Indian Agro Exporter Due Diligence Checklist

Step 1: Match the legal entity and export identity

Ask for the contracting legal name, constitution, registered address, IEC, GSTIN where applicable, authorised signatory and beneficiary-bank name. Search official systems yourself; a screenshot supplied by a seller is not independent verification.

Registration requirements are activity- and product-specific. For APEDA-scheduled products, check the APEDA exporter-status service and the current RCMC scope. For spices, ask for the applicable Spices Board exporter registration. A registration confirms a defined status or scope; it does not guarantee performance, quality, solvency or payment safety.

Step 2: Verify product and performance evidence

• Specification: require measurable grade, tolerances, sampling, test methods, packing and acceptance rules.
• Relevant history: request redacted shipment evidence for a comparable product and route, subject to confidentiality, then check internal consistency.
• Sample identity: label the approved sample and state whether production must match it plus the written specification.
• Site and process: establish who manufactures, packs, tests and loads the goods; do not infer ownership from generic facility imagery.
• Independent evidence: agree the inspector, laboratory, scope, sampling party and report addressee before the work occurs.

APEDA's own exporter-directory disclaimer tells users to verify counterparties and states that APEDA does not participate in commercial negotiation, contracts or financial transactions. Treat a directory result as one input, not an endorsement.

Step 3: Reconcile the contract and payment path

1. Put the same legal entity on the quotation, proforma invoice, sales contract, beneficiary account and shipment documents.
2. Confirm bank instructions through a known, independently verified channel before every remittance.
3. Define price, currency, Incoterm and named place/port, shipment window, document list, inspection, claims and release conditions.
4. Choose LC, TT or another method through a transaction-specific risk review. An LC controls documents under its terms; it does not itself prove cargo quality. TT timing, deposits and document release should be negotiated and verified.
5. Treat any last-minute beneficiary or bank change as a stop event until independently authenticated.

Use the proforma invoice checklist, letter of credit guide and buyer payment-safety workflow before approval.

Red flags that require investigation

• Legal name, address, signatory or beneficiary differs across records without a documented explanation
• The supplier will not provide identifiers needed for official verification
• A bank change arrives only by email or messaging app and creates payment urgency
• Certificate number, holder, scope, site or validity cannot be matched to the claimed use
• The quote is materially outside the market without a clear grade, packing, Incoterm or timing explanation
• Inspection is promised but the sampling party, scope and report recipient remain undefined
• Photos, COAs or bills appear reused for a different lot, date, entity or shipment

Step 4: Control the first shipment

Set exposure according to the order value, perishability, supplier evidence, remedy options and your organisation's risk policy. Freeze the specification; agree representative sampling and any independent inspection; use a lot-linked COA where required; inspect the container before loading; record packaging, quantity, container and seal; and reconcile the final document set before payment or cargo release.

Continue with the COA review workflow, container loading checklist and export documentation centre.