How to Start Exporting From Pakistan: TDAP's Five-Step Guide for New Exporters

Short answer: TDAP's guide for new exporters splits the job into five steps: register your business, find buyers abroad, agree an order, ship through customs, and get paid through your bank. Its start page for beginners is tdap.gov.pk/new-exporters-corner. The guide is dated November 2020, so check each rule against the current office page.

You have a product that sells well at home, and a buyer abroad has asked for a quote. What now? The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) has a free handbook for exactly this moment. We read its New Exporters Corner page and the full Step by Step Guide on 22 October 2026. Here is the route it describes, and where you must update it for today.

TDAP's guide is old but it is the official map

The Step by Step Guide for New Exporters, Part A: Export Procedures, carries the date November 2020, and says its information was consolidated until 30 October 2020. That is six years old. Taxes, fees and portals have changed since. Use it for the order of the steps, not for current fees.

The New Exporters Corner page also lists a manual for export facilitation under FBR schemes, a Part B on certification for textile and leather exports to the European Union, training modules, duty drawback manuals and financing guides. Together they are the starting library.

Step 1 is to register your business, your tax number and your customs ID

The guide says an exporter can be a sole proprietorship, a partnership or a company, needs a business bank account and a real office address. It then lists registration with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for a National Tax Number (NTN), with a chamber of commerce, and for a WeBOC customs ID.

For the company route, see how to register a private limited company with SECP and how to get an NTN. The guide adds that a commercial exporter does not need sales tax registration, but registering lets you claim tax paid on purchases, and then you must file a monthly return. For customs, see WeBOC export registration. If you export to the European Union, the guide says to register in the REX system through TDAP.

Step 2 and 3: find the market, then agree the order in writing

The guide tells you to research markets before you spend on marketing. It names trade data tools from the International Trade Centre and the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, and suggests checking market size, price, tariffs and non-tariff barriers. TDAP supports exhibitions with a limited subsidy, and the Karachi Expo Centre schedule shows what is on.

When a buyer asks for a price, your quote works as a proforma invoice. The guide says it should name buyer and seller, describe the goods, give the Harmonized System code, the price, the payment term, the delivery details and the currency, and carry a date and an expiry date. Count every cost in the price, including packing, insurance and transport.

Step 4 is customs: documents, channels and certificates

Customs looks mainly at the Goods Declaration (GD) and the Packing List (PL), and compares them with the goods. The guide describes three channels, red, yellow and green. Red means a full inspection, yellow means a document check and green means no inspection. It says WeBOC picks the channel by computer from the exporter's history.

The guide recommends an electronic certificate of origin, which it says is faster and cheaper, and the steps are in the guide to the e-CO through the Single Window and TDAP.

Step 5 is payment: choose your risk before you ship

The guide lists payment terms from safest to riskiest for the exporter: cash in advance, a letter of credit, a documentary collection and an open account, where goods are paid for 30, 60 or 90 days later. A letter of credit is a bank's promise to pay if the papers match. The guide says an open account is the most favourable to the buyer.

After the money arrives, bring it home through your bank and keep the proof. The rule on late realisation is in bringing export proceeds home, and refunds are in claiming the export rebate. If you import raw material for export, see EFS authorization.

1. Register the business, NTN, chamber membership and WeBOC ID.
2. Research a market and prepare your promotional material.
3. Quote with a proforma invoice and sign a written contract.
4. Prepare the GD, packing list, certificates and shipping papers.
5. Present the papers to your bank and track the payment.

Common questions about starting to export from Pakistan

Where does TDAP's guide for new exporters start?

At tdap.gov.pk/new-exporters-corner, which links the Step by Step Guide, the FBR scheme manual and the training modules.

Do I need a company to export?

The guide says an exporter can be a sole proprietorship, a partnership or a company.

Do I need an NTN to export?

The guide lists NTN registration with FBR as part of the registration step.

How old is TDAP's guide?

It is dated November 2020. Treat fees and portals in it as out of date and check current pages.

What is a letter of credit?

It is a bank's promise to pay the exporter if the documents match the terms in the letter.

Who do I contact at TDAP?

TDAP's address on its site is in Karachi, phone +92-21-99225833, and it has a help desk page on tdap.gov.pk.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

Last checked 22 October 2026. The five steps, registrations, documents, customs channels and payment terms come from TDAP's New Exporters Corner and its Step by Step Guide for New Exporters, Part A, dated November 2020, which we downloaded and read in full. The contact number comes from TDAP's home page. We did not verify the guide's 2020 fees and procedures against today's offices, so we quote none. The table wording is ours.