International Trade Blog

What do you do when you get news that makes you a little nervous? Most of us try to shy away from things we don’t want to be true. Unfortunately, just because we don’t want to deal with them doesn’t make them any less true!

Sometimes, our office gets calls from users who were surprised to discover that names they screened in our export compliance module came back as a match for restricted parties. Their question: What should I do now?!

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If you are an exporter and like getting information delivered directly to your inbox, there is a plethora of information to be had from the U. S. Census Bureau and U. S. Customs and Border Protection. Their websites are full of information for exporters including videos, blog posts and export procedures.

Rather than having to navigate through their websites, however, you can sign-up to receive emails from both agencies whenever there is something published that affects you.

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All exporters—regardless of size—must comply with U.S. export regulations.

Export compliance entails that you are following the rules and regulations established by the U.S. government. Among those rules is a restriction on doing business with entities the government deems a danger to U.S. interests.

Failure to comply is a violation of U.S. law and can result in civil or criminal prosecution, as well as denial of exporting privileges.

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If you're reading this blog post some time around the day it was first published, you are reading it while I'm vacationing with my wife in Europe. Although I may be on vacation, I don't want to lose touch with work. That's why I brought my personal laptop and other electronic devices with me on the trip.

Guess what. That's an export, and export control regulations apply. But I'm not too worried; there's an exception for that. If I was traveling for work, on the other hand, I might have more reasons for concern.

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Export compliance regulations don't just apply to the big guys. Even the smallest U.S. businesses that send their products to customers outside the country are subject to a variety of export regulations and could face substantial penalties for violating these rules.

Unfortunately for many small and medium-sized businesses, company personnel may not know these requirements until it's too late.

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If your item is considered a dangerous good (DG) by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), you can prepare the proper documents for your shipment using Shipping Solutions export documentation software.

Prior blog posts discussed how to enter your DG information into the Shipping Solutions database and how to create the IATA Dangerous Goods form. Today I describe how to create the IMO Dangerous Goods form.

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Shipping products seems simple, right? You simply package the product and send it to your customer. But did you know there are different types of shipment?

Depending on the size of your shipment, it may be considered parcel, less-than-load (LTL), or a full truckload (FTL) shipment. Your shipment may be too small for certain carriers, or conversely, if you have a large shipment, you may have to rely on a carrier certified to be able to ship large containers. There are also unique considerations depending on the mode of transport—whether you’re shipping via air, sea, road, or rail.

The wide variety of terms that relate to the process of moving goods through a supply chain can seem overwhelming. But understanding the different types of shipment and related terms is crucial to ensure your goods get shipped on-time, within compliance, and in good shape.

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What does it take to be successful with export compliance? Well, if you want a functional, successful export compliance program, it’s non-negotiable to have all of the following bases covered:

• You need to understand what export compliance means.
• You must write and follow an export management and compliance program (EMCP).
• You must have documentation that shows you’re following your EMCP.

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This is my fourth article in my series of articles for exporters and importers about how to assess the risk of doing business with both the relevant country and the particular customer or supplier.

It is important to assess the risks associated with both countries and customers, because a rogue customer in a good (from a risk perspective) country is not a much better risk than a good customer in a rogue (from a risk perspective) country.

In this article I will look at the data made available by the World Bank through its project, Doing Business: Measuring Business Regulations.

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By some measures, China is the largest economy in the world. That makes it an undeniable force in international trade.

For many small to midsize exporters in the U.S., however, the formidable giant may seem like too big a beast to conquer with a relatively small budget. But that doesn't have to be the case.

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