Some newcomers to foreign trade may not know much about the foreign trade export process, and often have the question of “how to do foreign trade” or look for various operating procedures, so as to do international trade better. Here is a list of foreign trade export process steps for your reference.
The foreign trade export process is generally completed in five steps: work before and after signing a foreign trade contract; stock preparation, consignment, inspection; customs declaration and loading; foreign exchange settlement and collection; tax refund verification.
The first step is work before and after signing a foreign trade contract
1. Business research and business relationship establishment before signing a foreign trade contract
Doing business with foreign merchants, due to language and geographical space limitations, makes us take greater risks, especially credit risks. In addition, there are many factors that increase the risk cost exponentially. Therefore, export investigation work is particularly important. Before doing foreign trade business, we must conduct a detailed investigation of the export market to find out the details of the importer and the local market conditions as well as the shipping routes and docks. Knowing yourself and the enemy will ensure victory in a hundred battles.
2. Request, review and change of certificates after signing of foreign trade contracts
After signing of foreign trade contracts, the buyer should be urged to open a valid letter of credit in strict accordance with the terms of the contract. After receiving the letter of credit from the buyer, we will immediately organize a review to see whether the letter of credit complies with the terms of the contract, whether there are any terms that we cannot do, whether there are any soft clause traps, etc.
The second step is to prepare goods, consignment, and report and prepare goods
1. Sign a supply contract with the factory, strictly control the quality of the supply according to our requirements, and solve the problem of first-leg transportation, that is, transportation from the factory to the dock.
2. Inspection work is usually arranged by the factory, and the general inspection procedures are as follows:
Inspection – Pay the commodity inspection fee – The Commodity Inspection Bureau conducts sampling and testing or technical appraisal – Obtain the commodity inspection certificate exchange voucher to exchange for the customs clearance form for outbound goods – (Issue a quality certificate, if necessary)
The documents required for inspection are inspection entrustment letter, inspection form, invoice, packing list, contract and letter of credit copy, and other certificates
3. Arrange consignment at the same time as inspection, and send a sea freight entrustment letter to the freight forwarder to arrange for chartering and booking.
The third step is customs declaration and loading
Professional personnel holding customs declaration certificates will go to the customs to handle customs clearance procedures with texts such as packing list, invoice, customs declaration entrustment letter, export settlement verification form, copy of export goods contract, and export commodity inspection certificate. Customs declaration can also be done by entrusting a freight forwarder.
Whether it is FOB or CIF, the seller should actively contact the freight forwarder to book the space, the sooner the better, so that the freight forwarder can choose a shipping company with favorable prices, good reputation, suitable sailing schedule and voyage. A written booking notice should be issued to the freight forwarder two weeks before the delivery date to confirm the date of pulling the cabinet (also called box, cabinet) as soon as possible.
The fourth step is to settle the exchange and collect the payment.
The bill of lading is the document issued by the foreign transport company for the importer to pick up the goods and settle the exchange after the exporter has completed the export customs clearance procedures and the customs releases it.
The fifth step is to verify and refund the tax.
Documents and financial personnel also need to handle the verification and refund procedures for export exchange collection.
The above is the foreign trade export process, I hope it will be helpful to all sellers.