Shipping document
What a packing list is for on a citrus order
The packing list is the only document on a load that no law writes. It is issued by the packhouse and it describes what is in each package and on each pallet, which is the level neither the invoice nor the transport note reaches. When a count, a size or a lot has to be traced, this is the document everyone opens.
The figures
| Who issues it | The packer or dispatcher, as a commercial document |
|---|---|
| Legal form | None. No EU instrument prescribes its content |
| What it is read against | The invoice, which says what was sold, and the pallets, which say what arrived |
| Worth asking for | Pallet identifiers, lot code per pallet, package count, and count per package where fruit is sold by the piece |
| Our own packing list format | Not confirmed with the packhouse |
What it changes on an order
You receive mixed loads
With several varieties or sizes on one trailer, the list is what says which pallet is which without unwrapping anything. On a mixed load a thin list costs you an afternoon.
You need to find one lot fast
A withdrawal is a search problem before it is anything else. A list that carries the lot code against each pallet turns that search into a lookup.
You are quoting freight
Pallet count, dimensions and gross weight come from here. A carrier quoting from an estimate and loading from a list is how a booked trailer turns out to be the wrong size.
What this note does not settle
- Because nothing prescribes its form, a packing list can be as thin as a total. What you get is what you asked for at the start, and that is worth settling before a first order.
- It states what was packed. It is not evidence of what arrived, and it does not stand in for a transport document or a receipt.
- Our figures for kilos per pallet are sector orders of magnitude. The real numbers come from an actual packing list, which we cannot produce yet.
Source: Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2429, Annex I, Part B, Part 2
No law writes this one
The invoice has a legal form. The transport note has a legal form. The packing list has none, which is why it looks different from every shipper you buy from and why nobody can read a new supplier's version at a glance. It exists because the trade needs it, not because anyone was told to produce it.
That freedom cuts both ways. A good one tells you what is on each pallet and each box, so you can find the fruit a query is about without unwrapping the load. A thin one gives you a total, and a total is exactly what you already knew.
It is the document every dispute gets reconciled against
When a count is short, a size is queried or a lot has to be traced, the packing list is what everyone opens. It sits between the invoice, which says what was sold, and the pallets, which say what turned up. Neither of the other two can do that job, because neither goes down to the level of an individual package.
So it is worth agreeing its shape before the first load rather than after the first problem. Ask for pallet identifiers, the lot code against each pallet, and the count per package where the fruit is sold by the piece. None of that is standard, all of it is normal to ask for, and a packhouse that can supply it is telling you something about how it runs.
Talk to the grower
Tell us the variety, the sizes and the delivery week you need. You get a delivered price and what we can commit to in writing, from the person who picks the fruit.
The grower handles enquiries. Response times are still to be confirmed.