International trade, a key engine of economic growth, is valued at trillions of dollars each year. However, the techniques of how to export and import are often a mystery to business persons and enterprises. Guide to Export-Import Basics, now in its third revised edition, examines the trade resources developed by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) to help you make the most of international markets.
From the basics of how to develop a sale contract to the use of the Internet as a channel for sales, this Guide details the trading process:
- The legal foundation
- Resolving international disputes
- International contracts of sale
- Agency, distribution and franchising
- Incoterms & Documentary Credits
- Factoring and forfeiting
- Transport and e-commerce
This all-new edition of the Guide contains updated information on developments since the 2003 edition and practical tools to enhance the text:
- Details of the revised rules on documentary credits (UCP 600)
- New developments in forfeiting
- Samples of key documents
- New model contracts developed by ICC
- Easy to understand graphics
- A glossary of major export-import terms
"...provides the importer and exporter with a comprehensive overview of the trading process and the tools he or she needs to make it work to his advantage."
from the introduction by Prof. Jan Ramberg
Table of Contents
A Note on Terminology
Foreword
Introduction
Chapter One Beginnings: an Introduction to Export-Import Practice
1. Scope of book
2. Why export and import? The benefits of international trade
3. The need for a professional approach
4. The risks of exporting and importing
5. The role of standard documents and systems
6. Cultural and language differences
7. Solutions: examples of risk management for export-import
8. Typical export transactions
9. International organizations and chambers of commerce
10. The multilateral framework for world trade: the General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade organization (WTO)
Chapter Two The Export-Import Legal Framework
1. Introduction to legal concepts and terminology
2. Contract formation and pre-contractual liability
3. Model or standard contracts in international trade
Chapter Three Resolving International Business Disputes
1. Working it out – contractual foresight and adaptation clauses
2. Talking it over – waiver, re-negotiation, assistance of an expert and ADR
3. The ICC ADR Rules
4. The ICC Dispute Board Rules
5. International litigation
6. International commercial arbitration
7. ICC Arbitration
8. Other arbitration institutions and rules
Chapter Four International Contracts of Sale and General Conditions
1. The law governing the contract of sale
2. The contract of sale
3. General conditions of sale (or purchase)
4. Trade terms for international contracts – Incoterms 2000
Chapter Five Agency, Distributorship, Franchising and Occasional
Intermediary Contracts
1. Agency
2. Distributorship contracts – the ICC Model Distributorship Contract
3. ICC Short Form Model Contracts – International Commercial Agency/International Distributorship
4. International franchising
5. The ICC Model Occasional Intermediary Contract
(Non-circumvention and non-disclosure agreement)
Chapter Six International Payment Options
1. Overview of payment, finance and security for international transactions
2. Credit management and export credit insurance
3. Documentary sales and payment: shipping documents
4. Method of operation of the basic payment mechanisms
5. Documentary credits (letters of credit): An in-depth look
6. The electronic supplement to UCP 600 (eUCP)
7. International Standby Practices (ISP 98)
8. Managing currency and exchange rate risks
Chapter Seven Short-term Trade Finance: Factoring and Forfaiting
1. Pre-financing and collection of receivables: The various options
2. Factoring: the major features
3. Forfaiting: an in-depth look
Chapter Eight Security for International Transactions
1. Guarantees and bonds
2. Export Credit (Trade Credit) Insurance
Chapter Nine International Transport
1. Transport management
2. International treaties and conventions
3. The UNCTAD/ICC Rules for Multimodal Transport Documents
4. Carrier’s liability
5. Charter parties
6. Freight forwarders
7. Shipping documents
8. Sea transport
9. Containerized and multimodal transport
10. Air transport
11. Road and rail transport
12. Cargo insurance
13. Customs
Chapter Ten Information and Communication Technologies and
International Trade
1. ICTs, the Internet and international trade transactions
2. Protection, transfer and management of information in international electronic transactions
3. Telecoms infrastructure and services issues
4. Technical coordination and management of the internet
5. Policy-shaping forums, initiatives and approaches
Glossary
Index