Fresh fruit carries the strictest paperwork of the six groups An Supply ships. Miss one of the three documents below and the lot is held at the destination port, and with fresh produce, held means spoiled.
Three documents you cannot skip
On every route a fresh fruit lot needs a phytosanitary certificate issued by the plant quarantine authority, a certificate of origin on the form the route requires, and an invoice and packing list declaring the exact carton count and net weight. None of the three can be supplied after the goods have sailed.
Many destination countries add their own paperwork: a vapour heat treatment programme for mango and rambutan going to Japan, South Korea and the United States, or surface treatment requirements for pomelo. These attach to a specific market and a specific item, so they have to be settled before sourcing, not before stuffing.
Buyers often ask whose name goes on the documents. It varies by lot: on some An Supply is named as the seller, on others the partner facility or the packhouse is named and An Supply is the trading party. Either is valid, but it has to be fixed before the L/C is opened, because the name on the bill of lading and the invoice must match the payment terms.
Planting area and packhouse codes
Most markets with quarantine requirements accept fruit only from registered growing areas and packhouses. Those codes belong to the growing area and the packhouse, not to An Supply. An Supply's job is to pick a source whose codes match the buyer's market and to assemble the file lot by lot.
- The code must be valid at the time of harvest, not at the time the contract is signed.
- A plot registered for China is not necessarily registered for Japan.
- Buyers should ask for the actual code numbers in the lot file, not a general assurance.
The gap between harvest and cold storage is the least discussed stretch and the one that drives the spoilage rate. Fruit cut in the morning and left outside for half a day before cooling will not hold as well as fruit chilled within a few hours, however clean the container temperature log looks afterwards. That is why An Supply buys against a scheduled harvest rather than fruit already sitting at a collection yard.
The temperature log
Core temperature at packing and the container temperature log are the two figures that decide the spoilage rate on arrival. A reefer records temperature for the whole voyage, and that record is the evidence in any quality dispute.
With fresh produce a dispute nearly always comes down to one question: at which leg did the temperature leave its range.
An Supply sends the temperature log with the lot documents, whether or not the buyer asks for it.
When a lot is held at destination
If a lot is held for inspection, time is the only thing that matters. An Supply notifies you as soon as it knows, sends the additional documents within the working day, and works with the carrier to keep the container plugged in. The worst outcome is the buyer finding out from their own agent.
For fresh produce, cargo insurance should cover loss from a break in the cold chain, not only physical damage. Cover and deductibles vary by insurer and by route · [to be supplied]. The thing to remember is that insurance settles the money; a spoiled lot still misses the buyer's selling season.
This article is for reference and is not legal advice. Quarantine rules change country by country over time and need confirming before each lot.