The Shipper's Letter of Instruction (SLI) is a document that instructs Outer Seaways on how to handle your shipment. It contains the information necessary to properly export your cargo from the United States. Some important information you may find on an SLI is:
Shipper: the party responsible for shipping the goods out of the country and providing the export documentation.
Consignee: the party responsible for receiving the goods upon their arrival at the agreed destination.
Schedule B number: unique 10 digit code that classifies goods being exported from the USA. Derived from commodity's HS code.
Shipment Description: commodity, quantity, weight, value, container number, seal number, etc.
Internal Transaction Number (ITN): the number assigned to an export shipment to confirm the Electronic Export Information (EEI) has been filed through the Automated Export System (AES).
EIN number: stands for "Employer Identification Number" and is needed for filing the EEI.
As an example, below is a screenshot of the Outer Seaways' SLI template that we send to our customers.
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