Understanding Product Specifications in International Trade

A name is a label. A specification is a boundary.

“Wheat,” “cotton shirt,” and “steel pipe” are names. A specification says which wheat, which fabric and size, which grade and dimension of pipe, and which differences still count as the same product. Without that boundary, two quotations can both be “correct” and still describe different goods.

What a usable specification often contains

There is no universal form. Most commercial specifications still touch the same kinds of facts.

• Identity: product name, grade, model, or drawing number
• Measurable limits: size, weight, moisture, purity, tolerance
• Materials and construction
• Packing, marking, and shelf life where they matter
• The standard or test method, if you are relying on one
• What the buyer will do if a measurement falls outside the limit

Standards are tools, not decorations

Referring to a standard is useful when both sides have the standard and the reference includes the edition. “Food grade” or “export quality” is not a standard. If a test matters, name the method and who is acceptable as a laboratory. A supplier’s own sheet can be honest and still be the supplier grading its own work. Decide whether that is enough.

Classification is related, and separate

Customs classification describes goods for a tariff or a statistic. It is not a purchasing specification. Two products in one tariff heading can be commercially different, and one product can be classified differently if its form changes. The Harmonized Tariff Schedule is the United States import schedule. Do not treat a blog summary, including this one, as a classification ruling.

Send the specification with the enquiry

When you write to Meridian or to any trading partner, put the specification in the request or say exactly which document you will send next. A category such as “industrial materials” only tells the reader which shelf the conversation might sit on. It does not describe the goods.