Document errors are the single most common reason trade finance applications stall — not bad credit, not insufficient transaction history, not risk model flags. Missing information in the commercial invoice, a packing list that does not reconcile with the bill of lading, a Form M that has lapsed. These are correctable problems. They are also preventable problems, and prevention is faster than correction when you are trying to move goods through Apapa or Tin Can Island under time pressure.
This checklist is based on what we actually review at Trade Lenda, and on the rejections and delays we see most frequently. It is not an exhaustive treatment of every document that may be required in every trade transaction — specific commodity categories, specific origin countries, and specific buyer requirements can add to this set. But for the majority of Nigerian SME importers and exporters using invoice finance or pre-shipment finance, this is the core document set that determines whether your application moves or stalls.
Import Finance Documents
1. Commercial Invoice
What it is: The formal invoice from your overseas supplier describing the goods, quantity, unit price, total value, payment terms, and delivery terms.
Why it matters: The commercial invoice is the primary source of truth for the trade transaction. Every other document is checked against it. If the invoice is inconsistent with the bill of lading or packing list, the discrepancy has to be resolved before we can advance funds — and before NCS will clear the goods.
Required fields: Supplier's full legal name and address. Buyer's (your) full legal name and business address. Invoice date and invoice number. Description of goods with HS code. Quantity (number of units and gross/net weight). Unit price and total value in the invoiced currency. Payment terms (open account, LC, etc.). Delivery terms (Incoterms: FOB, CIF, EXW, etc.) with named port. Country of origin of goods.
Common rejection reasons: HS code missing or incorrect for the commodity described. Gross weight on invoice does not match packing list. Delivery terms stated without a named port (e.g., "CIF Nigeria" rather than "CIF Apapa, Lagos"). Supplier address incomplete or mismatched against their company registration. Invoice date after the bill of lading date (logically impossible — the invoice should precede or accompany the shipment).
2. Bill of Lading (or Airway Bill for Air Freight)
What it is: The transport document issued by the carrier (shipping line or airline) confirming that goods have been received for shipment, describing the goods, and identifying the consignee (receiver).
Why it matters: The bill of lading (B/L) is a negotiable document of title to the goods. For financing purposes, it confirms that a shipment is physically in transit and provides the logistics details — vessel name, voyage number, container numbers, port of loading, port of discharge, and estimated arrival. Without a B/L, there is no evidence that the goods being financed actually exist in transit.
For pre-arrival financing: A draft B/L or booking confirmation may be accepted at application stage for goods not yet loaded. We use this to begin processing. Original or telex release B/L is required before disbursement for most import finance facilities. Confirm this timeline with us at application stage if you need capital before goods are loaded.
Required fields: Shipper name and address. Consignee name and address (your business). Notify party (often your clearing agent). Vessel name and voyage number. Port of loading and port of discharge. Container numbers and seal numbers for FCL (full container load) shipments. Commodity description consistent with commercial invoice. Gross weight and measurement. Number of packages. Date of issue. Freight terms (prepaid or collect).
Common rejection reasons: Consignee name does not match the applicant's business name exactly (even small variations create problems — "Ltd" vs "Limited" is sufficient to trigger a discrepancy query at NCS). Commodity description is too vague to correlate with the HS code on the commercial invoice. Container numbers blank or listed as "to be advised" — acceptable for pre-arrival but flagged. Freight terms listed as "collect" when the commercial invoice states CIF (freight included in price) — contradictory and requires explanation.
3. Packing List
What it is: A detailed itemisation of the goods in each package or container: number of cartons, contents per carton, individual item weights, gross and net weight per package, and total shipment weight and measurement.
Why it matters: The packing list is the document NCS uses to verify the physical goods against what was declared on the commercial invoice and Form M. Discrepancies between the packing list and the invoice — different total weights, different item descriptions, different quantities — trigger a physical examination order at customs, adding days to clearance and potentially triggering examination charges.
Common rejection reasons: Packing list total weight differs from commercial invoice (even by a few kilograms — this is a flag NCS will act on). Item descriptions on the packing list do not match the invoice descriptions. Number of cartons on the packing list does not match the B/L. Packing list has no date or is undated when the invoice is dated.
4. Form M
What it is: The Form M (Form for Import) is the mandatory pre-import registration document required by the CBN for all goods imported into Nigeria above a specified value threshold. It is filed through a licensed Authorised Dealer bank and generates a unique Form M number that is required on all import documentation.
Why it matters: No Form M, no legal importation. The Form M number must appear on the commercial invoice and bill of lading, and must be validly registered in the CBN Trade Monitoring System (TRMS) before goods can be cleared through NCS. A Form M with an incorrect HS code or an incorrect goods description creates a discrepancy that requires an amendment — an amendment that can take days to process through the originating bank and CBN.
Required information on Form M: Applicant (importer) full name and address. Supplier full name and address. Bank of issue (your Authorised Dealer bank). Value of goods in USD or other invoiced currency. HS code of goods. Country of supply. Expected date of arrival. Validity period (Form M is valid for a specified period; expired Form M requires renewal before goods can clear).
Common rejection reasons: Form M HS code does not match the commercial invoice HS code. Form M value significantly understates or overstates the commercial invoice value (the CBN and NCS both scrutinise value discrepancies as a potential customs valuation fraud indicator). Form M has expired — importers who file Form M early and experience shipping delays sometimes arrive at port with an expired Form M, requiring emergency amendment processing. Form M issued through a bank that is not the Authorised Dealer named in the financing application — this creates a chain-of-custody issue that slows verification.
5. Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR)
What it is: The PAAR is issued by pre-shipment inspection companies (SGS, Bureau Veritas, Cotecna, or others approved by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria) following physical or documentary inspection of goods before they depart the origin country. It assigns an NCS Assessment Number that is required for customs clearance.
Why it matters: Without a valid PAAR, goods cannot be assessed and cleared by NCS. The PAAR is also a data source we use in our risk assessment — a clean PAAR from a reputable inspection company provides independent verification of the commodity description and quantity declared on the commercial invoice.
Note on SON Conformity Assessment: For goods subject to Standards Organisation of Nigeria mandatory conformity assessment requirements — which covers a significant and expanding list of products including electronics, electrical equipment, food items, building materials, and others — a separate SON Certificate of Conformity (CoC) is required in addition to the PAAR. The SON CoC list is updated periodically. Importers should verify current SON conformity requirements for their specific HS code before shipping, because non-compliant goods can be seized at port regardless of other documentation quality.
Export Finance Documents
For exporters applying for pre-shipment finance, the document set differs from the import set. The core documents are:
Confirmed Purchase Order or Offtake Agreement
A signed purchase order from the overseas buyer specifying commodity, quantity, unit price, total value, delivery terms, and payment terms. This is the primary evidence that a trade transaction exists and that a buyer has committed to purchase. We do not advance pre-shipment capital against informal or unconfirmed orders.
NXP Form
The Nigerian Export Proceeds form — the export equivalent of Form M — filed through an Authorised Dealer bank. The NXP registers the expected export proceeds that must be repatriated to Nigeria. Must be filed before export and must correspond to the transaction being financed.
NEPC Export Certificate
Active registration with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council. This is a one-time registration renewed annually. An expired NEPC certificate is a common administrative gap that can delay export documentation processing.
Product-Specific Export Certifications
Agricultural commodities: Phytosanitary certificate from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture confirming goods are free from pests and diseases. This is mandatory for all plant-based products. Processed foods: NAFDAC export clearance. Raw mineral commodities: relevant upstream regulatory body documentation. Exporters should verify the specific certification requirements for their commodity category with NEPC before their first export — the list is more extensive than many first-time exporters expect.
Cross-Cutting Document Principles
Regardless of whether you are an importer or an exporter, three principles reduce document-related delays across all transaction types:
Consistency across all documents. Every document in the set should use exactly the same name for your business, exactly the same name for the supplier or buyer, and exactly the same description for the commodity. "Computer peripherals" on the invoice and "electronic accessories" on the packing list are different descriptions that create reconciliation queries, even if you know they refer to the same goods. Use the HS code commodity description as your standard and ensure every document aligns to it.
Dates in logical sequence. The purchase order should predate the invoice. The invoice should predate the bill of lading. The bill of lading should predate the customs entry. Documents with dates out of this sequence trigger automatic scrutiny. Check that every document in your submission set has a date and that the dates tell a coherent timeline.
Values reconciled across currency conversions. If your commercial invoice is in USD and your Form M value is expressed in naira, the conversion should use the CBN rate at the time of Form M filing. If the rate used produces a naira value that differs materially from the naira equivalent at current rates — which can happen when goods are shipped over a long period — annotate the conversion basis in your submission notes so our underwriter does not flag it as a discrepancy.
Document preparation is not the most interesting part of trade finance. It is the part that determines whether your capital arrives in time to move your goods, or whether your goods sit at port while you correct a mismatched weight column. The few extra minutes spent checking consistency before submission reliably save days in approval turnaround. We have built our document review interface to flag the most common discrepancies at upload time — but the data has to be in the documents first for the checks to catch it.
If you are preparing your first Trade Lenda application and want to confirm that your document set is complete before submitting, you can reach our team at [email protected]. We would rather answer a pre-submission question than spend three days going back and forth on a correctable discrepancy once an application is in review.