This consist either
of export and import transactions. Foreign trade there by comprises all buying
and selling of goods between two different countries or between a group
countries and another group. Some commercial houses are concerned solely with
import trade for example produce importers of butter, bacon, rubber wax or
fresh and dried grains. Other houses are solely concerned with export trade for example exporters of caterpillars, tractors .Others still combine
both these divisions of trade , importing raw materials
and exporting articles manufactured from those materials.
DIFFICULTIES OF FOREIGN TRADE.
There are certain difficulties associated with foreign trade
that are not present in home trade. These difficulties are speculated as
follows-
- The fact that the goods must be transported overseas.
- The shipping risks involved.
- The necessity in certain cases for the employment of foreign agents.
- The differences of language, customs and law in the importing and exporting countries.
- The complications introduced by the imposition in so many countries of tariffs, quotas and prohibitions.
- The different currency systems involving the problems and hazards of foreign exchange.
- The long credit that must frequently be allowed to buyers and the consequent locking up of the exporter’s capital with the attendant risk of bad debts.
In order, there is the need to explain some of the documents
used in foreign export trade, which are as follows-
BILL OF LADING.
This can be considered into three economical point of
view in foreign /Import trade.
(A) It is a receipt for the goods and an acknowledgement that they have been put on board the vessel named in the bill of lading. However the receipt is qualified. The packages are referred to as “said to be marked and numbered or addressed as per margin and the shipping company declares that it is unaccountable for marks , numbers, weight, contents, description, quality, quantity, value, measure, gauge, brand and condition” Thus, though the shipping company is bound to deliver the packages in the same states as they were received, the burden of proof that they are not in the same state is upon the shipper.
(B) It is a contract between the ship owner and the shipper setting forth the terms on which the ship owner agrees to carry the goods. The owner of a general ship I.e an unchartered ship is a common carrier and as such is an insurer of the goods he undertakes to carry. He is protected from liability in many cases where goods are damaged or lost, both by statute law and by the terms of the bill of lading. A large portion of the printed part of a Bal consists of the enumeration of conditions and exceptions which exempt the ship owner from liability for loss or damage. It is because of these limitations of liability by statute and by terms of the bill of lading that a shipper is bound in order to protect himself fully to take out a policy of marine insurance.
(C) A document of title of proof of the possession of the goods and a right to dispose them. The possession of the goods and the goods may be sold and delivered by the seller transferring for value to the buyer the document of title. Several such documents besides the bill of lading are used in commerce in connection with foreign trade egg, dock warrant and the ware house keeper’s receipt. A bill of lading , then is a symbol of the goods as long as they at sea and until they have been delivered to some person who is entitled to have them. The person entitled to receive the goods is the person who is in lawful possession of the bill of lading and that person to whom the consignee has transferred the bill of lading or to that person ‘s transferee for value. It will be seen that a bill of lading is of the nature of a negotiable instrument like cherub because no one can by the transfer of a bill of lading give the transferee a better title to the goods represented by it than he has himself. The consignee or transferee of a bill of lading can only obtain the goods from a shipping company by producing and surrendering the bill of lading . But if the bill is lost , delivery will be made , provided the claimant satisfies the shipping company that he is entitled to receive the goods and indemnifies the shipping company against loss by giving a bankers guarantee.
(A) It is a receipt for the goods and an acknowledgement that they have been put on board the vessel named in the bill of lading. However the receipt is qualified. The packages are referred to as “said to be marked and numbered or addressed as per margin and the shipping company declares that it is unaccountable for marks , numbers, weight, contents, description, quality, quantity, value, measure, gauge, brand and condition” Thus, though the shipping company is bound to deliver the packages in the same states as they were received, the burden of proof that they are not in the same state is upon the shipper.
(B) It is a contract between the ship owner and the shipper setting forth the terms on which the ship owner agrees to carry the goods. The owner of a general ship I.e an unchartered ship is a common carrier and as such is an insurer of the goods he undertakes to carry. He is protected from liability in many cases where goods are damaged or lost, both by statute law and by the terms of the bill of lading. A large portion of the printed part of a Bal consists of the enumeration of conditions and exceptions which exempt the ship owner from liability for loss or damage. It is because of these limitations of liability by statute and by terms of the bill of lading that a shipper is bound in order to protect himself fully to take out a policy of marine insurance.
(C) A document of title of proof of the possession of the goods and a right to dispose them. The possession of the goods and the goods may be sold and delivered by the seller transferring for value to the buyer the document of title. Several such documents besides the bill of lading are used in commerce in connection with foreign trade egg, dock warrant and the ware house keeper’s receipt. A bill of lading , then is a symbol of the goods as long as they at sea and until they have been delivered to some person who is entitled to have them. The person entitled to receive the goods is the person who is in lawful possession of the bill of lading and that person to whom the consignee has transferred the bill of lading or to that person ‘s transferee for value. It will be seen that a bill of lading is of the nature of a negotiable instrument like cherub because no one can by the transfer of a bill of lading give the transferee a better title to the goods represented by it than he has himself. The consignee or transferee of a bill of lading can only obtain the goods from a shipping company by producing and surrendering the bill of lading . But if the bill is lost , delivery will be made , provided the claimant satisfies the shipping company that he is entitled to receive the goods and indemnifies the shipping company against loss by giving a bankers guarantee.
Bills of lading are usually drawn in sets of three and while
originals used to have to be stamped 6d each well this is no longer necessary.
In addition to the three originals
normally prepared , further copies
may be made out
for the shipping company’s use. All the three copies signed by
the company are returned to the shipper. The shipper sends one original
with the invoice and other
relevant documents to the consignee by the same
vessel that carries the
goods or by air mail and a second original
with duplicate documents attached
by the next available steamer or by air mail; so that
the first set miscarry , the second set
may be available. The third original he keeps by him. Where the services
of a bank are employed in connection
with an export transaction, the
shipper drawing the bill of
exchange on the consignee for the value of the shipment , the shipping documents to be delivered to the consignee against
his acceptance or payment of the bill of exchange, two or
three copies of the bill of
lading , according to the country of
destination each with the relevant documents
attached go to the bank. The
bank forwards them
to their correspondents in the consignee’s town with instructions that
the documents are to
be released to the consignee only upon
his acceptance or payment of the bill.
When goods are offered for shipment ,
obviously not in good order and condition , the bill of lading given
to the shipper is known as a clause bill
in order nomenclature a foul bill
that is the bill gives the details
of the state of goods .Such a bill
of lading is not easily
negotiated and the shipping company may
on request and against a
suitable indemnity given to the
company e.g. a bankers, guarantee , issue a clean bill of lading.
FORMS OF SHIPPING
INVOICE.
CONSULAR INVOICE.
This document is required by many
foreign governments for the purpose of assessing the duty payable by the importer
in the foreign country. The forms are obtained
from the consulate of the foreign country
and they must be filled in by the exporter with complete
details of the goods
described according to the
import list of the foreign country and their value and the truth
of the particulars given must be sworn
before the foreign Consul.
Usually they are made out in triplicate, sometimes in quadruplicate, the foreign
consul retaining two or three of the copies. The copy retained by the exporter
is sent to the consignee with the other shipping documents. The fees charged by
various consulates vary and are sometimes heavy. Consular invoices differ greatly
in form, no two being alike. Sometimes they are in English language or in
foreign language. A consular invoice does not supersede but is additional to
the ordinary commercial invoice.
COMBINED CERTIFICATE OF VALUE AND ORIGIN.
This document is used by the British merchants
and manufacturers in connection
with shipments to the dominions.
The front of the document accommodates
the invoice for the shipment on the back
is a signed declaration of its value
and of the British origin of the goods.
CERTIFICATE OF ORIGIN.
This is used where the government of one
country has entered into agreement with
the government of another by the terms of which under the
most favored nation
clause the two governments
permit the importation of each other’s goods ate lower rate of duty
than the full scheduled rate. In
order to avail themselves
of the lower duty , the
importers of the two countries
request their sellers to attach
to their invoices a
declaration that the goods
in question are wholly or
mainly of the particular exporting country’s manufacture. Such declarations may
be signed by a customs official or by the officials of a chamber of commerce.
While the customs form
is still in existence the chamber
of commerce form is the only
one that is normally
encountered in present day shipping.
Mate’s receipt- Where goods are
conveyed to the carrying vessel by lighter
and loaded there from , the
deliverer receives from the responsible officer
of the ship a document termed
a mate’s receipt. This receipt is exchanged afterwards for the bill of
lading.
Freight Note- This shipping
company’s debit note giving details of the charge for freight. Where a
shipping agent is employed , his charge note
will include besides the
freight, details of all
other shipping charges
that the agent has incurred on behalf of the shipper.
CHARTER-PARTY.
Ships are also chartered under this document , a ship may to all
intents and purposes be leased
from its owners so that the
control and possession of the
ship are transferred to the charterer
and the masters and the crew become the charterer’s servants. This sort of charter
is not a contract for carriage at all. In other cases. the charterer requires
the whole carrying power
of the ship , the crew and it’s
navigation remains with the master employed by the owners. Such a charter party may be
for a certain definite voyage or for a definite time. A charter of the latter
kind, which is a contract for carriage, provides inter alia that the charterer
shall load a full and complete cargo or specifies the weight of the cargo to be
loaded. This is reasonable since empty cargo space means a loss of freight to
the owners. Furthermore it stipulates
that the work of loading and unloading
shall be accomplished within a certain
number of running or consecutive days termed lay days.
The charterer is therefore responsible for seeing that the cargo is brought to the ship’s side In time for the loading to be done within the stipulated period and that the consignee is ready to receive the cargo at the port of discharge. It is further usually agreed that a charterer may detain the vessel for a stated number of days beyond the stipulated lay days by paying the owners an agreed sum per day for these extra days. This payment is called Demur rage. Even railways are paid demur rage for the retention of their wagons/coaches by their users. A charter party may carry goods for other shippers in this case the bills of lading will be expressed as being subject to the conditions contained in the charter party but commonly vessels are chartered to carry cargoes all of one kind for example, cocoa, coal, timber e.t.c.
The charterer is therefore responsible for seeing that the cargo is brought to the ship’s side In time for the loading to be done within the stipulated period and that the consignee is ready to receive the cargo at the port of discharge. It is further usually agreed that a charterer may detain the vessel for a stated number of days beyond the stipulated lay days by paying the owners an agreed sum per day for these extra days. This payment is called Demur rage. Even railways are paid demur rage for the retention of their wagons/coaches by their users. A charter party may carry goods for other shippers in this case the bills of lading will be expressed as being subject to the conditions contained in the charter party but commonly vessels are chartered to carry cargoes all of one kind for example, cocoa, coal, timber e.t.c.
CUSTOMS SPECIFICATIONS.
Exporters of most types of goods
must within six days of final
clearance of the ship carrying
their goods send to the customs house authorities a document
known as a customs specification
containing a specification of exported goods described
according to the official import
and export list, with quantities and
.F.O.B value and the
final destination of the goods. If the goods shipped
are manufactured or produced in Nigeria or Ghana a white form is used, if the goods
of foreign or colonial
manufacture or production are shipped exports and if these goods are not subject to duty
on entering this country or if
dutiable ,the duties have been
paid , a pink form is used. There are
special forms for exports of coal , Arms and ammunition etc. These
specifications are used for official
abstracts of foreign trade
complied and published by the board
of trade. In case of dutiable goods which involve
the payment of customs
duty or excise duty if the goods
are used for home
consumption, exporters or their
agents enter into bonds
for the due observance of the government regulations.
For these classes of goods, other specifications must be entered by the exporter, according to the particular kind of dutiable goods and the operation involved. Thus forms there are forms for the exportation of wet goods and for dry goods for goods trans-shipped for goods exported by parcel post or by air lines and for goods removed from one bonded warehouse to another. The reason why warehouses where dutiable goods are stored are termed Bonded warehouses is because the owners enter into monetary bonds of large amount that their warehouses shall be conducted with strict regard to the regulations. These warehouses are in fact under the joint control of the government and the proprietors. Similarly, transport firms engaged in transporting dutiable goods from one warehouse to another or from warehouse to the dock or vice versa are called Bonded Carmen and also enter into bonds for the proper performance of their duties.
For these classes of goods, other specifications must be entered by the exporter, according to the particular kind of dutiable goods and the operation involved. Thus forms there are forms for the exportation of wet goods and for dry goods for goods trans-shipped for goods exported by parcel post or by air lines and for goods removed from one bonded warehouse to another. The reason why warehouses where dutiable goods are stored are termed Bonded warehouses is because the owners enter into monetary bonds of large amount that their warehouses shall be conducted with strict regard to the regulations. These warehouses are in fact under the joint control of the government and the proprietors. Similarly, transport firms engaged in transporting dutiable goods from one warehouse to another or from warehouse to the dock or vice versa are called Bonded Carmen and also enter into bonds for the proper performance of their duties.
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