Six months of negotiation with a US mass retailer — pricing, packaging, delivery schedule all settled. The supplier onboarding pack goes in, and the next morning the buyer’s reply asks exactly one thing: “Where is your COI?” Not quality, not price — insurance. Miss this gate and everything negotiated before it resets to zero. In US retail, product liability insurance is not extra credit; it is the ticket.
What a COI is: one page that proves you are covered
A COI (Certificate of Insurance) is a proof-of-coverage document issued by the insurer or broker: one page stating the insured, policy period, coverage types and limits. US channels — Amazon, mass retailers, supermarket chains — routinely require a COI before onboarding or contract signature, proving an active product liability policy. It is written plainly into Amazon’s seller policy and retailers’ supplier manuals; there is no negotiating it.
Channels add one requirement Taiwanese suppliers often misread: naming the retailer as an additional insured. It means that if a product claim lands, the retailer can invoke your policy as an insured party directly — bluntly, the channel does not just want you insured, it wants your insurance to cover them too. The COI carries a field noting additional insured status, and it is the first thing the recipient checks; miss the line and the whole certificate comes back for reissue.
Reading the limits: two numbers, and the contract decides
Product liability limits come as two figures: per occurrence and aggregate (policy-year total). The channel contract states minimums for both — commonly in the millions of dollars — but requirements differ by retailer and category, so the only number that matters is the one in your own contract. Do not size your policy from someone else’s figure. Before binding coverage, hand the contract’s entire insurance clause to your broker and align coverage type, limits, additional insured and notice obligations in one pass — far cheaper than remediation after rejection.
Why US channels care this much: litigation culture and the import chain
The US is home turf for product liability litigation: an injured consumer can sue up the sales chain — retailer, importer, manufacturer are all in range. Requiring a COI is the channel pushing that risk back upstream. And for imported food, claims chase the import chain: FDA looks to the FSVP importer, customs looks to the IOR, and plaintiffs look for the deepest, most reachable pocket along the chain. An ocean between you and the courtroom does not mean you cannot be reached — it means you need the insurance standing in front of you even more. The same logic explains why good recall and traceability practice is worth real money: the smaller you can draw the incident, the smaller the claim and the reputational bill.
How SKYCARGO takes it from there
To be clear: SKYCARGO INC is neither an insurer nor an insurance broker — policies must be purchased from licensed carriers. Our position is on the import chain: FDA and USDA agent status, able to act as Importer of Record and consignee, running import, customs and warehouse distribution as one line. During supplier onboarding we help walk the channel’s document list — COI alongside FDA registration, labeling, test reports — item by item, flagging exactly which pieces need a broker so you are never stopped at the last gate by one sheet of paper. Personal parcels belong with Shiptw consolidation.
Negotiating with a US channel and asked for a COI or supplier documents? Send us the contract’s document checklist and we will reply within one business day with what we cover and who to ask for the rest.
This is a general overview for reference only. Arrange insurance with licensed providers; actual requirements follow each channel’s contract.
