Hello friends! Its Gyati Gupta back again, with another articles under the series of Interanational Business. I promise you that you will enjoy reading it. This article contains the entire procedure , how exports are carried out.
Let us discuss about each point in detail. Reading the entire procedure, no doubt, will consume a lot of time but I can guarantee that at the end you will not regret reading it. It contains answers to many of your questions related to many terms ,we hear in context of Export-Import.
i) Receipt of enquiry and sending quotations: The prospective buyer of a product sends an enquiry to different exporters requesting them to send information regarding price, quality and terms and conditions for export of goods. Exporters can be informed of such an enquiry even by way of advertisement in the press put in by the importer. The exporter sends a reply to the enquiry in the form of a quotation —referred to as proforma invoice. The proforma invoice contains information about the price at which the exporter is ready to sell the goods and also provides information about the quality, grade, size, weight, mode of delivery, type of packing and payment terms.
(ii) Receipt of order or indent: In case the prospective buyer (i.e., the importing firm) finds the export price and other terms and conditions acceptable, it places an order for the goods to be despatched. This order, also known as indent, contains a description of the goods ordered, prices to be paid, delivery terms, packing and marking details and delivery instructions.
(iii) Assessing importer’s credit-worthiness and securing a guarantee for payments: After receipt of the indent, the exporter makes necessary enquiry about the credit worthiness of the importer. The purpose underlying the enquiry is to assess the risks of non payment by the importer once the goods reach the import destination. To minimise such risks, most exporters demand a letter of credit from the importer. A letter of credit is a guarantee issued by the importer’s bank that it will honour payment up to a certain amount of export bills to the bank of the exporter. Letter of credit is the most appropriate and secure method of payment adopted to settle international transactions
(iv) Obtaining export licence: Having become assured about payments, the exporting firm initiates the steps relating to compliance of export regulations. Export of goods in India is subject to custom laws which demand that the export firm must have an export licence before it proceeds with exports. Important pre-requisites for getting an export licence are as follows:
• Opening a bank account in any bank authorised by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and getting an account number.
• Obtaining Import Export Code (IEC) number from the Directorate General Foreign Trade (DGFT) or Regional Import Export Licensing Authority. An export firm needs to have the Import Export Code (IEC) number as it needs to be filled in various export/import documents. For obtaining the IEC number, a firm has to apply to the Director General for Foreign Trade (DGFT) with documents such as exporter/importer profile, bank receipt for requisite fee, certificate from the banker on the prescribed form, two copies of photographs attested by the banker, details of the non-resident interest and declaration about the applicant’s non association with caution listed firms
• Registering with appropriate Export Promotion Council. It is obligatory for every exporter to get registered with the appropriate export promotion council. Various export promotion councils such as Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) and Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) have been set up by the Government of India to promote and develop exports of different categories of products. It is necessary for the exporter to become a member of the appropriate export promotion council and obtain a Registration cum Membership Certificate (RCMC) for availing benefits available to export firms from the Government.Registration with the ECGC is necessary in order to protect overseas payments from political and commercial risks. Such a registration also helps the export firm in getting financial assistance from commercial banks and other financial institutions.
• Registering with Export Credit and Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) in order to safeguard against risks of non payments. .
(v) Obtaining pre-shipment finance: Once a confirmed order and also a letter of credit have been received, the exporter approaches his banker for obtaining pre-shipment finance to undertake export production. Pre-shipment finance is the finance that the exporter needs for procuring raw materials and other components, processing and packing of goods and transportation of goods to the port of shipment.
(vi) Production or procurement of goods: Having obtained the pre- shipment finance from the bank, the exporter proceeds to get the goods ready as per the specifications of the importer. Either the firm itself goes in for producing the goods or else it buys from the market.
(vii) Pre-shipment inspection: The Government of India has initiated many steps to ensure that only good quality products are exported from the country. One such step is compulsory inspection of certain products by a competent agency as designated by the government. The government has passed Export Quality Control and Inspection Act, 1963 for this purpose and has authorised some agencies to act as inspection agencies. If the product to be exported comes under such a category, the exporter needs to contact the Export Inspection Agency (EIA) or the other designated agency for obtaining inspection certificate. The pre-shipment inspection report is required to be submitted along with other export documents at the time of exports. Such an inspection is not compulsory in case the goods are being exported by star trading houses,trading houses, export houses, industrial units setup in export processing zones/special economic zones (EPZs/SEZs) and 100 per cent export oriented units (EOUs).
(viii) Excise clearance: As per the Central Excise Tariff Act, excise duty is payable on the materials used in manufacturing goods. The exporter, therefore, has to apply to the concerned Excise Commissioner in the region with an invoice. If the Excise Commissioner is satisfied, he may issue the excise clearance. But in many cases the government exempts payment of excise duty or later on refunds it if the goods so manufactured are meant for exports. The idea underlying such exemption or refund is to provide an incentive to the exporters to export more and also to make the export products more competitive in the world markets. The refund of excise duty is known as duty drawback. This scheme of duty drawback is presently administered by the Directorate of Drawback under Ministry of Finance which is responsible for fixing the rates of drawback for different products. The work relating to sanction and payment of drawback is, however, looked after by the Commissioner of Customs or Central Excise Incharge of the concerned port/ airport/land custom station from where the export of goods is considered to have taken place.
(ix) Obtaining certificate of origin: Some importing countries provide tariff concessions or other exemptions to the goods coming from a particular country. For availing such benefits, the importer may ask the exporter to send a certificate of origin. The certificate of origin acts as a proof that the goods have actually been manufactured in the country from where the export is taking place. This certificate can be obtained from the trade consulate located in the exporter’s country.
(x) Reservation of shipping space: The exporting firm applies to the shipping company for provision of shipping space. It has to specify the types of goods to be exported, probable date of shipment and the port of destination. On acceptance of application for shipping, the shipping company issues a shipping order . A shipping order is an instruction to the captain of the ship that the specified goods after their customs clearance at a designated port be received on board.
(xi) Packing and forwarding: The goods are then properly packed and marked with necessary details such as name and address of the importer, gross and net weight, port of shipment and destination, country of origin, etc. The exporter then makes necessary arrangement for transportation of goods to the port. On loading goods into the railway wagon, the railway authorities issue a ‘railway receipt’ which serves as a title to the goods. The exporter endorses the railway receipt in favour of his agent to enable him to take delivery of goods at the port of shipment.
(xii) Insurance of goods: The exporter then gets the goods insured with an insurance company to protect against the risks of loss or damage of the goods due to the perils of the sea during the transit.
(xiii) Customs clearance: The goods must be cleared from the customs before these can be loaded on the ship. For obtaining customs clearance, the exporter prepares the shipping bill. Shipping bill is the main document on the basis of which the customs office gives the permission for export. Shipping bill contains particulars of the goods being exported, the name of the vessel, the port at which goods are to be discharged, country of final destination, exporter’s name and address, etc.
Five copies of the shipping bill along with the following documents are then submitted to the Customs Appraiser at the Customs House:
• Export Contract or Export Order
• Letter of Credit
• Commercial Invoice
• Certificate of Origin
• Certificate of Inspection, where necessary
• Marine Insurance Policy After submission of these documents, the Superintendent of the concerned port trust is approached for obtaining the carting order.
Carting order is the instruction to the staff at the gate of the port to permit the entry of the cargo inside the dock. After obtaining the carting order, the cargo is physically moved into the port area and stored in the appropriate shed. Since the exporter cannot make himself or herself available all the time for performing all these formalities, these tasks are entrusted to an agent — referred to as Clearing and Forwarding (C&F) agent
(xiv) Obtaining mates receipt: The goods are then loaded on board the ship for which the mate or the captain of the ship issues mate’s receipt to the port superintendent. A mate receipt is a receipt issued by the commanding officer of the ship when the cargo is loaded on board, and contains the information about the name of the vessel, berth, date of shipment, descripton of packages, marks and numbers, condition of the cargo at the time of receipt on board the ship, etc.The port superintendent, on receipt of port dues, hands over the mate’s receipt to the C&F agent.
(xv) Payment of freight and issuance of bill of lading: The C&F agent surrenders the mates receipt to the shipping company for computation of freight. After receipt of the freight, the shipping company issues a bill of lading which serves as an evidence that the shipping company has accepted the goods for carrying to the designated destination. In the case the goods are being sent by air, this document is referred to as airway bill.
(xvi) Preparation of invoice: After sending the goods, an invoice of the despatched goods is prepared. The invoice states the quantity of goods sent and the amount to be paid by the importer. The C&F agent gets it duly attested by the customs.
(xvii) Securing payment: After the shipment of goods, the exporter informs the importer about the shipment of goods. The importer needs various documents to claim the title of goods on their arrival at his/her country and getting them customs cleared.
The documents that are needed in this connection include certified copy of invoice, bill of lading, packing list, insurance policy, certificate of origin and letter of credit. The exporter sends these documents through his/her banker with the instruction that these may be delivered to the importer after acceptance of the bill of exchange —a document which is sent along with the above mentioned documents. Submission of the relevant documents to the bank for the purpose of getting the payment from the bank is called ‘negotiation of the documents’.
Bill of exchange is an order to the importer to pay a certain amount of money to, or to the order of, a certain person or to the bearer of the instrument. It can be of two types: document against sight (sight draft) or document against acceptance (usance draft).
In case of sight draft, the documents are handed over to the importer only against payment. The moment the importer agrees to sign the sight draft, the relevant documents are delivered.
In the case of usance draft,on the other hand, the documents are delivered to the importer against his or her acceptance of the bill of exchange for making payment at the end of a specified period, say three months. On receiving the bill of exchange,the importer releases the payment in case of sight draft or accepts the usance draft for making payment on maturity of the bill of exchange. The exporter’s bank receives the payment through the importer’s bank and is credited to the exporter’s account.The exporter, however, need not wait for the payment till the release of money by the importer.
The exporter can get immediate payment from his/her bank on the submission of documents by signing a letter of indemnity . By signing the letter, the exporter undertakes to indemnify the bank in the event of non-receipt of payment from the importer along with accrued interest. Having received the payment for exports, the exporter needs to get a bank certificate of payment.
Bank certificate of payment is a certificate which says that the necessary documents (including bill of exchange) relating to the particular export consignment has been negotiated (i.e., presented to the importer for payment) and the payment has been received in accordance with the exchange control regulations.
With this, I conclude my article. Hoping you all found it fruitful and have gained something from it. I want to reveal a fact that I have consulted my school books to write the above written article. I was surprised to see that i have read all this at my school level, and most of us had done the same but as we grow, we do not remember that we were taught such complex things too at our school level. Well, I will soon come up with new article. Your feedback will boost my morale , do tell me about your responses. Have a nice day ahead 
CAclubindia
