The simple solution to this is before placing your order with your supplier, ask them how they pack their goods for sea freight, LCL, FCL and Air Freight. If you are not satisfied with their packing ISSUE YOUR OWN PACKING INSTRUCTIONS.

Be specific, DO NOT issue NEGATIVE instructions like ‘Pack suitable for sea freight”

What’s the solution? When you issue your pro forma invoice, advise the Opener (or buyer) what type of letter of credit you require and the documents you can supply.  Some times the opener will request documents you can not supply:

EXAMPLE

LETTER OF CREDIT REQUIRED: Irrevocable (Confirmed, transferable etc)

DOCUMENTS TO BE PRESENTED: Commercial Invoice , Bill of Lading/Air Waybill, Packing List, Certificate of Origin, any in house certification particular to your trade etc.

By giving DETAILS of the type and content of the letter you wish to receive you can eliminate receiving an unworkable Letter of Credit.

Britain has overtaken France to become Germany’s biggest global trade partner for the first time in the modern era, solidifying the emergence of a “special relationship” between Europe’s two like-minded northern powers.

See on www.telegraph.co.uk

Customs officials at Chicago O’Hare airport seized a bag from Italy containing 18 frozen heads. Yes, human heads. Apparently, they had been flown to Italy to be used in medical research and were being returned to Chicago for cremation. I have several questions. Why does Italy need to import severed heads? Surely they can pick up any number of heads from mafia shootings. And why do we have so many heads to export? Who exactly is profiting off of the the international head trade? Also, where are the bodies? You cremate the head now but what did you do with the rest of uncle Fred? Did I mention that this is all completely legal and that the only reason that customs stopped it is because of some paperwork issue? It seems that hundreds of heads fly in and out of the States every year. So, I can’t bring above a tiny bottle of shampoo on a plane but decapitated heads are OK? I had to take off my shoes before I got on the plane, did they take off their bodies? I need answers!

See on www.egotastic.com

CCRMagazine.com – the online information resource for credit management professionals in the UK and worldwide.

See on www.ccrmagazine.com

It’s not often that I meet representatives of a British Company in the morning and read in the afternoon that they are contributing to UK economic success.

So I’m intrigued here in Istanbul to meet leading law firm DLA Piper – one of several which have established substantial operations in Turkey – and to read later in the day that business services – which includes the legal sector – is one of the highest performing parts of the UK economy.

Indeed, I read the same evening that following reports that UK GDP grew by 1% in the third quarter of 2012, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) has forecast that the UK could grow faster than any of the major Eurozone economies in 2013 and 2014.

The English legal system has many attractions for international business. The English legal system has centuries of history and precedent and is widely viewed as fair, objective and flexible.

It is often stated that English law is the law of compromise.

In contrast to some jurisdictions where everything is forbidden unless specifically allowed by law (I remember in a certain European country once seeing a sign in a park announcing “tricycle riding permitted”), in England everything is allowed unless it is forbidden by law.

This makes contracts drawn up under English law attractive to international businesses operating around the world as it allows the true commercial intent of the parties to be reflected. For example, English law was selected as the most convenient legal system for a contract governing a recent major construction deal involving a Turkish company in Rwanda. The application of English law can therefore give an advantage to international consultancies which provide English legal services in third countries. It’s all part of a system which includes the courts themselves and one of the world’s best-developed systems of international arbitration and dispute resolution.

You can find out more about UK financial and professional services from the excellent organisation, TheCityUK.

See on blogs.fco.gov.uk

Firms in Greater Manchester are being urged to take part in a series of events aimed at boosting overseas trade from the region.

Activities during Export Week, which begins next Monday, will include the launch of a hunt for ‘export champions’ to mentor businesses which are new to international trading.

Other highlights will include opportunities for new exporters to visit one of 11 European countries for a nominal charge of £99.

The offer by UK Trade & Investment, the government body set up to help increase trade abroad, includes a trip later this month to Turkey, followed by ones to other nations in January and March next year.

Export Week takes place from November 12 to Friday, November 16.

It is a national event which forms part of a drive to double UK exports to £1 trillion by 2020.

UKTI’s north west regional director Clive Drinkwater will speak at a breakfast networking event at Manchester’s Radisson Edwardian Hotel on Wednesday, November 14, the same day that businesses head on trade missions to the Green Build Expo low-carbon building event in San Francisco and the MEDICA medical trade fair in Germany.

See on menmedia.co.uk

The main job of an import export business is to connect the domestic and international buyers and suppliers.

See on www.selfhelpzone.com

Turning up in Japan with a cheese grater and a potato masher wasn’t the best start for a British kitchenware design company hoping to take its products around the world.

See on www.telegraph.co.uk