Cross-border FMCG deals fail on paperwork and pallet maths far more often than they fail on price. These guides cover the parts buyers most often get wrong — written from the loading side, where the consequences show up.
Buying from Poland you may be quoted 23% VAT, or zero. When intra-EU dispatch and export are zero-rated, the proof that secures it, and how to avoid tying up 23% of your order.
Published 17 September 2026The proforma is where a deal becomes real money, and the document fraudsters target. What must be on it, how the deposit works, and how to pay the right amount to the right account.
Published 17 September 2026A cosmetic that is legal on an EU shelf can be stopped at the border on its label alone. Language, local importer, registration and claim rules for cosmetics leaving the EU.
Published 17 September 2026For beer, wine and spirits the biggest cost variable is not the product — it is whether excise is suspended, paid or reclaimed. EMCS, the e-AD and ARC, excise stamps, and the mistakes that cost buyers money.
Published 17 September 2026An MOQ is not a gate, it is an accounting line — where full-pallet picking, freight break-points and fixed documentation cost meet. What sets yours, and five ways to bring it down without ordering more.
Published 17 September 2026Which term you buy on decides who pays for what, who carries the risk, and at which point the goods stop being our problem and start being yours. A plain comparison with worked cost examples for a pallet and a container.
Published 12 August 2026Commercial invoice, packing list, CMR or bill of lading, EUR.1 or statement on origin, health certificates. What each one is for, who issues it, how long it takes, and which ones must be requested before the goods are picked.
Published 5 August 2026A standard trailer takes 33 EUR pallets — until the load is liquid detergent and you hit the 24-tonne payload limit at 26. How to work out whether your order is volume- limited or weight-limited before you get quoted freight.
Published 29 July 2026Editorial plan. One guide is published each week. Next up: private-label and OEM sourcing from EU manufacturers; the cold chain for chilled and frozen lines; and paying by letter of credit on larger first orders. Tell us what you would find useful and we will prioritise it.
Send the enquiry with "not sure — advise me" against the Incoterm and we will quote on the two that make the most sense for your route.
