwarding system enforces and ones a person signs

Structured SLIs let most field checks run as fixed rules at submission. Judgement stays with people for classification, licensing, routed-status decisions and anything read from a scanned or hand-amended document.

A structured payload makes those rules possible. The example below is an illustrative SLI record a forwarder portal could accept, with each regulatory field tagged to its 30.6 reference and the commercial instructions kept separate.

{
  "sliId": "SLI-2026-11-0418",
  "templateVersion": "SLI-T7 (authorization text approved 2026-03-02)",
  "routedExport": false,
  "ftr": {
    "usppi": { "name": "Prairie Gear Works LLC", "ein": "XX-XXXXXXX", "ref": "30.6(a)(1)" },
    "ultimateConsignee": { "name": "Rotterdam Drives BV", "type": "from AES code list", "ref": "30.6(a)(3), (a)(28)" },
    "stateOfOrigin": { "value": "KS", "ref": "30.6(a)(4)" },
    "lines": [
      { "scheduleB": "from item master", "originIndicator": "D",
        "quantity": 24, "unit": "from Schedule B unit", "shippingWeightKg": 3180,
        "valueAtPortUSD": 42985, "exportInfoCode": "from AES code list",
        "licenseCode": "from export control determination", "eccn": "EAR99",
        "ref": "30.6(a)(11)-(18), (a)(23), (b)(6)" }
    ],
    "hazmat": { "value": false, "ref": "30.6(a)(21)" }
  },
  "commercial": {
    "incoterm": "CIF Rotterdam, Incoterms 2020",
    "freight": "prepaid",
    "insurance": { "placeByForwarder": false },
    "billOfLading": { "originals": 3, "consignee": "to order of shipper", "release": "originals only" },
    "hold": "release documents to bank only"
  },
  "signedBy": { "name": "Export compliance lead", "date": "2026-11-12" }
}

Onboarding checklist for a new SLI process with your forwarder

Agree the SLI process once per forwarder and exporting entity, then audit it quarterly against a sample of filed shipments. The checklist below covers the decisions that should be settled before the first booking, not discovered during an export audit.

If you are evaluating software that captures SLIs as structured records, enforces these checks and keeps the filing evidence together, you can outline your export volumes and forwarders through our request for proposal form. Related guides on export documents, filings and freight charges are collected in the Logistics and Supply Chain library.