A question about Guomao

Export business process control

Business connection issues that should be paid attention to

Traditional foreign trade business usually refers to the tangible items under the current account in the balance of payments. Trade, that is, the import and export of goods, does not include service trade and capital import and export under the capital account. Foreign trade is different from domestic trade. Since both parties to the transaction are in different countries and regions, the process of negotiating transactions and performing contracts involves different systems, laws, policies, measures, trade practices and customary practices. In addition, the transaction volume is large, the transportation distance is long, and the number of employees is It is complex, has many intermediate links, fierce competition in the international market, and the situation is intricate, making it extremely easy to generate fraudulent activities and various risks. Let’s start with the export business process.

The first stage of preparation before the transaction. Mainly include: preparation of export plans, purchasing or allocating export sources according to the plan, and adopting various methods and channels to conduct research on international markets and customers, selecting appropriate markets and customers; formulating export marketing plans, publicity, etc. Work. Analyzing the foreign market environment and foreign customer credit, it may be that due to the complicated foreign market environment, the company's export personnel have low professional quality and weak sense of responsibility, the customer credit is not good, and the company is not aware of customer credit investigations or is not familiar with investigation methods. The emergence of other problems will result in risk consequences such as giving up or delaying entry into the target international market, resulting in unpredictable expenses or additional losses and commercial fraud, resulting in loss of money and goods.

The second stage is export transaction negotiation. That is to discuss the specific matters of each export through correspondence or negotiation. Generally, there are four steps: inquiry, offer, counter-offer and acceptance.

Quotation in international trade generally starts with the inquiry and quotation of products. The more commonly used quotations include: FOB "free on board", CNF "cost and freight", CIF "cost, insurance and freight" and other forms. Problems that may arise at this link are due to an incomplete or no understanding of relevant international trade practices and regulations, which may lead to unnecessary disputes or losses, and loss of goodwill.

The third stage is signing the contract. According to Chinese government regulations, if a company does not have direct import and export rights, the transaction must find an importer and exporter to act as an intermediary.

1. Ordering (Signing) In the process of signing the "Purchase Contract", the main information is the product name, specifications and models, quantity, price, packaging, origin, shipping period, payment terms, settlement method, claims, Negotiate arbitration and other contents, and write the agreement reached after the negotiation into the "Purchase Contract". This marks the official start of export operations. Under normal circumstances, a purchase contract signed in duplicate shall be valid with the official seal of the company stamped by both parties, and each party shall keep one copy.

2. Payment methods There are three commonly used international payment methods, namely letter of credit payment method, TT payment method and direct payment method. 1. Letter of credit payment method Letter of credit is divided into two categories: smooth letter of credit and documentary letter of credit. A documentary letter of credit refers to a letter of credit with specified documents attached, and a letter of credit without any documents is called a clean letter of credit. Simply put, a letter of credit is a guarantee document that guarantees the exporter to recover the payment for the goods. Please note that the shipment period of export goods should be within the validity period of the L/C, and the L/C presentation period must be submitted no later than the validity date of the L/C. In international trade, letters of credit are mostly used as payment methods. The issuance date of the letter of credit should be clear, clear and complete. 2. TT payment method TT payment method is settled in foreign exchange cash. Your customer will remit the money to the foreign exchange bank account designated by your company. You can request remittance within a certain period after the goods arrive. 3. Direct payment means that the buyer and seller pay directly for delivery.

Problems that may arise at this stage: 1. It may become more difficult to perform the contract due to neglect of reviewing the contract. 2. Improper keeping of the contract may cause unnecessary trouble due to insufficient evidence when litigation or claims arise. 3. Regarding the problems that may arise in the letter of credit, due to lax verification and failure to ask the customer to change the certificate, it will become more difficult or difficult to collect foreign exchange.

The fourth stage is the performance of the contract. This stage will involve stocking, obtaining certificates, loading, customs declaration, inspection, shipment, insurance, negotiation, foreign exchange settlement, tax refund, claim, etc. The information flow in the entire economic and trade activities will be monitored by multiple functional agencies such as trade authorities, production departments, transportation, customs, commodity inspection, banking, taxation, foreign exchange management, insurance and the Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

1. Stocking Stocking plays an important role in the entire trade process and must be implemented one by one in accordance with the contract. The main verification contents of stock preparation are as follows: 1. The quality and specifications of the goods should be verified according to the requirements of the contract. 2. Quantity of goods: Ensure that the quantity requirements of the contract or letter of credit are met. 3. Preparation time: It should be based on the provisions of the letter of credit and combined with the shipping schedule to facilitate the connection between ships and cargo.

2. Packaging You can choose the packaging form (such as cartons, wooden boxes, woven bags, etc.) according to different goods. Different packaging forms have different packaging requirements. 1. General export packaging standards: Packaging according to common standards for trade exports. 2. Special export packaging standards: Export goods are packaged according to the special requirements of customers. 3. The packaging and shipping marks (shipping marks) of the goods should be carefully inspected and verified to ensure that they comply with the provisions of the letter of credit.

3. Customs clearance procedures are extremely cumbersome and important. If customs clearance cannot be completed smoothly, the transaction cannot be completed. 1. Export commodities subject to statutory inspection must obtain an export commodity inspection certificate. 2. Professional personnel holding customs declaration certificates must go to the customs to handle customs clearance procedures with packing lists, invoices, customs declaration power of attorney, export settlement verification forms, copies of export goods contracts, export commodity inspection certificates and other documents.

4. Shipment During the cargo shipment process, you can decide the shipping method according to the quantity of the goods, and insure according to the insurance types stipulated in the "Purchase Contract".

5. Transportation Insurance Usually the two parties have agreed on matters related to transportation insurance in advance when signing the "Purchase Contract". Common insurances include ocean cargo transportation insurance, land and air mail transportation insurance, etc. Among them, the risks covered by marine cargo insurance clauses are divided into two categories: basic risks and additional risks: (1) Basic risks include safety insurance, water damage insurance and all risks. (2) Additional risks.

6. Bill of Lading The bill of lading is a document issued by the foreign shipping company after the exporter has completed the export customs clearance procedures and the customs has released it for the importer to pick up the goods and settle foreign exchange. The signed bill of lading is issued according to the number of copies required in the letter of credit, which is usually three. The exporter keeps two copies to handle tax refund and other services, and one copy is sent to the importer for handling procedures such as picking up the goods. When shipping goods by sea, the importer must present the original bill of lading, packing list, and invoice to pick up the goods. (The exporter must send the original bill of lading, packing list, and invoice to the importer.) If the goods are shipped by air, you can directly use the fax of the bill of lading, packing list, and invoice to pick up the goods.

7. Exchange Settlement After the export goods are shipped, the import and export company should correctly prepare documents (packing list, invoice, bill of lading, export certificate of origin, export exchange settlement) and other documents in accordance with the provisions of the letter of credit. Within the validity period of presentation stipulated in the letter of credit, submit it to the bank for negotiation and settlement procedures. In addition to using letters of credit to settle foreign exchange, other remittance methods generally include wire transfers, drafts, letter transfers, etc. Due to the rapid development of electronics, wire transfers are now mainly used for remittances. (In China, enterprises enjoy preferential export tax rebate policies for exports)

Problems we should pay attention to at this stage: 1. There are problems with the inspection of suppliers when preparing goods, resulting in high prices, poor quality or delayed delivery. Problems such as difficulty in guaranteeing or lax supervision of product quality have caused customers to file claims for product quality. 2. Improper shipping time arrangements or inadequate inspection of the shipping company when chartering and booking space, leading to delayed delivery and transportation fraud such as releasing goods without a bill of lading. 3. During customs declaration and inspection, if the relevant government departments or service companies fail to inspect the goods carefully, the shipment time is inappropriate, the delivery is delayed or delayed, and the documents appear wrong, resulting in penalties from customs, commodity inspection and other departments. 4. When preparing documents and settling foreign exchange, it may be due to poor quality of document preparation personnel that the letter of credit may not comply with or refuse payment, making it more difficult or difficult to collect foreign exchange; causing exchange rate fluctuations and resulting in exchange rate differences. 5. When writing off tax refunds, it may be due to the influence of national policies or the poor working attitude or poor ability of the handlers, which may lead to sanctions from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, failure to process tax refunds or collect tax refunds in a timely manner, and occupy funds. 6. When claiming and settling claims, unnecessary troubles or disputes may arise due to the professional quality of the handling personnel, and customers may suffer from blackmail or damage to their economy and goodwill due to customer relationship issues.

In addition, we should also pay attention to the following issues:

(1) When making a bill of exchange, we should pay attention to the following issues: (1) The bid must be listed According to the method of payment by letter of credit, it must be stated which letter of credit was issued by which bank and on what date. (2) In the case of letter of credit, the payee should be filled in according to the provisions of the letter of credit; in the case of collection, the name of the payer should generally be the importer. (3) The payee of a draft under the letter of credit method should usually be the negotiating bank; the payee under the collection method should be the collecting bank. (4) Bills of exchange are generally issued in duplicate, and both copies are equally valid. If any one is paid, the other will automatically become invalid.

(2) Bill of Lading It is a document issued by the captain or shipping company or its agent, proving that specific goods have been received, promising to transport the goods to a specific destination, and delivering them to the consignee. The bill of lading is a document representing the ownership of the goods, and is therefore the most important document provided by the seller. Therefore, when making the bill of lading, you must pay attention to the various contents of the bill of lading (such as the type of bill of lading, consignee, name and number of goods). , port of destination, records of freight charges, number of copies of the bill of lading, etc.) must be consistent with the letter of credit. In my country's export business, foreign certificates usually require a "full set of clean, shipped, prepared bills of lading with instructions and blank endorsements." In this regard, you should pay great attention when loading the goods. If there are comments such as "damaged goods" or "poor packaging" on the first mate's receipt, the bill of lading exchanged for this will also have the same comments, which will become " "Dirty bill of lading", and banks generally do not accept "dirty bills of lading". The bill of lading is generally issued in duplicate. At the shipper's request, three or more copies may also be issued. The two original bills of lading have the same validity, but as long as the goods are delivered with one of them, the other copies will become invalid. It should be noted that backdating the bill of lading and advance bill is an act of collusion between the shipper and the carrier to commit fraud. Once exposed, the consequences will be serious.

(3) Insurance policies and insurance certificates are insurance contracts entered into between the insurer (i.e. the insurance company) and the insured (i.e. the policy holder, usually the importer and exporter). When the insured goods When suffering losses within the scope of the insurance contract, they are the basis for the insured to make claims and the insurer to settle claims. An insurance policy (commonly known as a "big policy") is a formal insurance contract, which generally includes the following contents: the name of the insured, the name, quantity or weight of the insured goods, the mark, the type and name of the means of transportation, the The type of insurance, origin and destination, insurance period and insurance amount also include detailed terms such as the scope of liability of the insurer and the respective rights and obligations of the insurer and the insured. An insurance certificate (commonly known as a "small insurance policy") is a simplified insurance contract. Except that the detailed terms on the rights and obligations of the insurer and the insured are not stated, the rest of the content is the same as the insurance policy, and It has the same effect as an insurance policy. However, in actual business, most insurance companies in my country issue insurance policies and rarely use insurance certificates.

(4) Commercial invoice is referred to as invoice. It is a shipping price list issued by the export enterprise to collect payment from the buyer. It is the basis for both buyers and sellers to ship, receive, keep accounts, collect and pay for goods, and declare customs and pay taxes. There is no unified format for invoices, but their contents are roughly the same, mainly including: invoice number, issuance date, relevant export contract number, letter of credit number, consignee’s name and address, shipping mark, and name, specification, quantity, and packaging method of the goods. , unit price, total value and shipping place, destination, etc. The content of the invoice must comply with the provisions of the sales contract. When payment by letter of credit is used, it should strictly comply with the provisions of the letter of credit without any discrepancy. In addition, the invoice must have the official signature of the consignor to be valid.

(5) Certificate of Origin It is a document that proves the origin or manufacturing place of goods. Its main purpose is to provide the customs of the importing country with this document to determine the country of production of the goods, so as to determine whether the imported goods should be taxed Some countries restrict the import of goods from certain countries or regions and require a certificate of origin to prove the origin of the goods. The certificate of origin is generally issued by the notary office or industrial and commercial groups in the place of export. In our country, it is issued by the Import and Export Commodity Inspection Bureau or the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

(6) Inspection certificate Various inspection certificates are used to prove the quality, quantity, weight or sanitary conditions of the goods. In our country, this type of certificate is generally issued by the China Import and Export Commodity Inspection Bureau. If there are no special provisions in the contract or letter of credit, it can also be issued by the import and export company or production enterprise in different situations. However, attention should be paid to the name and items listed on the certificate. Or the inspection results should be the same as those specified in the contract and letter of credit.

(7) Packing list and weight list Packing list and weight list are supplementary documents to the commercial invoice. The packaging list is mainly used for industrial products. It provides a detailed description of the name, specifications, colors, etc. of the goods in each package to facilitate customs inspection at the import place and verification by the importer. The weight list is mostly used for primary products priced by weight. It states the weight of each item. Some also list the gross weight and net weight of each item separately. Its function is the same as the packaging list.

(8) Generalized System of Preferences Documents The Generalized System of Preferences is a universal tariff reduction and exemption granted by industrialized countries to certain products from developing countries, especially industrial finished products and semi-manufactured products. preferential system.