It is recommended for a trader to apply for the IDF as soon as the proforma invoice has been received.
For regulated products i.e products that require an import permit from the Regulating Agencies, the clearing agent will be required to log in to the Trade Facilitation Platform (TFP) to apply for the import permit, relevant to the consignment; approval of the import permit will then trigger approval of the IDF.
For products that are not regulated, the IDF and Unique Consignment Reference (UCR) are generated automatically.