Fresh-produce export has its own vocabulary, and a single shipment can involve dozens of specialised terms. This glossary collects the most important ones in one place, grouped by topic, with a short plain-language definition for each and a link to the detailed PEI Trade reference where one exists. Use it as a quick lookup, or as a map of the wider Export Knowledge Base.

Table of Contents

• Trade & Contract Terms
• Payment & Finance Terms
• Certification & Compliance Terms
• Logistics & Cold-Chain Terms
• Quality & Grading Terms
• Classification & Customs Terms
• These Terms in Practice at PEI Trade
• Sources and References

Trade & Contract Terms

The terms that define how a sale is structured and where responsibility passes from seller to buyer.

• Incoterms — standardised international trade terms published by the ICC that define who arranges and pays for transport and insurance and where risk passes from seller to buyer. See the full Incoterms reference.
• FOB (Free On Board) — the seller delivers the goods, cleared for export, on board the vessel at the named port of shipment; the buyer pays sea freight and insurance from that point.
• CFR (Cost and Freight) — the seller pays the cost and freight to the destination port, but risk passes to the buyer once the goods are on board.
• CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight) — as CFR, but the seller also pays marine insurance to the destination port.
• DAP (Delivered At Place) — the seller bears all cost and risk of delivering the goods to a named place in the destination country, ready for unloading.
• Bill of Lading (B/L) — the transport document issued by the carrier that acts as a contract of carriage, a receipt for the goods, and a document of title needed to release the cargo.
• Sales contract — the agreement between exporter and importer, which should state both the Incoterm and the payment method, alongside the product specification and delivery schedule.

Payment & Finance Terms

How and when money moves between importer and exporter. See the full payment methods reference.

• Letter of Credit (LC) — a bank undertaking to pay the exporter against compliant documents, governed by the ICC UCP 600 rules.
• Telegraphic Transfer (TT) — a bank-to-bank electronic wire (SWIFT), used as an advance payment or as a deposit with the balance against documents.
• Cash Against Documents (CAD) — a documentary collection in which the bank releases shipping documents on payment (D/P) or acceptance (D/A) under ICC URC 522, without guaranteeing payment.
• Open Account — terms under which the goods are shipped and delivered before payment is due, typically 30–90 days after invoice.
• UCP 600 — the ICC’s Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits, the rulebook governing Letters of Credit.
• URC 522 — the ICC’s Uniform Rules for Collections, governing documentary collections such as CAD.

Certification & Compliance Terms

The independent standards and official documents that prove produce is safe, traceable and legally importable. See the full export certifications reference.

• GLOBALG.A.P — a farm-level good-agricultural-practice standard covering food safety, traceability, environment and worker welfare, required by most EU and UK retailers. See GLOBALG.A.P explained.
• HACCP — Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, a food-safety method based on identifying and controlling hazards in handling and packing.
• ISO 22000 — an organisation-wide food-safety management system that incorporates HACCP principles.
• Phytosanitary Certificate — an official document from the exporting country’s plant-protection authority confirming a consignment is free of quarantine pests. See phytosanitary certificate explained.
• Certificate of Origin — a document certifying the country where the goods were produced, used for customs and trade-agreement tariffs. See certificate of origin explained.
• ISPM-15 — the international standard requiring wood packaging (pallets, crates) to be heat-treated or fumigated and marked.
• Traceability — the ability to trace every lot of produce back to its farm and forward through the supply chain.

Logistics & Cold-Chain Terms

How perishable produce is kept in condition from packhouse to destination. See the full cold-chain storage temperatures reference.

• Cold chain — the unbroken temperature-controlled handling of produce from packhouse to destination that preserves quality and shelf life.
• Reefer container — a refrigerated shipping container that holds produce at a set temperature throughout sea transit.
• Pre-cooling — rapidly removing field heat from produce immediately after harvest, before loading, to extend shelf life.
• Hot Water Treatment (HWT) — a post-harvest dip in heated water to disinfest fruit (such as mango) of pests, required by some markets. See HWT and VHT explained.
• Vapor Heat Treatment (VHT) — a post-harvest treatment using heated, saturated air to disinfest fruit, accepted by certain importing countries.
• Palletization — stacking cartons onto pallets in a defined configuration for safe handling, loading and transit.
• Transit time — the number of days a shipment spends between the port of loading and the destination port.

Quality & Grading Terms

How produce is sorted and described for sale. See the full grading and size standards reference.

• Grading — sorting produce by size (calibre), weight and quality into defined classes for export.
• Calibre / size — the size category of a fruit or vegetable, usually by diameter, weight, or count per carton.
• Class I / Class II — quality classes defining permitted defects and appearance, with Class I (or Extra) the highest commercial grade.
• Brix — a measure of the soluble sugar content of fruit, used as an indicator of ripeness and eating quality.
• Shelf life — the period during which produce stays in saleable condition under correct storage, central to perishable logistics.

Classification & Customs Terms

How goods are classified and cleared at the border. See the full HS codes reference and the import process guide.

• HS Code (Harmonized System) — the international commodity-classification code that determines the import duty and documentation for a product.
• Customs clearance — submitting the import declaration and documents, paying duties, and passing inspection so cargo can be released.
• Import duty / tariff — the tax levied on imported goods, set by the HS code and any applicable trade agreement.
• Commercial invoice — the document stating the value, quantity and terms of the sale, used as the basis for customs valuation.
• Packing list — the document detailing cartons, weights, dimensions and counts, used for inspection and handling.

These Terms in Practice at PEI Trade

PEI Trade works with importers worldwide using exactly this vocabulary — quoting Incoterms, structuring payment terms, supplying the right certifications and documents, and managing the cold chain end to end. To discuss a shipment in these terms, contact the export desk at [email protected] or +20 109 911 1918, or browse the full Export Knowledge Base.

Sources and References

• International Chamber of Commerce — Incoterms 2020, UCP 600 and URC 522.
• International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) — phytosanitary standards and ISPM-15.
• World Customs Organization — the Harmonized System.
• GLOBALG.A.P — good agricultural practice certification.
• ISO — ISO 22000 food-safety management.

Frequently Asked Questions