As international trade is a unique field of commerce that we are passionate about we have put together an introductory knowledge base on the subject. Firstly the knowledge base consists of General Trade Terms. Trade Terms are terms commonly used in international transactions and we have purposefully kept them simple and the list short. For convenience they have also been arranged under 5 headings viz. General, Payment, Transport, Insurance and Customs.

Secondly the knowledge base consists of Incoterms 2000 which are an international set of rules for the interpretation of trade terms as drawn up by the International Chamber of Commerce. Frequently parties to a contract are unaware of the different trading practices in their respective countries. This can give rise to misunderstandings, disputes and litigation, with all the waste of time and money that this entails. An international set of rules “Incoterms” were first drawn up in 1936 to remedy these problems. As international trade practices evolve so Incoterms are revised to bring them in line with current trade practice. The last revision was in 2000 and is therefore called Incoterms 2000. For ease of understanding as well as comparison we have laid out the text of each Incoterm on the left of the page with the corresponding schematic illustration of the Incoterm on the right.

Whether you are completely new to international trade or an old hand we trust that our knowledge base will be a handy reference guide to your international transactions.