Ehsan Amiri

It is not uncommon for an EU based customer not to want to go to the trouble and expense of being the ‘importer of record’. If they won’t, you have two options: engage a freight forwarder or other customs agent in the EU country, or your own business can become the EU importer of record in that country. Make sure to update your agreed Incoterms if required, so there is no mismatch between contractual terms and reality.

Food contact materials with import control requirements:

• Polyamide and melamine kitchenware from China and Hong Kong;
• Polycarbonate infant feeding bottles containing Bisphenol A

There are certain foods that you cannot bring into Ireland if you are coming from outside the EU. This includes food that you:

• have in your luggage, or
• send to someone, or
• order remotely (for example, by mail, by telephone or via the Internet) and have delivered to you

The export packaging requirement vary from product to product but the primary function of packaging is to protect the product from any damage due to contamination, crushing, breakage, climatic conditions and theft before, during or after its transportation from the place of its manufacturing to its destination. In order to avoid damage to the product, the exporter must take into account all possible factors that can prove to be hazardous to the product safety during its handling and storage at different points of its shipment to the final destination.

The factors that should be considered when deciding best type of packaging include fragility, durability, mode of transportation, resistance to abrasion, value, and susceptibility to moisture, chemical reaction like oxidation and corrosion, chemical stability and shelf life.

Under D/P terms, the exporter ships the goods and presents the Bill of Exchange to his negotiating bank together with B/L and other shipping documents. Then, the bank may pay the exporter against the documents, provided that there is a previous arrangement between the bank and the exporter to do so.

However, in most cases, the bank does not pay the exporter immediately, but mails the documents to its correspondent bank (reimbursing bank/collecting bank) in the importer’s country. The reimbursing bank then notifies the importer on the arrival of the documents. When the importer pays the Bill of Exchange at the reimbursing bank, the bank notifies the negotiating bank in the exporter’s country to confirm payment from the importer.

On the receipt of this notice, the negotiating bank pays the exporter and the settlement is complete. This method of settlement is called “Collection of Documentary Bill of Exchange”.