Commercial guide
What goes on an export carton, why the packing list has to agree with it exactly, and the marking errors that cause delays at the destination.
In short
An apparel export carton normally carries shipping marks on one face and side marks on an adjacent face: buyer name or code, purchase order reference, style, colour, size or ratio, carton number in sequence, quantity, and gross and net weight. The single most common cause of a problem is disagreement between the carton and the packing list. Correct garments packed correctly still generate a claim if the paperwork and the box do not match.
5 min read
Reviewed by AHM International product development team
Last reviewed August 2026
Why marking is a document problem
Carton marking looks like a printing task and is actually a data task. The marks are an index into the shipment: they let a warehouse at the far end find a carton without opening it, and they let a customs officer match a box to a declaration.
That means the marks are only as useful as their agreement with the packing list. A carton correctly filled but numbered out of sequence is functionally lost — the receiving warehouse looks for its contents in a box that holds something else.
This is why marking artwork is approved before packing rather than adjusted during it, and why carton numbering is generated from the pack plan rather than written by hand.
What a carton normally carries
Exact requirements vary by buyer and destination. This is the common set.
- Buyer name or code
- Who the shipment belongs to, in the form the receiving warehouse expects.
- Purchase order reference
- The buyer's own order number, which is how the receipt is booked against the order.
- Style and colour
- Named as the buyer names them, not as the factory numbers them internally.
- Size or ratio
- For a solid pack, the size. For a ratio pack, the ratio as packed.
- Carton number
- In the form 'n of N', sequential across the shipment. The most error-prone field on the box.
- Quantity
- Pieces in this carton, matching the packing list line for the same carton number.
- Gross and net weight
- Used for freight and for verification at the destination.
- Dimensions
- Often required, and used for cube calculation and container planning.
- Country of origin
- A legal requirement in most destination markets.
Solid pack and ratio pack
Which one you want depends on what happens at the other end.
| Attribute | Solid pack | Ratio pack |
|---|---|---|
| Contents | One size, one colour per carton | A fixed size run per carton |
| Best when | Goods are broken down at a central warehouse | Cartons go straight to stores |
| Marking | Simpler — one size on the box | Must state the ratio exactly |
| Packing cost | Lower | Higher — more handling per carton |
| Risk | Store allocation happens later | An error repeats in every carton |
The errors that actually cause delays
Sequence breaks are the most common. Where a carton is repacked late and the numbering is not regenerated, the shipment ships with two cartons carrying the same number, or a gap in the run. Both force a physical recount at the destination.
Weight mismatches are the second. Gross weight recorded from a pack plan rather than a scale drifts from actual, and where the difference is material it can hold a shipment while it is verified.
The third is a marking artwork revision that reaches the factory after printing has started. Marking artwork should be frozen at the same point as the packing instruction, for the same reason — both are inputs to a process that runs at speed near the end of the order.
Send the marking artwork early
Carton marking is needed near the end of production, which is why it is often sent late. But it is printed on material that has to be procured, and a late revision arrives when there is least slack in the schedule. Sending it with the packing instruction, at pre-production, removes a predictable source of delay for no cost.
Related questions
The buyer, normally. It carries buyer codes, order references and sometimes barcode formats that only the buyer holds. Where a buyer has no standard format, AHM can propose one for approval — but it is approved by the buyer before anything is printed.
The receiving warehouse recounts, which costs time and usually generates a discrepancy report against the shipment. It is the most common source of a claim on an otherwise correct order, which is why packing verification is its own inspection gate.
It depends on the destination warehouse. Many retail and grocery distribution centres require a specific carton label format, and the requirement is set by them rather than by the factory. Send the specification and it is built to it.
Yes, and it is worth doing. Carton dimensions drive how efficiently a container fills, and cube is what freight is charged on. It is a decision taken at packing instruction stage, alongside pack type.
Send one specification and we will apply exactly this thinking to your style. Construction, materials and commercial FOB costing.