Freight forwarders; Advantages
1. regular service
2. consolidation
3. use a specialist who has experience and connections
4. provide warehouses
5. they sell space in their containers (depends on the route/itinerary)
6. they negotiate transportation prices with the ‘carriers’ (transportation companies; either shipping line or airline)
7. provide insurance
8. facilitate customs clearance
9. they help trace/track shipments
10. they do the administrative work, ‘documentation’
International Documentation
1. Commercial invoice issued (written) by the seller of goods (exporter)
- price + quantity
2. Packing list information on packaging only weight, description of type of packaging, bags/boxes/pallets dimensions (usually metric units) marks and numbers (use of codes, letters/figures, to identify the different packages):labeling the packages helps in case of loss or theft
3. Bill of lading (B/L) – in case of sea freight issued by the shipping line serves as the contract of carriage(transportation) between carrier(shipper) and exporter establishes the responsibilities for all parties (freight costs) also used to transfer property of the goods specifies number of pieces (pallets etc), has a description of the goods, weights, destination, name of shipper
4. Certificate of origin used to determine duty rate applicable to the product required by certain countries to certify the origin of products or product components
5. Special permits for special goods
6. Insurance certificate
7. Health certificate especially for food products/animal products
Incoterms
////International Commercial Terms
- used in international trade to determine:
1. who (buyer/importer or seller/exporter) payes the freight
2. at what point (where) is the product changing ownership
Incoterms are defined by the international chamber of commerce located in Paris
////Destination, country of importation
Buyer, Purchaser, Consignee