From the outside, marble export may look like nothing more than a container being loaded at the port and setting off on its way. In reality, behind every shipment there is an architecture of documentation and procedures that takes weeks to put together. At Alpay Doğaltaş, as we send batches sourced from various Turkish quarries, primarily the Saraylar area of Marmara Island, to Romania, Bulgaria, and other European markets, we manage every link of this architecture with our three generations of supply knowledge. In this article we want to plainly explain the technical side of the export process that the customer does not see.
The first link of the export is clarifying the delivery terms with the customer. This is where INCOTERMS come into play. This set of rules, updated by the International Chamber of Commerce, defines where the responsibilities of seller and buyer begin and end. In natural stone, the two most commonly used terms are FOB and CIF. When FOB is selected, responsibility passes to the customer the moment the goods cross the ship's rail at the port of departure. With CIF, we as the supplier bear the sea freight charge and insurance premium up to the port of arrival. Which term is chosen is directly linked to the customer's logistics network, budget structure, and risk-bearing capacity. A Bucharest project office that trusts its own transport network may prefer FOB, whereas a Sofia contractor who wants to manage the entire process from one hand will prefer CIF.
The certificate of origin is the heart of the export documentation. In natural stone exports from Turkey to European Union member states, the A.TR movement certificate is standard procedure. This document certifies that the goods are in free circulation within the customs union. At European Union member destinations such as Romania and Bulgaria, when A.TR is not issued correctly, the batch may be subject to customs duty at the buyer's port. For exports to non-member third countries, the EUR.1 movement certificate comes into play. For natural stone, the certificate of origin endorsed by the Chamber of Commerce is also one of the basic documents requested by customs. The GTİP code on this document is positioned under heading 25.15 for marble. Incorrect entry of the code is the most frequent reason for a shipment to be held at customs for days.
The other links of the document file are the commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading, and quality certificates. The commercial invoice is the version of the sales contract signed between customer and supplier that is submitted to customs. The packing list itemizes the gross and net weight, dimensions, and block and slab count of each wooden crate inside the container, one by one. The bill of lading is the official transport document of sea freight and includes the consignee, the vessel, the port of arrival, and the freight information. On the quality side, the TS EN certificate of the natural stone, the declaration of conformity, and especially for facade or floor covering projects the CE certificate come into play. For piece products like White Dolomite Aggregate the grain-size certificate, and for slab products like Klasik Marmara or Pure White the technical property report, are added depending on the project's intended use.
