Glossary

The transport document issued in the context of international road transport is a C.M.R. consignment note. It is signed by the carrier and the sender and is drawn up in at least three original copies.

When a company has a seasonal rhythm to its production or marketing, the bank will, for example, grant it a cash credit for a period of 6 to 9 months.

The acronym ATA is a combination of the French and English words: admission temporaire and temporary admission. It refers to a procedure available to certain categories of goods (e.g. tools or samples) during transit or temporary stay in countries which apply this procedure in accordance with the conventions they have signed.

Cash payment is made upon receipt of the goods or service Accounts receivable. Balance sheet account in which all invoices and credit notes per customer and their payments are recorded.

Banking term for an overdraft authorisation or overdraft facility granted when there is a shortfall between income and expenditure

Cash management enables a company to manage its financial flows abroad from its head office. It is carried out in collaboration with the exporter's bank and involves setting up appropriate information and management systems.

In this technique, the final carrier is commissioned to collect payment when the goods are delivered. This technique can be recommended when the parcel has a very modest value.

Insurance enabling a warehouse to be compensated for the exceptional loss it suffers in the event of the insolvency of its customers. This policy defines a deductible and a ceiling on disbursements. Compensation is paid as soon as the total number of claims exceeds the deductible and does not exceed the disbursement ceiling. The insurer is remunerated in proportion to these indicators, depending on the management delegation it grants to the company.

Document provided by the exporter or freight forwarder certifying that the goods are insured against loss or damage

Document issued by a third party certifying that the debt is definitively irrecoverable and authorising the recovery of VAT previously paid.

Hire of a means of transport for a specific duration and destination

Cheque payable on demand: the drawer (the buyer) instructs the drawee (his bank) to pay a sum to a third party (the seller). Cheques are not widely used internationally because of the risks involved (loss, buyer's initiative, non-harmonisation of regulations, etc.).

Consists of obtaining payment from the buyer when the due date has passed. Collection may be amicable or judicial. It may be carried out by the company, by its agents or by both simultaneously.

See Collection agencies

The use of a commercial agent allows you to be represented in a given area. The agent's main task is to prospect for customers on behalf of the exporter, who is solely responsible for the product, price and terms of sale to customers.

This is all the information that exists on a company: commercial information is structured in databases, managed by specialist companies who enrich their databases with field surveys and by any other appropriate means.

Intermediary between exporter and foreign buyer commissioned on business. Some are sales agents and combine logistics and marketing, others are purchasing agents and clients of French exporters, acting on behalf of foreign buyers (buying groups, etc.).

This is a procedure for certifying the conformity of products to national standards set up by the governments of a number of countries to protect their consumers in the areas of health, safety and the environment. In most cases, the certification process involves compiling a technical file, analyses and tests carried out by laboratories approved by the competent authorities in the country of destination, inspections and follow-up checks.

This is a method of settling disputes out of court, which sometimes requires the intervention of a third party.

A relatively exceptional measure in ordinary criminal law, confiscation is, on the contrary, of considerable importance in customs law, where the main classic offences involve goods whose value is the driving force behind the criminal action or goods whose presence on customs territory is intolerable. In these circumstances, confiscation, sometimes better than a fine, is the only way to either satisfy the tax authorities of their rights or to ensure that the goods physically disappear. From the outset, therefore, confiscation has the dual character that we usually like to give it: it is both a penalty and a security measure. It is generally imposed as a principal penalty, but can also be imposed as an additional penalty, which does not alter its scope or legal regime.

A stock of goods is placed on deposit with the seller, who will pay the supplier on an ad hoc basis for the sales made

The constraint is an administrative act allowing the forced execution on the goods of the debtors of the customs administration. It is a preliminary act of prosecution but not an act initiating legal proceedings, and legal proceedings are only instituted if the debtor objects to the enforcement of the constraint. The constraint duly served has all the effects of a civil judgment rendered by default; in particular, it entails a legal mortgage on the debtor's property and substitutes the thirty-year statute of limitations for the three-year statute of limitations. It is therefore an effective and rapid means of recovering debts owed to the Treasury.

Contract between two parties (the seller and the buyer) by which the seller transfers ownership of a good or service and undertakes to deliver the good or service to the buyer who is obliged to pay the price

Exported products or services are subject to various levels of control in the country or countries of destination: the public authorities and various bodies (specialised press, consumer associations, trade associations, etc.) judge the quality of these products or services and decide whether they are suitable for the domestic market.

The cost of customer credit is calculated on the basis of the following information: 1) Cost of prevention, 2) Cost of risk coverage, 3) Cost of management, 4) Cost of financing payment delays, 5) Cost of litigation, 6) Cost of credit losses.

Counterfeiting generally refers to the infringement of an intellectual property right (patent, trademark, copyright) and is an offence punishable under the French Penal Code

A method of transporting goods and parcels by land, air or sea that is faster but more expensive than ordinary transport.

Set of rules for managing Customer Credit. They define the powers and responsibilities of each player in the financial customer relationship in terms of credit and collection policy. The charter establishes a code of good conduct" between the parties and aims to ensure good communication between the sales and finance teams. The Credit Charter is also known as the Credit Procedure.

Les redevables des Douanes peuvent également bénéficier de un certain délai pour acquitter les droits et taxes exigibles, moyennant une soumission cautionnée et le paiement d'un certain pourcentagee du montant des droits et taxes liquidés.

Insurance enabling a company to be compensated for the loss it suffers in the event of the insolvency of a previously identified customer. The policyholder retains a share of the risk, since he or she will never receive 100% compensation. The insurer is remunerated by a premium calculated on the basis of the turnover achieved with the insured customer. The premium is priced according to business sector, country, exchange rate risk and claims history.

Corresponds to the maximum credit risk that the supplier agrees to take on a given customer. There are various techniques for setting the credit limit: credit insurance or factor guarantee, limit set by financial analysis, combination of the two, etc.

See Credit Limit

A set of financial, legal and communication techniques which, thanks to an appropriate organisation, help to speed up customer payments within the contractually defined timeframes and to preserve and consolidate the company's margins while contributing to the development of sales.

The main role of the credit manager is to manage customer risk. This involves an analysis phase (assessing the customer's solvency, etc.), a negotiation phase (determining the means and terms of payment, etc.) and then the implementation of monitoring tools (reminders, debt collection, etc.).

See credit charter

Means of payment denominated in a foreign currency. The currency of a country considered in relation to the currencies of other countries. ISO standardisation of currency symbols since 1989: 3 letters including 2 for the country, the last being the initial of the currency.

Financial risk linked to currency fluctuations and borne by a company engaged in an international transaction. In the same way, an employee sent to a country outside the euro zone bears an exchange rate risk on salaries paid abroad. Companies usually take this into account.

This represents the total amounts owed by the customer: 1) unpaid invoices due (late payments, payment incidents, doubtful debts, unresolved disputes), 2) unpaid bills to be settled, 3) payment arrears

Collective memory of the company's customer portfolio, the file contains information relating to the identification of the customer, as well as the history of commercial relations, changes in the customer's financial health and negotiated conditions (outstanding amounts, payment terms).

It has always been accepted that the person legally entitled to lodge the accounting declaration (in particular the owner) may use the services of a specialist qualified, depending on the period, as a commission agent, forwarding agent or customs agent and acting in respect of customs in his own name, unless he is accountable to his principal. source : Guide des Douanes 2002

When trading between countries, it is necessary to clear imported or exported goods through customs by lodging a customs declaration

For an offence to fall into the category of offences, two conditions must be met: 1) firstly, the offence must be legally classified as smuggling or undeclared import/export (in the strict sense, or by reputation or assimilation), 2) secondly, the offence must involve prohibited or heavily taxed goods.

Offences that do not meet the conditions (offence: smuggling or undeclared import/export of prohibited or heavily taxed goods) for constituting an offence fall into the category of offences. source: Guide des Douanes 2002