Documents You Need Notarised When Importing Goods

Most imports into Australia involve no notary at all. Customs clearance runs on documents your supplier produces, a customs broker lodges, and Australian agencies issue. None needs an Australian notarial certificate. A notary appears only when someone outside Australia, such as your supplier, its government or a foreign court, needs something signed or certified by you.

Key takeaways

• Invoices, packing lists, bills of lading and certificates of origin are foreign documents. They are dealt with in the country that issued them, not by an Australian notary.
• Import permits come from Australian agencies, which set their own requirements and do not ask for notarised copies of their own paperwork.
• The most common reason an importer needs a notary is an end-user certificate for controlled goods, required by the exporting country.
• Suppliers may also want proof your company exists and that the signer can bind it, for a distributorship or credit terms.
• Whether a notarised document also needs an apostille or embassy legalisation depends on the exporting country.

Which documents does an ordinary import involve?

Walk through a typical shipment and note where each document comes from:

• Purchase order or contract. Between you and the supplier, usually signed by each party in its own country with no formalities.
• Commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading or air waybill. Issued by the supplier and its carrier, overseas.
• Certificate or declaration of origin. Needed if you claim a lower duty rate under a free trade agreement. Issued overseas by the supplier, the producer or a body in their country.
• Import permits for regulated goods. Issued by the relevant Australian agency, through its own application process.
• Your authority to the customs broker. On the broker's own form.

Every document here is either foreign, and dealt with in the country that issued it, or Australian and going to an Australian agency. An Australian notary cannot vouch for a foreign supplier's invoice or origin certificate. The receiving authority here, whether the Australian Border Force or another agency, sets its own rules and publishes them.

Where does a notary come in?

There are four common points, and each starts with a request from overseas.

What is an end-user certificate?

Some goods need an export licence from the supplier's government before they can leave. Examples are dual-use items, certain chemicals, some technology and anything defence-related. The licensing authority often wants a signed statement from the end user, which is you. It says what the goods will be used for, where, and that they will not be passed on.

These end-user certificates are the most common reason an Australian importer needs a notary. The exporting country may require your signature notarised. It may also want it authenticated by DFAT and legalised at its embassy. The form almost always comes from the supplier or its authority; do not draft your own.

The notary witnesses the signature of the person signing for your company, checks their identity and confirms their authority to sign. The notary does not verify what the statement says. The statement, and its truth, are your company's responsibility. Export control law is serious in most countries; if you are unsure what you are certifying, take legal advice first.

How do you prove your company to a supplier?

A supplier setting up a long-term arrangement may want proof that your company exists and that the signer can bind it. That applies particularly to an exclusive distributorship, an agency agreement or credit terms. In some countries, a distributor or agency agreement must be registered with a local authority. Registration may be needed before it can be enforced, or before the supplier can export under it.

What the supplier wants is usually one of these:

• a notarised copy of your company's registration and a current ASIC extract;
• a notarial certificate confirming the company's existence and the signatory's authority;
• the agreement itself signed before a notary.

An ASIC extract is a government document. DFAT's page on documents it can legalise includes ASIC documents, so an extract may go to DFAT without a notary. A signed agreement or a board resolution is a private document and must be notarised first. See notarising company incorporation documents and notarising for a company rather than an individual.

What if you appoint someone in the supplier's country?

Importers sometimes appoint a buying agent, an inspection company or a local lawyer in the supplier's country. The agent may handle export formalities, register your brand there, or follow up quality problems. If the appointment is by power of attorney, the other country's law decides the form. It will often need to be signed before a notary and apostilled or legalised.

Get the wording from the person who will use it. A power drafted in Australian style may not be accepted by a registry or court abroad. See powers of attorney and declarations.

What happens when a shipment goes wrong?

If a dispute with a supplier ends up before a court or arbitral body in its country, you may need to swear affidavits. You may also need to sign authorities for a foreign lawyer. The foreign lawyer will tell you the form required.

Swearing an affidavit before a notary is a notarial act: the notary administers the oath or affirmation and signs the jurat. The dispute itself is a matter for lawyers in both countries. A notary does not advise on it.

Why must the details be consistent?

Whatever you sign, your company's name should appear exactly as it does on the company register. It should match the supplier's invoices, the licence application and your customs entry. A foreign licensing authority comparing an end-user certificate against an export application will notice a missing "Pty" or an old trading name.

The same goes for addresses and the end use described. If the end-user certificate says the goods go to your Melbourne site, the customs entry and delivery should agree. Inconsistencies cause delays that no notarial certificate can cure.

What about personal imports, such as a car or household goods?

The same rule applies. If you are migrating with household goods, the declarations for unaccompanied personal effects are Australian forms, lodged with Australian authorities. They do not need a notary. If you import a vehicle, the approval comes through an Australian government process, and the foreign registration or deregistration papers are foreign documents.

A notary may still be useful at the other end. You might need to sign a power of attorney so someone abroad can sell, deregister or ship the car for you. That document goes overseas, so the foreign side's rules apply. Ask the shipping agent or the foreign registry what form it wants before you sign.

Do foreign import documents need translating?

Sometimes. If a supplier's document is not in English and an Australian agency needs to read it, the agency decides whose translation it accepts. Many Australian bodies expect a translator certified by NAATI. A notary does not translate documents and does not check a translation's accuracy.

Going the other way, the exporting authority may want your end-user certificate in its own language, or in a bilingual form. Ask the supplier before signing. If the director signing does not read the foreign text, the notary must be satisfied they understand it, and may ask for a translation. See document translation.

In what order should things happen?

1. Get the exact request from the supplier or its authority, with its form.
2. Check the company details against your ASIC record.
3. Confirm who signs, and bring evidence of their authority, such as a board resolution.
4. Sign before a notary, with original photo identification.
5. Take it to DFAT: an apostille if the exporting country is a Hague member, checked on the HCCH status table on the day; otherwise authentication and embassy legalisation.

Which documents commonly come up?

Document	Who issues it	Australian notary?
Commercial invoice, packing list	Supplier, overseas	No
Certificate of origin	Supplier or a body in its country	No
Import permit	Australian agency	No
End-user certificate	You, on the exporter's form	Often yes
Distributorship agreement	You and the supplier	Sometimes, as the supplier asks

What does not work?

• Asking an Australian notary to certify a foreign invoice or certificate of origin. The notary cannot vouch for a foreign document.
• Drafting your own end-user certificate. Use the exporting authority's form.
• A Justice of the Peace. A JP certification is not accepted overseas and cannot be apostilled.
• A trading name where the register shows the company's legal name.

Here is an illustration, not a real case

A laboratory supply company in Adelaide orders an instrument that needs an export licence in the supplier's country. The supplier emails its authority's end-user certificate form. The company's director checks the name against the ASIC record and signs before a notary, with a board resolution showing her authority. The destination is a Hague member, so DFAT apostilles it, and the original is couriered back to the supplier.

In short

Ordinary imports need no notary. A notary comes in when someone overseas needs your signature or your company's status certified: end-user certificates, supplier due diligence, agents abroad and disputes. Keep company details consistent, and check whether DFAT and an embassy follow. More on what a notary does is at document notarisation.

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Asked by a supplier for notarised documents? Send us the supplier's request, and we will explain each step before you book.