-A-

ACP:

African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, a group of mostly former European colonies

About (banking)

In connection with letters of credit, "about" means a tolerance of plus/minus 10% regarding the letter of credit value, unit price or the quantity of the goods.

Ad valorem:

An ad valorem duty (tariff, charge, and so on) is based on the value of the dutiable item and expressed in percentage terms: for example, a duty of 20 percent on the value of automobiles.

Agency (law)

A relationship between one individual or legal entity (the agent) who represents, acts on behalf of,  and binds another individual or legal entity (the principal) in accordance with the principal's request or instruction

Aggregate Measure of Support:

Measure of the total support given to an activity as a result of policies such as production subsidies and market price support policies. Used in the WTO Agreement on Agriculture.

Air Waybill

An air waybill is a shipping document used for the transportation of air freight. It includes conditions, liability, shipping instructions, description of commodity, and any applicable transportation charges

All-risk Clause

An insurance condition stating that all loss or damage to goods is insured. It is the broadest kind of standard coverage, but it excludes damage caused by war, strikes, riots or inherent vice.

Anti dumping:

Trade policy used by importing governments to counteract dumping, for example by imposing duties or negotiating price increases

-B-

Bill of Lading

Bill of Lading is a document issued by a carrier, which is evidence of receipt of the goods, and is a contract of carriage. It describes the goods, the details of the intended voyage, and it specifies the conditions of transportation. If issued in negotiable form, i.e. "to order", it becomes documentary evidence of the title to the goods.

Bond

A contract between a principal and an insurance agent that is obtained in order to insure performance of an obligation. The customs authorities of a country, in order to guarantee payment of duties or performance of a procedural requirement, often mandate posting a bond.

Border Tax Adjustment:

Fiscal measure compensating, in whole or in part, for the different treatment either between imports and similar domestic products or between exports and similar products sold on the domestic market. For example, refunds of domestic indirect taxes on goods destined for export; or changes on imports similar to the taxes levied on like domestic products. Also see Duty Drawback.

-C-

Capacity-building:

 In trade context, activities supported by the donor community aimed at strengthening the ability of stakeholders in developing countries to develop national trade policy, undertake analysis and identify their interests in international trade negotiations.

Carrier

A carrier is a legal entity that is in the business of transporting passengers or goods for hire.

Cartel:

Arrangement between firms to control a market – for example, to fix prices or limit competition between members of the cartel.

Certificate of Manufacture

A document (often notarized) in which a producer of goods certifies that the manufacturing has been completed and the goods are now at the disposal of the buyer

Codex Alimentarius Commission:

The ‘food code’— an international set of standards, codes of practice, and guidelines and recommendations relating to food quality and safety, including codes governing hygienic processing practices, recommendations relating to compliance with standards, limits for pesticide residues, and guidelines for contaminants, food additives and veterinary drugs. The Codex Alimentarius Commission is the body responsible for compiling the standards.

Customs

Customs is a government service that is responsible for the administration of Customs Laws and the collection of duties and taxes. It also has the responsibility for the application of other laws and regulations relative to the import, transit and export of goods.

Contestability:

A market is contestable if new suppliers can enter it easily. The threat of such entry is a discipline on the incumbent suppliers and can prevent prices from rising far above costs, because any excess profits will be rapidly followed by entry.

Contingent Protection:

Trade barriers that are imposed if certain circumstances (contingencies) are met. Examples include anti-dumping or countervailing duties (to offset subsidies) and safeguards. Also called Administered Protection.

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Declared Value of Carriage (shipping/insurance)

The value of goods declared to the carrier by the shipper for the purposes of determining charges, or of establishing the limit of the carrier's liability for loss, damage, or delay.

Decoupling:

Action to ensure that subsidies to producers (usually farmers) are unrelated to production so as to provide no incentive to increase production; in contrast, simple subsidies per unit of output tend to increase production.

Deep integration:

Inter-governmental cooperation in designing and applying domestic policies such as taxes, health and safety regulations, and environmental standards. May involve either harmonization of policies or mutual recognition; generally occurs in the context of regional integration agreements.

Deficiency Payment:

Direct monetary payment by government to producers to compensate for the difference between the market price of a good and a higher guaranteed price for that good in the case of, say, low international commodity prices.

Demurrage (shipping)

The extra charges a shipper pays for detaining a freight car or ship beyond time permitted for loading or unloading.

Drawback

A refund of all or part of the duties and/or taxes paid for the importation of goods that are either then exported in the same condition, or further processed and than re-exported.

-E-

Effective Rate of Protection:

A measure of the protection afforded by an import restriction calculated as a percentage of the value added in the product concerned. Takes into account the protection on output and the cost raising effects of protection on inputs.

Entry Papers

Any document pertaining to the importation of goods that must be filed with the Customs officials.

Errors & Omissions Excepted (E&OE)

E&OE is a notation adjacent to a signature on a document signifying that the signor is disclaiming responsibility for typographical errors or unintentional omissions.

Ex Dock (trade term)

A term of sale where the buyer takes title to the goods only when they are unloaded on his/her dock.

Export License

A necessary permit to participate in the export of certain commodities and quantities to certain locations. A list of such goods can be obtained from the Bureau of Foreign Affairs (Export Schedule).

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Foreign trade zone:

An area within a country where imported goods can be stored or processed without being subject to import duty. Also called a "free zone," "free port," or "bonded warehouse." See also Export Processing Zone

Free on Board (FOB)

FOB is an international trade term of sale in which, for the quoted price, the seller clears the goods for export and is responsible for the costs and risks of delivering the goods past the ship's rail at the named port of shipment.

Free Market

The unrestricted movement of items in and out of a market unhampered by the existence of tariffs or other trade barriers.

-G-

Geographical indication:

Measure aimed to protect the reputation for quality of goods originating in a particular geographic location by limiting the use of distinctive place names or regional appellations to goods actually produced in those locations.

Government Procurement:

Purchasing, leasing, rental, or hire purchasing by government entities or agencies.

Gross Weight

The total weight of the product, packaging and container that is ready to be imported or exported.

-H-

Harmonized System (HS):

"Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System". Nomenclature developed by the World Customs Organization for customs tariffs and international trade statistics.

HIPC:

Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative. An agreement among official creditors to help the most heavily indebted countries to obtain debt relief.

-I-

In Bond

In Bond is a procedure under which goods are transported or warehoused under customs supervision until they are either formally entered into the customs territory of the United States and aplicable duties are paid, or until they are exported from the United States

Infant Industry:

Infant industry arguments suggest that new (non-traditional) industries must be protected from import competition while they are establishing themselves. This is a so-called ‘second-best’ argument in that it does not address the fundamental market failures that cause industries to fail to develop (such as financial market imperfections).

Intra-industry trade:

 Trade in which a country both exports and imports goods that are classified to be in the same industry.

Invoice

A comprehensive document specifying the buyer and seller of a specific product or service, detailing dates, payment terms, delivery method, transportation and a complete listing of the goods or service.

-L-

Lay Order

A Lay Order is the period during which imported merchandise may remain at the place of unlading without some action for its disposition

Labeling:

Requirement, either mandatory or voluntary, to specify whether a product satisfies certain conditions relating to the process by which it was produced.

-M-

Market Access:

Refers to the conditions under which imports compete with domestically produced substitutes. These are determined by the extent to which foreign goods are confronted with discriminatory taxes and other regulations.

Matching grant:

 Subsidy that is conditional on a co-payment or contribution by an industry or enterprise.

Mutual Recognition.

The acceptance by one country of another country's certification that a product has satisfied a product standard. Often based on formal agreements between countries if the standards are mandato

-N-

National Treatment:

Principle that foreign goods, services, and persons (investors), once they have entered a country and satisfied any formalities that are required, are treated in exactly the same way as national goods, services or persons. In particular, they face the same internal taxes and no additional restrictions.

Necessity test:

Procedure to determine whether a policy restricting trade is necessary to achieve the objective that the measure is intended to attain.

Negative list:

In an international agreement, a list of those items, entities, products, etc. to which the agreement will not apply, the commitment being to apply the agreement to everything else. Contrasts with Positive List.

Nominal rate of protection:

The proportion by which the (tariff-inclusive) internal price of an import exceeds the border or world price. See also Effective Rate of Protection.

Noneconomic objective:

Describes situations where a policy objective is other than the efficient allocation of resources. In the trade policy setting refers to the view that a restriction on imports may serve a purpose that goes beyond the restriction of trade itself. In general desired changes in output, consumption, etc. can be achieved at lower economic cost through other types of policies

Notify Address

The Notify Address is the address to which the carrier is to give notice when goods are due to arrive. It is mentioned in the transport document.

Notify Party (shipping)

Name and address of a party in the transport document (bill of lading or air waybill), usually the buyer or his agent, to be notified by the shipping company of the arrival of a shipment

-O-

Offset Requirement:

Requirement, stipulated by the authorities of the importing country, that exporters to that country compensate for their exports by, say , purchasing products of the importing country or investing in the importing country. Also see Counter trade.

-P-

Packing List

Same as bill of parcels. A detailed list of the types and amount of merchandise included in a shipment, created by the shipper. A copy is often sent to the individual who will be receiving the shipment to verify that a complete shipment has been received.

Para Tariff:

Charges on imports that act as a tariff but are not included in country’s tariff schedule. Examples include a statistical tax, stamp fees, etc.

Patent:

A right granted to its owner to exclude all others from making, selling, importing or using the product or process described in the patent for a fixed period of time, generally 20 years. To be patentable, inventions have to be novel, non-obvious, and be useful or have industrial applicability.

Port of Entry

A port located in the receiving country, where foreign goods are permitted.

Pro Forma

When coupled with the title of another document (pro forma invoice, pro forma manifest), it means an informal document presented in advance of the arrival or preparation of the required document in order to satisfy a requirement.

Protocol of Accession:

Legal document recording the conditions and obligations under which a country accedes to an international agreement or organization.

-Q-

Quota

A predetermined amount or limitation of goods that may be imported into a country from all countries in a specified time frame without constraints or further taxes and/or duties.

-R-

Remedy:

Legal term to describe a measure recommended by a WTO dispute settlement panel that aims to bring the policies of a member found to have violated WTO rules or disciplines into compliance with its obligations.

Rent-Seeking:

Refers to activities that use resources to obtain incomes through transfers but which do not increase national income. Such activities result in an extra cost to society (the loss of income from the diversion of resources away from productive towards rent-seeking activities) beyond the distortionary costs associated with measures that give rise to the rents.

Request-Offer Procedure:

Negotiating procedure based on the tabling, by each party, of a list of concessions requested of other parties, followed by an offer list of the concessions that could be granted if its request were met.

Restrictive Business Practice:

Practice of business enterprises to limit access to markets and restrain competition (such as the formation of a cartel).

-S-

Shipment

Includes all of the freight transported under the terms of the original bill of lading.

Substantial Transformation

An item is substantially transformed if it has a new name, use or character. Once an item has been substantially transformed, the country the item was transformed in becomes the new country of origin.

-T-

Tariff

Tariff is a comprehensive list or "schedule" of merchandise with applicable rates to be paid or charged for each listed article; or a schedule of shipping rates charged, together with governing rules and regulations.

Transaction Value

Transaction Value is the value of the imported merchandise as determined by U.S. Customs officers for statistical purposes as well as to determine the amount of import duty.

Transferable Letter of Credit (shipping)

A letter of credit where the beneficiary specified in the credit has the option of instructing his bank to transfer the credit fully or in pan option of instructing his bank to transfer the credit fully or in pan.

-V-

Value Added Tax (VAT)

An indirect tax imposed on consumption that is reflective of the incremental increases on the value of goods throughout the chain of production, from the raw material phase to final consumption.

Waybill (shipping)

A document prepared by a transportation line at the point of a shipment, showing point or origin, destination, route, consignor, consignee, description of shipment and amount charged for the service, and forwarded with the shipment, or direct by mail, to the agent at the transfer point or waybill destination.

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