For foreign trade newcomers, although they have learned a lot about theoretical foreign trade knowledge, they must still be in a fog about the real foreign trade process. Generally speaking, without systematic contact and operation, foreign trade newcomers are basically in a state of little knowledge of the foreign trade process. However, being familiar with the whole foreign trade process can effectively help foreign trade salesmen to carry out foreign trade work in an orderly way without affecting the negotiation, production and even collection of foreign trade orders.
Today, here is a systematic introduction to the whole foreign trade process of foreign trade companies for the reference of foreign trade newcomers.
1. Customer Inquiry:
Generally, before a customer places a purchase order, he will first have relevant Order Inquiry to the business department to understand and communicate some details.
2. Quotation:
The business department shall promptly reply to the customer’s inquiries, determine the name, manufacturer, model, quantity, delivery date, payment method, packaging specifications and cabinet type of the goods, and make a formal quotation to the customer through Proforma Invoice.
3. Get the order:
After negotiation, we received the customer’s formal Purchase Order purchase order.
4. Confirm the delivery date:
After receiving the customer’s order confirmation, verbally inform the factory of the order details, ask the factory to arrange the production plan and reply the delivery date.
5. Business approval:
After receiving the order, the business department first makes a business review form. According to the “export contract audit form” project truthfully fill in, as far as possible, all kinds of estimated costs are listed. The contract approval must be accompanied by a fax of the customer’s order and the purchase contract with the factory. The audit form shall be signed by the salesman, approved by the department manager, and submitted to the management department personnel for review before implementation. If the amount is relatively large, or there are terms such as advance payment and commission, the approval of the general manager of the company is required. After the contract is approved, the sales order is made and submitted to the department process staff for follow-up.
6. Issue production notice:
After confirming the delivery date, the business department may issue a production notice to inform the factory to produce on time if it meets the following conditions.
6.1 If the customer pays for L/C, it is usually confirmed that the L/C has been received one month before the delivery date. Upon receipt of the L/C, the salesman and the voucher clerk shall respectively review the letter of credit to check whether there are any errors, whether the delivery date can be guaranteed, and other possible problems. If there are any problems, the customer shall be asked to change the certificate immediately.
6.2 If it is a T/T payment customer, confirm that the deposit has been paid.
6.3 If it is a deposit-taking customer or receives foreign exchange through bank D/A, etc., the manager shall confirm it.
7. Inspection:
7.1 One week before the delivery date, the company inspector shall be notified to inspect the goods.
7.2 If the guest wants to inspect the goods by himself or designated inspection personnel, he should arrange for the customer to inspect the goods and inform the planning department of the inspection date one week before the delivery date.
7.3 If the guest designates a third-party inspection company or a fair company to inspect the goods, he shall contact the inspection company two weeks before the delivery date, make an appointment for the inspection time, ensure that the time is arranged before the delivery date, and notify the factory of the inspection time after confirmation.
8. Preparation of basic documents:
According to the packing materials provided by the factory, make export contracts, export commercial invoices, packing lists and other documents (should be made by the business merchandiser and handed over to the merchandiser).
9. Inspection:
If it is a national legal commodity inspection product, the commodity inspection requirements shall be stated when placing an order with the factory, and export contracts, invoices and other materials required for commodity inspection shall be provided. Moreover, the factory should be informed of the port of export of the products in the future so that the factory can handle the inspection. Please note that you should get the inspection certificate/certificate one week before delivery.
10. Chartering and booking:
10.1 If the contract signed with the guest is FOB CHINA, the guest will usually designate a transportation agency or shipping company. At this time, we should contact the freight forwarder as soon as possible, inform the shipping intention, know about the export port to be arranged, the shipping schedule, etc., and confirm whether the factory delivery can be at least one week before the opening date, and whether the shipping schedule can meet the delivery date required by the guests. Note that the shipping company should be given a written shipping order two weeks before the delivery date, and the shipping paper is usually available one week before the ship starts.
10.2 If the seller pays the freight, he should consult the shipping company or shipping company as soon as possible about the shipping date, freight rate, port of departure, etc. After comparison, choose the shipping company with favorable price, good reputation and suitable shipping schedule, and tell the salesman to inform the guest. If the guest disagrees, choose another shipping company approved by the guest. Please note that two weeks before the ship starts, the warehouse will be fixed in writing. The procedure is the same as above.
10.3 If the goods are not enough for a small cabinet and bulk cargo needs to be taken, the bulk cargo position shall be fixed to the freight forwarding company. When you get the incoming paper, you should also know the cut-off time and the customs declaration requirements.
10.4 When making a warehouse reservation to a transportation company, be sure to fax a written warehouse reservation paper, indicating the scheduled shipping date, container type and quantity, destination port, etc. to avoid errors.
11. Arrange the towing cabinet:
11.1 After the goods have been completed and passed the inspection, the trailer company shall be entrusted to lift and load the containers. Trailer companies should choose safe and reliable companies with reasonable prices to sign long-term cooperation agreements to ensure safety and punctuality. The following information should be faxed to the trailer company before towing the container: confirmation letter/paper for placing the container, shipping company, number of the container, power of attorney for towing the container, indicating the time of loading the container, the type and quantity of the container, the address of loading the container, the customs declaration bank, and the port of loading, etc. If there is an inspection company looking at the container, it must make a special statement not to arrive late, and request to return a copy of the container data, listing the container number, license plate number, driver and contact number, etc.
11.2 Fax a copy of loading data to the factory, listing the loading time, cabinet type, order number, order number, license plate number and driver’s contact number.
11.3 The factory is required to fax a loading notice to the business department as soon as possible after the container leaves the factory, setting out the departure time of the container, the actual loading quantity, etc., and recording the packing number and seal number as the information of the bill of lading. Attention, the factory must remember to seal the cabinet after loading.
12. Entrusted declaration:
At the same time of dragging the cabinet, submit the data required for customs declaration to the cooperative customs declaration bank, entrust export customs declaration and make the commodity inspection and customs clearance exchange form. Usually two days are allowed for customs declaration (before the ship closes). When consigning customs declaration, a container loading information shall be provided, including the loaded goods and quantity, port, shipping company, fixed warehouse number, container number, ship opening and closing time, trailer company, container type and quantity, contact person and telephone number of the company, etc.
13. Access to transport documents:
13.1 The contents of the supplement to the bill of lading shall be faxed to the shipping company or freight forwarder at the latest within two days after the sailing. Replenishment shall be made according to the requirements of L/C or the guest, and the correct quantity of goods and some special requirements shall be given, including the ship certificate issued by the shipping company along with the bill of lading.
13.2 Urge shipping companies to issue bill of lading samples and freight bills as soon as possible. After carefully checking the samples, confirm the contents of the bill of lading in writing to the shipping company. If the bill of lading needs to be confirmed by the guest, the sample bill of lading should be faxed to the guest first, and the shipping company should be required to issue the original after confirmation.
13.3 Timely payment of freight and miscellaneous expenses, and notify the shipping company to obtain transportation documents such as bills of lading after payment. Attention, payment of freight should be registered.
14. Prepare other documents:
14.1 Commercial Invoice: Of the documents required by L/C, the most stringent is the commercial invoice. The date of invoice shall be determined after the issuing date and before the delivery date. The description of the goods in the invoice should be exactly the same as that on L/C, and the lowercase and amount in words should be correct. The terms of the invoice on L/C should be displayed, and the shipping mark should be displayed. If the invoice needs to be certified by the embassy of the other party, it will generally be processed 20 days in advance.
14.2 FORMA Certificate of Origin: FORM A Certificate of Origin shall be submitted to the Inspection and Quarantine Bureau before delivery. It should be noted that the transportation date should be before the delivery date and the sailing date of L/C and after the invoice date. If it cannot be handled before the delivery, it is necessary to provide customs declaration form, bill of lading and other documents to handle the post-issue certificate. For goods transshipped through Hong Kong, FORM A certificates are usually countersigned by the China Commodity Inspection Corporation in Hong Kong to prove that the goods have not been reprocessed in Hong Kong.
14.3 General Certificate of Origin: General Certificate of Origin can be processed at the China Council for the Promotion of Trade with lower requirements and can be reissued within a short time after delivery. If the certificate of origin is to be countersigned by the embassy, it must be processed 20 days in advance, just like the invoice.
14.4 Shipping Notice: It is generally required to inform the guests of the shipping details within a few days after the departure, including the name of the ship, flight number, departure date, expected arrival date, goods and quantity, amount, number of packages, shipping mark, destination port agent, etc. Sometimes L/C requires proof of delivery, such as fax report, letter form, etc. be careful to handle it within the time required by the guest.
14.5 packing list: the packing list shall clearly indicate the packing condition of the goods. The quantity, gross weight, net weight and carton size of each carton should be displayed. The total volume calculated according to the outer carton size should be consistent with the marked total volume. Mark and case number shall be displayed for the convenience of the guests. Note that the weight and volume of the packing list should be consistent with the bill of lading.
15. L/C receipts:
15.1 If L/C is used for collection of foreign exchange, all documents shall be prepared within the stipulated time limit for presentation, and the documents shall be strictly examined to ensure that there are no errors before they are submitted to the bank for negotiation.
15.2 If T/T remittance is adopted, fax the bill of lading to the guest for payment immediately after obtaining the bill of lading, and send the original bill of lading and other documents to the guest after confirming receipt of the balance.
15.3 If T/T collection requires full payment before the cabinet can be made, the cabinet will be delayed after collection. The original bill of lading can be sent to the guest immediately after receipt of the bill of lading.
16. Business registration:
After each export business is completed, registration shall be done in time, including computer registration and written registration, so as to facilitate future inquiry and statistics.
17. File archiving:
All documents, L/C and negotiation documents must be kept in one set for future reference.
18. Information gathering:
Vouchers should pay attention to collecting information such as freight rate changes, shipping schedule, and shipping routes to provide help for the salesman’s quotation.
Original Artical，Author：China Trade Agent，if repost，please give references ：https://offers-bg.com/foreign-trade-newcomers-must-know-the-most-complete-foreign-trade-operation-process/
