IBT Website named an Essential Site for Entrepreneurs

International Business Training (www.i-b-t.net), an online resource for small and mid-sized companies involved in international trade, has been named one of the 100 most important resources for entrepreneurs by Twin Cities Business Monthly.

The award-winning regional business magazine published its list of “one hundred sources of information, expertise, and (yes) money for leaders of growing businesses” in its April 2002 issue.

The Resource Guide for Entrepreneurs “could have been much, much longer,” said Jay Novak, Twin Cities Business Monthly editor and publisher. “But here, for entrepreneurs, are 100 significant sources of help; a profusion of places to turn.”

International Business Training (IBT) provides a wealth of information for import-export novices and professionals. Among the many free services at the website, international traders will find:

• How-to articles written by experienced educators and consultants.

• A collection of international trade tools.

• An import-export email discussion list that allows participants to post questions and monitor answers related to the mechanics of international trade.

• A searchable catalog of U.S. government and private company web links.

In addition to these free services, the IBT website allows visitors to register for or purchase a variety of import-export seminars, reference books and self-study classes targeted specifically at small and mid-sized companies.

Understanding the Export Process

Export Training Available for Buffalo-Area Exporters

Does your company really understand the export process?

Performance Source Logistics is offering a one-day seminar entitled "Exporting USA" on June 19, 2002, from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. at the Advanced Training Center, 275 Oak Street, Buffalo, New York.

This is an in-depth training seminar covering all aspects of exporting from the United States. This modern approach to understanding and executing the export process combines classroom training in a state-of-the-art computer learning facility with hands-on transaction processing using Shipping Solutions 2000 export documentation software.

The instructor, Larry Abate, will take you on a step-by-step approach in assembling a complete export shipment using the skills learned from Performance Source Logistics and the Shipping Solutions 2000 software.

You will learn the correct export steps and immediately get to apply them to ensure that you understand and retain the information.

Cost for the seminar is $375 per person. There is a $75 discount off the registration fee for additional employees from the same company.

To register for the "Exporting USA" seminar, call or fax (716) 631-9180 or email PSL295@cs.com.

Shipping Solutions 2000 Information in a FLASH

Now there's a fast and easy way to see exactly how your company can save time and money using Shipping Solutions export documentation software.

Our new Flash presentation walks you through the entire documentation process using the software. You can view the Flash demo at the Shipping Solutions website.

To get a free demo version of Shipping Solutions 2000, call InterMart toll-free:
1-888-890-SHIP

Understanding U.S. Principal 
Party in Interest (Part 4)

By Catherine J. Petersen

This is the fourth of four articles that discuss the definition and use of the U.S. Principal Party in Interest (USPPI). This final article recaps the information in my three previous articles.

If you are selling products to a foreign customer or to a domestic customer who will export the merchandise, you are affected by the U. S. Census Bureau rules that went into effect on April 1, 2001. One of the biggest changes in the Census Bureau rules involves the change from “exporter” to “USPPI.”

Understanding the definitions and terms used by Census is one of the first steps for understanding these rules. In addition, it gives you the information you need to have meaningful discussions with your freight forwarders about who should appear on the Shipper’s Export Declaration (SED) as the USPPI.

The U.S. Census Bureau says that a USPPI is:  “The person in the United States that receives the primary benefits, monetary or otherwise, of the export transaction; generally that person is the U.S. seller, manufacturer, order party, or foreign entity. The foreign entity must be listed as the USPPI if it is in the United States when the items are purchased or obtained for export. Generally that person can be the:

·        U.S. Seller (wholesaler/distributor) of the merchandise for export.

·        U.S. Manufacturer if selling the merchandise for export.

·        U.S. Order Party—Party who directly negotiated between the U.S. seller and foreign buyer and received the order for the export of the merchandise.

·        Foreign Entity if in the U.S. when items are purchased or obtained for export.”

The U.S. Census Bureau also defines who cannot be the USPPI:  “The forwarding agent or the consolidator cannot be listed as the U.S. principal party in interest on the SED or AES record.”

Even if your company doesn’t sell directly to any international customers, you may have domestic clients who purchase your products and then export them. If you know that your product(s) will eventually be shipped internationally—or even if you just suspect that they might—you have certain responsibilities.

First, you should have a discussion with your domestic customer or, alternatively, their freight forwarder about who is the USPPI in a transaction. Second, even if you are not the USPPI, you can be held legally liable if your goods wind up in a country or in the hands of a company or individual that the U.S. government has banned from conducting business with a U.S. company.

You can limit your exposure by checking the parties with whom you do business. This research goes beyond a credit check; it is a check of the Federal Register listings of parties with whom you are not to conduct business—either directly or indirectly. You can find these lists online:

·        Denied Persons List at www.bxa.doc.gov

·        Entity List at www.bxa.doc.gov

·        Specially Designated Nationals and Specially Designated Terrorists at www.ustreas.gov/ofac

·        Debarred Parties at http://www.pmdtc.org/debar059.htm

·        General Orders in Supplement No. 1 to part 736, Export Administration Regulations, www.bxa.doc.gov

In addition, you want to note in your records the date(s) that you checked these lists for future reference.

If, like many exporters, your company sells goods to a foreign customer using the trade term “ExW” as defined by Incoterms 2000, then you and the buyer have agreed to a trade term where the buyer selects the freight forwarder.

If you have sold under the trade term “ExW,” you have the responsibility to provide 10 pieces of information to the freight forwarder so they can properly prepare the SED:

1.      Name and address of the U.S. principal party in interest;

2.      U.S. principal party in interest's EIN (Employee Identification Number);

3.      Point of origin (State or Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ));

4.      Schedule B description of commodities;

5.      Domestic (D), Foreign (F), or Foreign Military Sale (M) code;

6.      Schedule B number;

7.      Quantity/unit of measure;

8.      Value;

9.      Upon request by the foreign principal party in interest or its agent, the Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) or sufficient technical information so the freight forwarder can determine the ECCN; and

10.  Any information that you know will affect the determination of license authority.

Alternatively, you can choose to file the SED electronically by using the free government service called the Automatic Export System (AES).  To file the SED electronically, you can use AESPcLink or software like Shipping Solutions 2000 export documentation software (www.shipsolutions.com).

Subsequent to the filing, you must provide the forwarder with the AES generated reference number.

The best website to search for answers and look up the regulations is at: www.census.gov/foreign-trade/faq/reg/index.html.

Ms. Petersen's bio.