Cross-Trade Freight Forwarding — Third-Country Shipments Managed from Latvia
Unicore arranges cross-trade (third-country) shipments from Riga where the goods never touch Latvia: FCL containers from Poti, Georgia to Charleston and via Montreal to Toronto, FCL from Klaipėda to Mombasa, Colombo and Bangkok, and air cargo into Almaty and Dubai from Europe, Asia and the USA. You keep one European point of contact and neutral documents, while we coordinate the origin and destination agents, issue house bills and use a switch B/L where supplier and buyer must not see each other.
Author credentials: IATA CASS & IATA DGR certified freight forwarder (Riga, Latvia).
Shipping for a middleman: seller and buyer stay unknown to each other
Most cross-trade and FtoF (foreign-to-foreign) shipments are booked by a middleman: a trading company that buys from the factory and sells to the end customer. For that trader it often matters a great deal that the seller doesn't find out who the buyer is, and the buyer doesn't find out who the seller is. Once they see each other's names on the paperwork, they can cut you out of the next order.
We keep the two sides apart with these services:
Switch documents
We replace the first set of shipping documents with a second one. The seller's documents show your company as consignee, and the switch Bill of Lading the buyer receives shows your company as shipper. Your own commercial invoice and packing list travel with the cargo in place of the factory's. On air shipments we issue a neutral House AWB.
Repacking
If the factory's cartons carry its brand, we take the goods out and repack them in neutral packaging or on new pallets.
Relabelling
We take off the supplier's labels, logos and marks and put on your labels, the buyer's references or neutral markings.
Other related services
Photos of the cargo before it ships, marking to the buyer's instructions, and pickup and customs at both ends through our agents. If your deal needs something else, ask us.
A switch changes which company appears on the documents. The cargo description, quantities and country of origin stay as they really are.
Unicore Indicative Prices: Third Countries → Worldwide
| Service | Indicative rate | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Cross-trade sea (per container) | Route quote | based on origin–destination pair |
| Cross-trade air (per kg) | Route quote | based on lane & weight |
| Documentation / switch B/L | €75–200 | per shipment |
Prices are indicative for orientation only — request a firm quote. Rates are subject to space and equipment availability, fuel/currency surcharges and season.
Transit Times
| Option | Transit time | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sea FCL Poti → Charleston (USA) | 43 days (median) | Measured port-to-port on Unicore sailings, range 38–64 days; via Ambarli and Tanger Med |
| Sea FCL Poti → Montreal + rail to Toronto (Canada) | Sea leg + 1–2 weeks rail | Via Ambarli and Algeciras to Montreal, then CN rail to Brampton; Toronto is not a seaport |
| Sea FCL Klaipėda → Mombasa / Colombo / Bangkok | Per sailing schedule | 20' standard and 40' high-cube boxes via a North European hub; Suez or Cape routing depends on the carrier service |
| Air → Almaty (ALA) / Dubai (DXB, DWC) | Per flight schedule | Neutral air waybill controlled from Riga, e.g. Shenzhen (SZX), Hong Kong (HKG) or Singapore (SIN) → Almaty |
Departure frequency: Scheduled FCL sailings and flights on each managed lane; our agent network in 110+ countries books origin uplift without your goods routing through Latvia.
Documents & Customs
Required Export Documents
- Commercial invoice & packing list (neutralised on request)
- House Bill of Lading / House AWB
- Switch B/L instructions where margin protection is needed
- Origin export declaration (handled by origin agent)
Required Import Documents
- Destination import declaration (handled by destination agent)
- Certificate of Origin per destination requirements
- Any preferential-trade or licensing documents for the lane
Customs notes: In cross-trade the goods clear export and import in third countries, not Latvia, so no EU import VAT arises on the transit itself. The key is neutral documentation and coordinated origin/destination brokerage — Unicore acts as the single controlling forwarder, as it does on its Poti → North America and Klaipėda → East Africa lanes.
Major Transport Hubs
Key Facts
- In cross-trade the cargo never enters Latvia, so no EU import VAT arises on the transit itself.
- A switch Bill of Lading issued at a third port keeps supplier and buyer identities separate, protecting your margin.
- Unicore acts as the single controlling forwarder using neutral House B/L or House AWB documents.
- The agent network spans 110+ countries, booking origin uplift without routing through Latvia.
- Poti, Georgia → Charleston (USA) and Montreal → Toronto (Canada): a regular FCL cross-trade lane for automotive accessories since July 2025, with a measured median of 43 days port-to-port to Charleston.
- Klaipėda → Mombasa (Kenya): 30 FCL bookings and 180+ containers since May 2025, mostly 20' standard boxes with some 40' high-cubes, carrying animal feed, protein concentrates, bone and fish meal and mineral fertiliser.
- Klaipėda → Colombo (Sri Lanka) and Bangkok (Thailand): 20+ FCL bookings and 160+ containers since May 2025, all in 20' standard boxes, carrying animal feed, bone and fish meal and fertiliser.
- Air cross-trade into Kazakhstan: 8 shipments for 7 customers since May 2025, about 8 t, flown from Singapore, Frankfurt, Madrid, Paris, Vilnius and Amsterdam to Almaty and Astana without touching Latvia, including spare parts, tools, wine and medical equipment.
- Air cross-trade into Dubai (DXB, DWC): 7 shipments for 5 customers since May 2025, about 2.5 t, from New York, Amsterdam, Zurich, Belgrade and Da Nang, including spare parts, medical equipment, fresh produce and outdoor equipment.
- Shenzhen (SZX), Hong Kong (HKG) and Singapore (SIN) → Almaty (ALA) moves by air on a neutral air waybill controlled from Riga, as in the Singapore → Almaty case study.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q.What is cross-trade shipping?
Cross-trade (or triangle shipment) is when a forwarder in one country arranges transport of goods between two other countries — the cargo never enters the forwarder's home country. Unicore manages the whole lane from Latvia while your goods move, say, China to Mexico directly.
Q.How do you protect my supplier and buyer identities?
With neutral house documents and, where needed, a switch Bill of Lading issued at a third port, so your buyer never sees your supplier and vice versa and your trading margin stays yours. Your own commercial invoice and packing list replace the factory's. If the packaging or labels would give the factory away, we also repack and relabel the goods before they reach the buyer.
Q.Do you ship China to Mexico?
Unicore arranges China → Mexico as a dedicated cross-trade sea lane: FCL and LCL containers sail directly from Shanghai, Shenzhen or Ningbo to Manzanillo or Lázaro Cárdenas in 20–28 days, at indicative 2026 rates of €2,300–3,300 per 20' and €3,000–4,500 per 40'HC port-to-port. We issue a neutral House B/L from Riga and our partner agente aduanal files the pedimento in Mexico, while the container never enters Latvia or the EU. Full rate, transit and customs tables are on our cross-trade sea freight China → Mexico route page.
Q.Do you ship FCL from Georgia (Poti) to the USA and Canada?
Yes, Unicore has run FCL cross-trade shipments from Poti, Georgia to North America since July 2025, carrying automotive accessories to Charleston on the US East Coast and via Montreal to Toronto. Measured port-to-port transit from Poti to Charleston has a median of 43 days (range 38–64), routed via Ambarli and Tanger Med. Toronto is not a seaport, so containers for Canada discharge in Montreal and continue by CN rail to Brampton, which adds 1–2 weeks. The cargo never enters Latvia or the EU, so no EU import VAT arises, and Unicore issues neutral documents from Riga.
Related Case Study
Related Routes and Guides
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