In foreign trade practice, the producers and issuers of documents are usually exporters, commodity inspection agencies in exporting countries, freight companies and importers. Generally speaking, it is in English or in both Chinese and English.
Common documents in foreign trade are:
1. Contract
A contract is a general term, which can be signed by the buyer and the seller. If it is made by the seller, it can be called a sales confirmation, if it is issued by the buyer, it can be called a purchase confirmation. In addition to the same elements as domestic sales contracts, such as the name and address of the buyer and seller, the time and place of signing, the name of the traded goods and the method of payment,
In addition to the liability for breach of contract, additional clauses can be added according to the characteristics of different products. In addition, formal foreign trade contracts often have more detailed agreements, such as the requirements for opening letters of credit under the conditions of letters of credit, and various force majeure provisions. For bulk commodities that are easy to be short in the process of loading, unloading, storage and transportation, such as mineral products and agricultural and sideline products. There is often a clause of "more shipment and less shipment" attached to the contract, that is, there are some differences on the basis of the total contract quantity and amount, and finally the settlement will be made according to the actual delivery quantity. For example, "allow 5% up and down" means allow 5% up and down. Theoretically, the contract should be "in duplicate, with each party holding an original signature", which can be implemented in foreign trade practice without being too harsh, and a general fax can be used as a memorandum. Rely more on commercial credit, as well as substantive control means such as advance payment and letter of credit. The contract itself is not important. Because of this, customers in some countries will even formulate fixed contracts and departure clauses such as "the letter of credit will take effect after it is issued", which will further weaken the binding force of the contract and be distributed everywhere as an inquiry tool. Don't take such a contract seriously. Allow time until the letter of credit is received.
2. Invoice
Or a commercial invoice. The concept of "invoice" in foreign trade is completely different from that in domestic financial invoices. Foreign trade invoice is a document made and issued by the exporter himself, which is used to explain the name, quantity, unit price and total value of the goods. The invoice format is not limited, but it must contain the above elements and sign the full name.
The invoice must indicate the invoice number (self-drawn) and the issuing time. You can make several copies as needed. If it consists of multiple originals and copies, the words "original" and "copy" shall be marked.
At the end of the invoice, there is usually an e &；; The word "O.E." means "if there is any mistake, it should be checked", that is, if there is any mistake or omission in this invoice, it is allowed to be changed.
3. Proforma invoice
The style is similar to the commercial invoice. You can almost send the commercial invoice directly and change the title to "Proforma Invoice". The use of proforma invoice, first of all, is similar to unilateral contract, as a tool to quote and determine the transaction. Customers in some countries prefer to take the form of "confirmed proforma invoice" as the contract. Therefore, in addition to the same contents as the commercial invoice, you can also add terms such as delivery date in the form of "remarks" in the blank as needed to further implement the transaction. In addition, for those transactions that require import licenses or foreign exchange quotas, customers also need proforma invoices for preliminary applications. When sending goods by international express delivery, you need to attach a proforma invoice as the unified customs declaration form of the courier company.
4. Packing list
Corresponding to the foreign trade invoice, it has the same nature and is mainly used to explain the packaging of goods, such as name, quantity, packaging method, gross weight and volume. Other details, such as net weight, can be added according to the needs of product categories. The style is similar to the invoice, but it is not necessary to indicate the value of the goods. Usually several originals and several copies are needed. See mode 3 for samples.
5. Bill of Lading (Bill of Lading)
Bill of lading is a certificate issued by the freight company after the goods are delivered to the freight company, which is used to represent property rights and pick up the goods at the destination. Each shipping company has its own bill of lading, but the contents are similar. Bill of lading is the core document, in a sense, it is the representative of goods and payment value. For the bill of lading, we will use a chapter to understand it later. According to the different modes of transportation, it can be divided into air bill of lading, sea bill of lading and other bills of lading. But in practice, ocean bill of lading is the most common, followed by air bill of lading. The bill of lading is filled in by the freight company according to the shipper's and consignee's name and address, destination, description of the goods and other related information, and is issued after the shipper confirms that it is correct. Generally, there are three originals and three pairs, and any original can be connected. Once the goods are picked up, the remaining two copies will be invalid. In order to prevent the bill of lading from being lost in transit, if the customer does not explicitly request it, he can only give the customer one or two originals. In addition to the fixed column on the bill of lading, the words "date of shipment" must be added when issuing the ocean bill of lading, which is the standard for calculating the actual delivery date.
6. Delivery notice
Before or not later than the sailing date, the shipper shall issue a notice of loading to the consignee. The format is not limited, but it should include the following items: consignee (consignee), consignor (consignor), name of goods (goods), bill of lading number (bill of lading number), container/seal number (container/seal number), name of ship, voyage (Voy), port of destination, ETD (estimated arrival time) and ETA (estimated arrival time).
7. Insurance policy
In order to prevent possible damage in international cargo transportation, traders usually insure some high-value goods.
Insurance companies issue insurance policies according to the types of insurance as one of the cargo documents.
Risks of marine cargo insurance are divided into basic risks and additional risks.
There are three basic risks: F.P.A., W.P.A. or W.P.A. and All Risks.
The coverage of F.P.A. insurance includes: total loss or constructive total loss of the whole batch of insured goods caused by natural disasters during transportation. All or part of the losses caused by natural disasters falling into the sea before and after the accident of the means of transport. All or part of the loss caused by one or more goods falling into the sea during loading, unloading or transshipment. Reasonable expenses paid by the insured for taking measures to rescue, prevent or reduce the damage of the goods within the insurance scope, but not exceeding the insured amount of the rescued goods. Losses caused by unloading at the port of refuge and special expenses incurred in unloading, storing and transporting goods at the midway port and the port of refuge after the means of transport are in distress. * * * Sacrifice, share and save expenses with seafarers. There is a "collision liability clause" in the transport contract, according to which the cargo side should compensate the ship for its losses.
(2) The coverage of W.P.A. insurance: In addition to undertaking various responsibilities of W.P.A. insurance, it is also responsible for some losses of the insured goods caused by natural disasters.
(3) The coverage of all risks: In addition to the responsibilities of FPA and WPA, it is also responsible for all or part of the losses of the insured goods in transit due to general external reasons.
(2) Additional insurance is an extension and supplement of basic insurance, and cannot be insured separately. Additional risks include general additional risks and special additional risks. Generally speaking, there are 1 1 risks, including: theft and non-delivery (ft), fresh water and/or rain damage, and weight shortage. Leakage risk, pollution risk, collision and breakage risk, odor risk, sweating and heating risk, hook damage risk, packaging damage risk and rust risk. Special additional risks include: delivery failure, import duty, on deck risk, rejection and aflatoxin. Seller's accident risk, extended fire liability clauses for exporting goods to Hong Kong, Kowloon or Macao, extended fire liability clauses for storage of destination goods, Hong Kong's inclusion of Kowloon (or Macao), marine cargo war risk, etc.
When insured, the insured amount is generally CIF plus 10%. The calculation formula of insurance premium is:
Insurance amount = CIF ×( 1+ markup rate)
You don't need to calculate the insurance premium first, but you can directly convert it into CIF according to the known CNF price, that is, CIF=CFR/[ 1- insurance rate ×( 1+ markup rate)].
In practice, if the value of the goods is small, such as less than $2,000, it is generally handled simply, and a unified fee of about 100 yuan is charged as the insurance premium.
8. Inspection certificates such as quantity, weight and hygiene certificate.
According to different products, according to national regulations, or according to customers' needs and industry habits, the export of some commodities must be enforced by the State Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, and inspection certificates must be issued. According to different inspection items, it can be divided into quality certificate, weight certificate and health certificate.
For the export of commodities that must be inspected, manufacturers must first register with the Commodity Inspection Bureau. Fill in the application form for commodity inspection (received from the commodity inspection bureau) before export and send the commodity samples to the commodity inspection bureau for inspection. After passing the inspection, the commodity inspection authorities will issue a commodity inspection release form, which can be used for customs declaration and export. In addition to the State Commodity Inspection Bureau, it is also common for customers to entrust a third-party private inspection agency for inspection. For example, the most famous SGS inspection company (Societe Generale de Surveys S.A. Standard Technical Service Co., Ltd., headquartered in Geneva), many traders in relevant countries in Africa and Central and South China recognize SGS inspection for various reasons, such as the limited inspection capacity of domestic import and export commodities. SGS has branches in China, Guangdong, Shanghai, Qingdao and other places, which can be inspected at the request of customers. At the same time, SGS has cooperated with official government agencies in China-