International Trade - Useful

vocabulary

October 18th, 2011

Making sure you have the right documentation is a vital part of
international trade. Accurate paperwork minimises the risk of problems
and delays.
Specific documents may be needed to get the goods through customs
and to work out the right duty and tax charges. There may be
requirements both for the country the goods are being exported from
and the country they are being imported into.
Documentation is needed to cover the transport of the goods and
insurance during the journey.
The right paperwork can be an important part of the payment
mechanism.
Many abbreviations are used in International Trade procedures.
 Commercial Invoice
Issued by the exporter for the full amount of goods as per trade term.

Other types of invoices :

Consular Invoice - Needed for certain countries (New Zealand, Australia,

Fiji). It is prepared in the prescribed format and is signed/ certified by the
counsel of the importing country located in the country of export.

Customs Invoice - Mainly needed for countries like USA, Canada, etc. It
is prepared on a specific form being presented by the Customs authorities
of the importing country. It facilitates entry of goods in the importing
country at preferential tariff rate.

Certified Invoice - It is required when the exporter needs to certify on the

invoice that the goods are of a particular origin or manufactured/ packed
at a particular place and in accordance with specific contract.
™ 1. EXPORTER - The name and address of the principal party responsible for
effecting export.
™ 2. CONSIGNEE - The name and address of the person/company to whom the goods
are shipped for the designated end use
™ 3. INTERMEDIATE CONSIGNEE - The name and address of the party who effects
delivery of the merchandise to the ultimate consignee
™ 4. FORWARDING AGENT - The name and address of the duly authorized
forwarder acting as agent for the exporter.
™ 5. COMMERCIAL INVOICE NO. - Commercial Invoice number assigned by the
exporter.
™ 6. CUSTOMER PURCHASE ORDER NO. - Overseas customer's reference of order
number
™ 7. B/L, AWB NO. - Bill of Lading, or Air Waybill number, if known.
™ 8. COUNTRY OF ORIGIN - Country of origin of shipment.
™ 9. DATE OF EXPORT - Actual date of export of merchandise.
™ 10. TERMS OF PAYMENT - Describe the terms, conditions, and currency as
agreed upon by the vendor and purchaser per the Pro Forma Invoice, customer
Purchase Order, and/or Letter of Credit.
™ 11. EXPORT REFERENCES - May be used to record other useful informatio (other
reference numbers, special handling requirements, routing requirements, etc).
™ 12. AIR/OCEAN PORT OF EMBARKATION - Ocean port/pier, or airport to be used for
embarkation of merchandise.
™ 13. EXPORTING CARRIER/ROUTE - Record airline carrier/flight number or vessel
name/shipping line to be used for the shipment of merchandise.
™ 14. PACKAGES - Record number of packages, cartons, or containers per description line.
™ 15. QUANTITY - Record total number of units per description line.
™ 16. NET WEIGHT/GROSS WEIGHT - Record total net weight and total gross weight
(includes weight of container) in kilograms per description line.
™ 17. DESCRIPTION OF MERCHANDISE - Provide a full description of items shipped, the
type of container (carton, box, pack, etc.), the gross weight per container, and the quantity
and unit of measure of the merchandise.
™ 18. UNIT PRICE/TOTAL VALUE - Record the unit price of the merchandise per the unit
of measure, compute the extended total value of the line.
™ 19. PACKAGE MARKS - Record in this field, as well as on each package, the package
number (e.g. - 1 of 7, 3 of 7, etc.), shippers company name, country of origin (e.g. - made
in USA), destination port of entry, package weight in kilograms, package size (length x
width x height), and shipper's control number
™ 20. MISC. CHARGES - Record any miscellaneous charges which are to be paid for by the
customer - export transportation, insurance, export packaging, inland freight to pier, etc.
™ 21. CERTIFICATIONS - any certifications or declarations required of the shipper
regarding any information recorded on the commercial invoice.
 Bill of Lading

The Bill of Lading is the official document prepared by the carrier duly accepting the
goods for shipment containing information like item, quantity, value, vessel details,
date, port, consigner , consignee etc. Bill of lading is a contract to carry the goods to the
said destination based on which seller can claim consideration and buyer can take
delivery of the goods.

™ SPAC : The Standard Carrier Alpha Code (SCAC) is a unique two-to-four-letter code
used to identify transportation companies
™ COD : Cash on Delivery
™ LTL / Less Than Truckload : This means a shipment that does not require a full 48 or 53
foot trailer.
 Labelling
You will need to use correct labelling and shipping marks to ensure
smooth processing of your goods. The consignment itself must be
labelled with its destination. If your goods are being consolidated,
ensure that your own consignment is individually labelled, as it will be
shipped along with other business' goods.

™ PRO number - Number used by carriers as a reference number for freight movements.
™ The Serial Shipping Container Code or the SSCC is used throughout the supply chain as
an entity identifier for item tracing and internal control. The first digit is the Package
Type (P). The next 16 digits are the manufacturer code, followed by the serial number of
this container.
 Purchase Order
A purchase order (PO) is a commercial document issued by a buyer to a seller,
indicating types, quantities, and agreed prices for products or services the seller will
provide to the buyer. Sending a PO to a supplier constitutes a legal offer to buy products
or services. Acceptance of a PO by a seller usually forms a one-off contract between the
buyer and seller, so no contract exists until the PO is accepted.
Basically a purchase order atleast should contain the following :

- The name of the seller

- The name of the purchaser
- Delivery address
- Invoice address
- Price and quantity of the product or products
- Delivery date
- Terms of payment
- Terms of delivery
 Customs declaration form
™ The format of customs export declaration forms varies from country to country. The
form typically contains the information found in the commercial invoice and the bill of
lading or waybill. In addition, the form may include:

™ the business license number and/or tax account number and/or export permit (license)
number of the exporter

™ the business license number of the manufacturer from whom the export-trader buys the
export goods

™ the commodity code or category of goods

™ the country of destination and its country code (a numeric country code may be assigned
to each importing country by the customs of exporting country for compiling statistics)

™ the name, address and code (or license) number of the customs broker or forwarder

™ the customs charges

 Other documents
™ Packing List - It shows the details of goods contained in each parcel / shipment

™ Certificate of Inspection – It is a type of document describing the condition of goods

and confirming that they have been inspected.

™ Black List Certificate - It is required for countries which have strained political
relation. It certifies that the ship or the aircraft carrying the goods has not touched those
country(s).

™ Manufacturer's Certificate - It is required in addition to the Certificate of Origin for

few countries to show that the goods shipped have actually been manufactured and is
available.

™ Certificate of Chemical Analysis - It is required to ensure the quality and grade of

certain items such as metallic ores, pigments, etc.

™ Certificate of Shipment - It signifies that a certain lot of goods have been shipped.

™ Health/ Veterinary/ Sanitary Certification - Required for export of foodstuffs, marine

products, hides, livestock etc

™ Certificate of Conditioning - It is issued by the competent office to certify

compliance of humidity factor, dry weight, etc.
™ Shipping Order - Issued by the Shipping Line which intimates the exporter
about the reservation of space of shipment of cargo through the specific vessel
from a specified port and on a specified date.

™ Cart/ Lorry Ticket - It is prepared for admittance of the cargo through the
port gate and includes the shipper's name, cart/ lorry No., marks on packages,
quantity, etc.

™ Shut Out Advice - It is a statement of packages which are shut out by a ship
and is prepared by the concerned shed and is sent to the exporter.

™ Short Shipment Form - It is an application to the customs authorities at port

which advises short shipment of goods and required for claiming the return.
 Abbreviations
™ A/C Account
™ A/O Account Of
™ AMT Air Mail Transfer
™ AN Advice Note
™ ANF Arrival Notification Form
™ ASSP Any Safe Suitable Port
™ ASWP Any Safe World Port
™ ATA Admission Temporaire - Temporary Admission
™ B/L Bill of Lading
™ AWB Air Way Bill
™ C of O Certificate of Origin, note there are several different types
™ C&D Collected & Delivered
™ C&E Customs & Excise
™ C&F Cost & Freight (not in INCOTERMS 1990)
™ C/I Consular Invoice/Certificate of Insurance
™ C/N Consignment Note, Cover Note
™ C/NEE Consignee
™ C/NOR Consignor
™ C/S Currency Surcharge
™ C/V Certificate of Value
™ C/VO Certificate of Value & Origin
™ CAA Civil Aviation Authority
™ CAD Cash Against Documents
™ CBD Cash Before Delivery
™ cbm cubic metre
™ CC/O Certificate of Consignment/Origin
™ CCC Customs Clearance Certificate
™ CIF Cost, Insurance & Freight (named port of destination)
™ CKD Completely Knocked Down
™ COM/I Commercial Invoice
™ CWO Cash With Order
™ CY Currency
™ CPT Carriage Paid To (named destination)
™ CRN Customs Registered Number
™ D/O Delivery Order
™ D/P Documents against Payment, Direct Port
™ DAF Delivered At Frontier (named place)
™ ETA Estimated Time of Arrival
™ EXW Ex Works (named place)
™ FOB Free On Board (named port)
™ FOC Free Of Charge
™ FOD Free Of Damage
™ FCL Full Container Load
™ FCO Franco
™ I/L Import License
™ IB Invoice Book
™ ID Import Duty
™ L/C Letter of Credit
™ LCL Less than full Container Load
™ LDG Loading
™ LEC Local Export Clearance
™ LO/LO Lift On/Lift Off
™ MIP Marine Insurance Policy
™ MT Mail Transfer
™ MT Metric Tonnes
™ N/T Net Terms
™ NCV No Commercial Value
™ NEI Not Elsewhere Included
™ NES Not Elsewhere Specified
™ NET WT Net Weight
™ O/A On Account of
™ O/O Order Of
™ O/R Owner's Risk
™ OPB Operative Performance Bond
™ OPR Outward Processing Relief
™ ORD Order
™ per pro on behalf of
™ PKD Partially Knocked Down
™ PL Partial Loss
™ POA Place Of Acceptance
™ POD Proof Of Delivery
™ POF Proof Of Funds
™ POP Proof Of Product, Proof Of Purchase
™ PR Parcel Receipt
™ QTY Quantity
™ RN Removal Note
™ RO/RO Roll-On/Roll-Off
™ RWA Ready, Willing and Able
™ S/N Shipping Note
™ SAD Single Administrative Document
™ SB Short Bill, payable on demand or sight
™ SBLC StandBy Letter of Credit
™ SDBL Sight Draft, with Bill of Lading attached
™ SOB Shipped On Board
™ SR&CC Strike Risk & Civil Commotion
™ SWL Safe Working Load
™ TARE weight of a container without goods
™ TL Total Loss
™ U/D Under Deck
™ ULD Unit Load Device, container used in air freight
™ VAT Value Added Tax
™ W/M Weight or Measure, basis for sea freight rates
™ WA With Average
™ WB WayBill, Warehouse Book
™ WPA With Particular Average
™ WR Warehouse Receipt
™ WRO War Risks Only