Shipping bill, LEO and the customs handover: what the CS desk is waiting for

On an Indian export, a container cannot be loaded until customs grants the Let Export Order (LEO). The sequence runs like this:

1. The customs broker (CHA) files the shipping bill on ICEGATE with the commercial invoice, packing list and supporting documents.
2. The bill is assessed, and the goods may be selected for examination by the risk management system.
3. Once customs is satisfied, it grants the Let Export Order.
4. Only then can the container be loaded.

What does the CS desk need from the CHA?

The forwarder's customer service desk needs a few facts from the CHA:

• The shipping bill number and date.
• Whether examination was ordered.
• Whether LEO has been granted.

Those facts decide whether the box will make its gate cut-off and vessel.

Where does the customs handover break?

In most offices the handover happens on the phone or in a chat group. "Shipping bill is still pending, I'll call back." The CS desk notes it somewhere, a colleague asks again an hour later and the status the manager sees is whatever was last written in a spreadsheet.

A handover is not complete when someone has been told. It is complete when everyone can see it.

Making the handover visible

Treat the customs handover as a status on each container, with the shipping bill details and documents attached, updated by whoever has the news. Then the question "can this box be loaded?" has an answer anyone can look up. Freightflow keeps customs handover as its own workspace, so pending handovers sit in one list instead of in phone logs.