1. Decide who clears customs, before you quote
Write it into the quotation: are you delivering duty-paid (DDP) or duty-unpaid (DDU/DAP)? With DDU the buyer pays import duty and may be contacted by the carrier; with DDP you absorb it. Exporters lose margins on this detail more often than on product cost, because a delayed shipment that sits in a customs office for two weeks is a customer who reorders elsewhere.
2. Paperwork for a research-material shipment
- Commercial invoice — accurate description, quantity, unit value and total; the declared value must match the invoice you were issued.
- Packing list — what is physically in the carton, itemised by catalogue reference.
- Certificate of Analysis — the batch documentation set travels with the shipment, not after it.
- Research-use declaration — a plain statement that the material is supplied for laboratory research use only and is not for human or veterinary use.
- Certificate of origin — issued through your chamber of commerce where your destination or your buyer's bank requires it.
Your freight forwarder or customs house agent will confirm the correct tariff heading for the destination; headings and duty rates differ by country and change over time, so treat any fixed code as something to verify rather than copy.
3. Packaging and temperature
- Outer packaging: plain, unbranded and rigid. “Discreet” means unremarkable — it does not mean inaccurate declarations. Contents are declared honestly on the paperwork.
- Inner protection: vial trays that stop glass-on-glass contact, plus void fill so nothing shifts in transit.
- Cold chain: only formats that require it need refrigerated routing; many lyophilised research peptides ship at ambient temperatures. Where cold chain is needed, use a validated shipper with a temperature log — that log is also useful evidence if a buyer disputes handling.
- Documentation inside the box: a copy of the invoice and the batch documents, so a customs inspection can be resolved without contacting you.
4. Tracking, transit time and duty
Tracked service, always. Typical door-to-door transit is roughly five to fourteen days depending on destination and clearance, with longer holds where the destination requires permits or an import licence. Share the tracking number and the batch documents in the same message as dispatch confirmation — buyers chase what they cannot see.
5. Destination rules are your responsibility
Regulation of research chemicals, including peptides, varies widely and is enforced at the destination, not at the origin. Before you quote a format into a new market, check whether the destination restricts it, requires an import permit, or restricts the importing party to licensed laboratories or companies. We supply for laboratory research use only and expect our partners to satisfy the import requirements of the markets they serve.
6. Where we fit into your shipment
We supply to you; you supply your customer. Orders ship worldwide on one flat rate, tracked, with batch-matched documents in the box and complimentary BAC water included. If you are consolidating orders for several customers, tell us at checkout in the order notes and we will keep references separable in the documents.