Ad Valorem - According to value.

Air Waybill - The Air Way bill is a non-negotiable Bill of Lading, and is used as a receipt for cargo and a contract for transportation between shipper and air carrier.

Air cargo Agent - An agent appointed by an airline to solicit and process international airfreight shipments.

Bill of Lading - Multi-use documents that are essential to conduct the day-to-day operations when transportation of supplies, materials, and personal property is required.

CBSA - Canada Border Service Agency

COD - collect on delivery

Certificate of Origin - The document certifies that goods were manufactured in a specific country.

Commercial Invoice - A commercial invoice is the basic statement of the seller to the buyer for payment of the goods shipped.

Commercial Value - Assessment of monetary value of manufactured goods including production costs, packaging, shipping, overhead and profit margin; used to determine duty.

Commodity - Any article or goods of commerce.

Consignee - A person or company to whom commodities are shipped.

CN22 and CN23 - customs declaration forms to be used for import and export of postal packets.

Customs clearance - Authorizing release of an article of mail to the addressee by Customs

Customhouse Broker - A person or firm, licensed by the treasury department of their country when required, engaged in entering and clearing goods through Customs for a client (importer).

Customs Declaration - A form affixed to international mail to simplify Customs clearance in the country of destination.

Customs duty - Amount of tax or tariff applied to an item imported from another country

Customs examination - Process of inspecting an item of mail by Customs officers to determine whether duty is applicable.

Customs label - CN22 label required on all international items, other than Parcel Post, subject to Customs control.

Customs primary screening center - An area at exchange offices (generally at the port of entry) where an initial segregation is made between non-dutiable and potentially dutiable items before dispatch to destination or diversion to Customs.

Customs Tariff - A schedule of charges assessed by a federal government on imported goods.

Dangerous Goods - Articles or substances which are capable of posing a significant risk to health, safety or property when transported by air and which are classified according to subsections 3.1 through 2.10 in IATA. This includes cargo labeled as flammable, corrosive, radioactive, etc.

Declared Value - The value of a shipment as declared by the shipper, used to determine the value for duty and carrier liability.

Dim Weight (Dimensional Weight) - An international airfreight formula determined by calculating length x width x height and dividing by 166. It is charged when the actual weight is less than the dimensional weight.

DDU - Delivered Duty Unpaid

DDP - Delivered Duty Paid

Dutiable - The goods that are subject to duty as per each nation's Customs regulation.

Duty - A tax imposed by a government on merchandise imported from another country.

Duty Drawback - A refund of duty paid on imported merchandise when it is later exported.

EIN (Exporter Identification Number) - An Employer's IRS Identification Number (needed on some international shipping documentation) assigned by the Government when exporting goods from the United States

ETA - Estimated Time of Arrival.

ETD - Estimated Time of Departure.

Excise duty - tax charged on certain goods particularly alcohol and tobacco.

Harmonized system code - A numeric code used to classify goods for customs duty purposes

HAZ MAT - An industry abbreviation for "Hazardous Material."

HS Number - Harmonized System (HS) Numbers are used to classify products for customs purposes. Typically, 6-10 digits long, the first 6 digits are standardized internationally. To get a duty rate one needs to have the individual product number used in the importing country.

IATA (International Air Transport Association) - International Air Transport Association. The trade and service organization representing international airlines from more than 100 countries.

In Bond Cargo - moving under Customs control where duty has not yet been paid.

Import VAT - VAT chargeable on importation.

Landed Cost - The total cost of a good to a buyer, including the cost of transportation.

LCL - Abbreviation for "Less than Container Load." The quantity of freight, which is less than that, required for the application of a container load rate.

LVS - Low Value Shipment

LTL - Less Than Truckload Also known as LCL. Is an acronym for Less-Than-Load, meaning cargo that is not of the quantity to require an entire truckload (TL) by itself. Typically, an LTL shipment ranges from 100 lbs to 20,000 lbs.

NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) - A free trade agreement comprising the U.S.A., Canada, and Mexico.

NVOCC - Non Vessel Operating Common Carrier, A company that is a NVOCC does not own the actual ocean vessel.

POD - Proof of delivery

Restricted Articles - Articles handled only under certain conditions.

RMA - Return merchandise authorization

Tariff & Duty - (interchangeable terms): A product-specific tax imposed on imports by the customs authorities of a country.

Tariff number - An international standardized code for each commodity that must be entered on the Bill of Lading, if available.

VAT - Value added tax (similar to a sales tax). Generally applied on duty-paid value.

Volumetric weight - The volumetric weight ensures that the postage for lightweight and bulky parcels adequately covers the cost of transportation for the space they occupy.