Some Basic Knowledge about Foreign Trade

Basic knowledge of foreign trade: customs declaration, customs clearance and customs clearance Customs declaration: refers to the declaration of goods, luggage, postal articles and means of transport to the customs by the owner or his agent when entering or leaving the customs territory, submit the required documents and certificates, and request the customs to handle the relevant import and export procedures. The customs of our country stipulate the documents and certificates that should be paid when declaring at customs. There are: import and export goods declaration form, import and export goods license, commodity inspection certificate, animal and plant quarantine certificate, food hygiene inspection certificate, bill of lading, shipping bill, bill of lading, invoice, packing list, etc.

Customs clearance: import goods, export goods and transshipment goods must declare to the customs when entering the customs territory or border of a country, go through various formalities stipulated by the customs, and fulfill obligations stipulated by various laws and regulations; Only after fulfilling all obligations and going through customs declaration, inspection, taxation, release and other procedures can the goods be released, and the owner or declarant can take delivery of the goods. Similarly, all kinds of means of transport carrying import and export goods need to declare to the customs, go through customs formalities and obtain customs permission. During customs clearance, goods, whether imported, exported or transshipped, are under customs supervision and are not allowed to circulate freely.

Customs clearance: customs clearance, also known as customs clearance.

Basic Knowledge of Foreign Trade: Common Knowledge Related to Force Majeure Force majeure is also called force majeure. It means that after the contract for the sale of goods is signed, it is not due to the negligence or negligence of either party to the contract, but due to accidents that the parties cannot foresee and prevent, and cannot avoid and overcome, so that the contract cannot be performed or cannot be performed on schedule. The party suffering from accidents may be exempted from the responsibility of performing the contract or postpone the performance of the contract.

Force majeure is a clause in the contract and a legal principle. In this regard, different laws and regulations in international trade have their own regulations. In 1980 [United Nations International Sale of Goods Contract Company] made the following provisions in its exemption section:

“If he (referring to the party concerned-the editor) can prove that the non-performance is due to some obstacle beyond his control, and there is no reason to expect him to consider or avoid or overcome it or its aftermath when concluding the contract.” The [Convention] indicates that the failure of a party to perform its obligations is due to the occurrence of obstacles beyond its control, which are unforeseeable, avoidable or insurmountable at the time of contracting.

Basic Knowledge of Foreign Trade: Handling Force Majeure Events The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods stipulates that the exemption rights enjoyed by one party are valid only for the period when the performance obstacle exists. If the contract is declared invalid without the consent of both parties, the contractual relationship will continue to exist, the performance obstacle of one country will be removed, and both parties will still have to continue to perform their contractual obligations.

Therefore, the consequences caused by the force majeure event, which may be the termination of the contract or the delayed performance of the contract, should be agreed by both parties in accordance with the provisions of the Convention and the specific situation.

The Convention also stipulates that after an event of force majeure occurs, the breaching party must notify the other party in a timely manner, provide necessary supporting documents, and put forward handling opinions in the notification. If the other party is damaged due to the failure of timely notification, it shall be liable for compensation.

China’s foreign-related economic contract law also stipulates that “… the other party shall be notified in a timely manner so as to reduce the losses that may be caused to the other party …”
Most of the organizations that issue certificates for force majeure events are local chambers of commerce. In China, it is issued by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (ICC).
After receiving the notice and supporting documents of the force majeure event, the other party shall decide whether to confirm it as a force majeure event according to the nature of the event, and notify the other party of the handling opinions in a timely manner.

The key to the handling of force majeure events is the determination of the force majeure events. Although the force majeure clauses in the contract have made certain explanations, both parties will have differences on whether the next force majeure event is established or not on specific issues. In general, the following matters should be paid attention to. ?

Distinguish between commercial risks and force majeure events. Commercial risks are often unforeseeable and inevitable. However, the fundamental difference between commercial risks and force majeure events is that one party is capable of performing its contractual obligations after bearing the risk losses. The typical case is the treatment of “types of goods”. Such goods can be purchased from the market, so the seller cannot usually be exempted from its delivery responsibilities.

Pay attention to the role of “specific subject matter”. The goods marked after packaging or identified as the subject matter of a certain contract through transportation documents are called “specific subject matter”. The seller can confirm that such goods are lost due to accidents as force majeure events. If the goods are not specified, there will be insufficient basis for exemption. For example, the 30,000-meter cotton cloth lost 10,000 meters due to force majeure during storage. If the cotton cloth is sold to two consignors separately without specifying the cotton cloth, the seller cannot invoke the force majeure clause to exempt both buyers.

Basic knowledge of foreign trade: introduction to the operation process of write-off form I. Export Verification Business Process The first step: the exporting unit obtains the import and export management right approved by the Ministry of Commerce or its authorized unit; Step 2: The exporting unit shall go through the formalities of “China E-Port” access to the customs, and go through the formalities of “China E-Port” enterprise legal person IC card and “China E-Port” enterprise operator IC card electronic authentication with relevant departments.

Step 3: The exporter shall go through the registration formalities at the foreign exchange bureau where the exporter is registered with the relevant materials. After the foreign exchange bureau has verified that there is no mistake, it shall go through the registration formalities for the exporter and establish the electronic file information of the exporter.

Step 4: Exporters apply for export verification forms online;

Step 5: The exporter shall apply to the foreign exchange bureau at the place of registration for a paper verification form of export proceeds with the operator’s IC card, the verifier’s certificate and the export contract (provided when applying for it for the first time).

Step 6: The exporting enterprise shall file the export verification form online with the customs at the customs declaration place before declaration;

Step 7: Export declaration by the exporter;

Step 8: The exporting unit can submit the verification form already used for export declaration to the foreign exchange bureau through the “China Electronic Port Export Collection System” after declaration for export.

Step 9: After the exporter handles the export proceeds in the bank, he/she shall go through the verification procedures of the export proceeds at the foreign exchange bureau.

II. What information should an exporter provide when applying to the SAFE for verification and registration of export proceeds?

1, unit letter of introduction, application form; 2. Original and photocopy of the “Qualification Certificate of Import and Export Enterprises of the People’s Republic of China” or “Approval Certificate of Foreign Investment Enterprises of the People’s Republic of China” or “Approval Certificate of Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and Overseas Chinese Investment Enterprises of the People’s Republic of China”; 3. Business License of Enterprise Legal Person (duplicate) or Business License of Enterprise (duplicate) and its duplicate; 4. The original and photocopy of the Organization Code Certificate of the People’s Republic of China; 5. The original and photocopy of the customs registration certificate; Three, how to handle the export verification procedures for the export of special trade?

For the export of the following special trade modes, the export unit shall, in addition to providing the verification form of export proceeds, the special verification form of export proceeds issued by the bank, and the export declaration form, provide the certification materials in accordance with the following provisions:

1. If the goods are exported by way of exit exhibition and exhibition, the customs declaration form for re-entry of the exhibits shall be provided;

2. For export in the form of processing with supplied materials or assembling with supplied parts, the customs registration manual, enterprise contract and the approval document of the economic and trade commission shall be provided and sold in accordance with the payment of labor.

3, in kind compensation for exports, shall provide the approval of the foreign trade department, the relevant contract, import declaration form. The compensation exceeding the provisions of the contract shall be deemed as general trade for verification.

4. For export by barter, barter contracts and import declaration forms for easy-to-enter goods shall be provided; 5. For the export of goods as investment, approval documents from the foreign trade department and the foreign exchange bureau shall be provided; 6. In general, foreign exchange shall be collected in full for export by processing imported materials. If foreign-invested enterprises cannot collect in full, they shall obtain prior approval from the foreign exchange bureau. In order to receive and offset the expenses, the contract, the customs declaration form for imported goods and the customs registration manual shall be provided; 7. For the export of mechanical equipment, tools and office and living goods of engineering personnel required under overseas contracted projects, a written explanation and labor service contract shall be provided.

Four, what is the “export collection system”? What is the function of “export collection system”?

“Export Collection System” is a special subsystem for enterprises in “China Electronic Ports”. The system uses modern information technology, establishes an electronic bottom account of an export collection verification form (hereinafter referred to as “verification form”) in a public data center by means of the national telecommunication public network, enables customs and tax authorities to realize the online data verification of the verification form in the links of export declaration and export tax refund, enables enterprises to apply to the foreign exchange bureau via the system via the operator IC card for the number of verification forms that need to be collected, and files the verification forms before declaration to the customs of the export declaration place. After the export declaration, online documents can be submitted, and various information such as collection and use of the verification form can be comprehensively inquired at any time and anywhere, thus making the export declaration, foreign exchange collection verification and tax refund more convenient and quick.

Five, how to carry out identity authentication export collection system?

Enterprises must rely on the IC card of their own operators to enter the export collection system and complete relevant business operations. The system verifies the identity of the operator according to the IC card information, and the data processed by the operator will be automatically electronically signed and encrypted. Enterprises that have not applied for IC cards will not be able to carry out relevant export and foreign exchange verification.
Six, how to apply for export verification certificate?

Before an enterprise goes to the foreign exchange bureau to receive the new version of paper verification forms, it must apply to the foreign exchange bureau online for the number of copies of verification forms required.

After an enterprise applies online, it does not need to wait for the online approval of the foreign exchange bureau, and can obtain the new version of paper verification form from the foreign exchange bureau with its operator IC card. According to the number of copies of the new verification forms applied for online by enterprises and the number of documents that can be received by enterprises confirmed by the local verification system for export proceeds, SAFE will issue new paper verification forms to enterprises and store the electronic ledger data of the new verification forms online in the public data center.

Before the official use of the verification form, the exporting unit shall affix the name of the unit and the bar seal of the organization code, and affix the official seal of the unit at the seam.
What is the effective period of the export verification form?

The blank new version of the verification form does not need to fill in the validity period, which is deemed to be valid for a long time. The national customs will conduct online verification of the electronic ledger data for the new version of paper verification forms.

Eight, do you need to write off a single record before customs declaration?

Before the enterprise goes to the customs for customs declaration and export, it must go online to the customs of the place where the declaration is made for the record before the declaration of the new verification form. A verification form can only be used for one export declaration form. The new version of verification form that has not been filed before declaration cannot be used for export declaration.

Nine, the enterprise has carried out the port record verification form, in the case of changes in the export port, how to deal with?
If the verification form for export proceeds, which has been filed at the port, changes at the port of export without the verification form being used for export declaration, you can apply for the change online and reset the port of export.

Ten, how to deal with documents after export?

Enterprises do not need to submit documents to the foreign exchange bureau after exporting goods. They can submit the verification forms already used for export declaration to the foreign exchange bureau online.

Eleven, how do export units handle the export verification report procedures?

After exporting goods, the exporter shall, not later than 30 days from the expected date of receipt of foreign exchange, report the verification of export proceeds to the foreign exchange bureau on a centralized or transaction-by-transaction basis with the verification report form, verification form, declaration form, special verification form and other specified verification certificates.

Export units that implement automatic write-off do not need to report to SAFE for write-off except under special circumstances.

Foreign exchange collection at sight shall be made within 180 days after the goods are declared for export. If the expected date of foreign exchange collection exceeds the declaration date by more than 180 days (including 180 days), the exporter shall file a long-term foreign exchange collection record with the foreign exchange bureau within 60 days after the declaration of export of goods, and shall collect the foreign exchange within the long-term record collection period based on the long-term written application, long-term foreign exchange collection export contract or agreement, verification form, declaration form and other relevant materials.