How to Verify an Importer or Exporter Before You Pay or Ship — IEC Check, DUNS Number, Foreign Credit Reports, ECGC and What a Verification Report Shows
Video Explanation & Insights
How to verify fake exporters and importers with a credit report
5 videos on this topic
What verification answers
An importer paying a telegraphic-transfer advance to a supplier in China, or an exporter shipping to a first-time buyer in Europe on 60-day terms, is trusting a stranger with money or goods. Verification replaces trust with evidence: does the company exist and is it operational, who owns it, how long has it traded, does it really export or import what it claims, has it been sued or penalised, and how does a credit bureau rate the risk of dealing with it. In India a person's creditworthiness is read from a CIBIL report; every country has business credit bureaus that do the same for companies, and a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number identifies a business across them.
Verifying an Indian exporter or importer
| Check | Where | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| IEC (Importer Exporter Code) | DGFT portal — IEC status and details | Whether the ten-digit code is valid and active, the firm's name, PAN, address and branch; a firm without an IEC cannot legally import or export |
| GST | GST portal — search by GSTIN | Registration status, filing history, principal place of business |
| Company / LLP record | MCA master data and public documents | Directors, capital, charges, annual filing status |
| Customs history | ICEGATE / shipping bill data where shared; RCMC with the export promotion council | Whether the firm actually ships what it claims |
| Credit | Commercial credit report (CIBIL CMR, CRIF) | Loan repayment record of the business |
For an Indian exporter, the IEC itself is obtained on the DGFT portal with PAN, Aadhaar, a current-account cancelled cheque or bank certificate and address proof — see the channel's IEC short — and an AD code is registered at the port before the first shipment.
Verifying an overseas buyer or supplier
For a foreign company the tool is an international business credit report drawn from the bureaus of that country and identified by the company's DUNS number. The sample report the video walks through — on a Chinese steel exporter — shows what a good report contains and how to read it.
| Section | What it shows | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| Legal status | Registered name, address, registration number, date of establishment, operational status | Not operational or recently formed = caution |
| Ownership and capital | Shareholders, registered and paid-up capital, management | Thin capital with large orders = risk |
| Trade profile | Share of sales exported, main products and HS codes, destination countries, number of shipments and export volume by period | Confirms the party really trades what it claims |
| Payment terms | Typical terms with counterparties — for example 40% TT advance, 60% LC | Compare with what they are asking of you |
| Customers and suppliers | How many long-standing customers (5–10 years), upstream and downstream partners | Stability of the business |
| Legal and administrative | Litigation, government penalties, sanctions | Any entry needs explanation before you proceed |
| Risk index and rating | Composite score with a green / amber / red band and an analyst remark | Green: proceed; amber: verify further; red: walk away or insist on secured terms |
| Financials | Liquidity ratios, profitability, asset base where available | Also useful when negotiating price |
- •DUNS number: the nine-digit identifier issued by Dun & Bradstreet; ask the counterparty for it, or the report locates it.
- •ECGC: Indian exporters can obtain buyer ratings and credit limits from ECGC and insure receivables — a policy that pays if the buyer defaults.
- •Embassy and council checks: the Indian embassy's commercial wing and the relevant export promotion council can confirm a buyer's standing in many markets.
Getting a verification report
- 1Step 1 — Share the counterparty's legal name, country, address and any registration or DUNS number you have, plus the product and the value at stake.
- 2Step 2 — For an Indian party we verify IEC, GST, MCA and credit records; for a foreign party we order the bureau report through our tie-ups.
- 3Step 3 — You receive the report with a plain-language summary: proceed, proceed with secured terms (LC, partial advance, ECGC cover), or decline.
- 4Step 4 — Terms are structured accordingly — letter of credit, advance percentage, inspection before shipment, ECGC policy.
Signs of a fake counterparty
- •Insists on 100% advance by TT with no LC option, or offers prices far below market.
- •No verifiable registration number, or a registration only months old.
- •Address that does not match the registered office; communication only through free e-mail and messaging apps.
- •Refuses a third-party inspection or a sample against payment.
- •Documents (certificates, test reports) that cannot be verified with the issuing body.
Verification: questions traders ask
Verify the IEC on the DGFT portal, the GSTIN on the GST portal and, for a company, the MCA master data and filings. Then check their RCMC and trade history.
A nine-digit identifier issued by Dun & Bradstreet to businesses worldwide; international credit reports are built around it.
It varies by country and depth; most reports arrive within a few working days. The cost is small against the advance or shipment at stake.
Yes — ECGC policies cover Indian exporters against non-payment by overseas buyers, and ECGC also rates buyers.
The bureau sees material risk — litigation, penalties, instability or poor payment behaviour. Do not trade on open terms; insist on an LC or decline.
Yes, through bureau tie-ups covering most trading countries, plus Indian statutory records for domestic parties.