What a freight forwarder ?
Freight forwarder : Company authorized by the sender or recipient of goods to transport goods. Its mission is to organize the link between individual carriers and thus ensure the continuity of transportation.
What a customs agent ?
A vital contributor to the forwarder for the organization of international transport from door to door, doing the customs formalities for export and at import. He still treats shipments in transit, when crossing the frontier, where they do not travel together with a T1 or T2. Every case of shipments has, in principle, one or more reporting for duty. Each forwarding companies has, in principle, one or several customs agents.
Abbreviations :
Incoterms (International Commercial Terms).
Under the conditions of sale, they determine who pays what and where is the transfer of risk.
| EX WORKS |
EXW |
All expenses charged to the recipient |
| FREE CARRIER AIRPORT |
FCA AIRPORT |
All expenses paid by the sender until delivery to the airline |
| FREE ON BOARD |
FOB |
All expenses paid by the sender until the board the vessel at the port of departure |
| COST AND FREIGHT |
CFR |
All expenses paid by the sender at the destination port |
| IDEM + INSURANCE |
CIF |
As above + insurance transport |
| DELIVERY DUTY UNPAID |
DDU |
All expenses paid by the sender to destination without customs duties and tax |
| DELIVERY DUTY PAID |
DDP |
As above + customs and tax included |
Specific to air transport
| AIR WAYBILL |
AWB |
|
| Lettre de transport aérien |
LTA |
|
| NOT VALUE DECLARED |
NVD |
|
| INTERNATIONAL AIR TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION |
IATA |
Association of almost all airlines, more or less the most important |
Specific to road transport
| FORWARDING CARGO RECEIPT |
FCR |
Certificate of receipt of goods with promise to transport them to the recipient’saddress |
| INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT ROAD |
TIR |
international transport by road |
| CONVENTION MARCHANDISE PAR ROUTE |
CMR |
Convention of goods transporded by truck and transport document for shipment by road |
| INTERNATIONAL ROAD UNION |
IRU |
International Association which regulates the usage of road transport. |
Specific to maritime transport
| 20 FEET CONTAINER |
20' |
592 x 234 x 239 cm around, interior dimensions |
| 40 FEET CONTAINER |
40' |
1200 x 234 x 239 cm around, interior dimensions |
| BILL OF LADING or CONNAISSEMENT MARITIME |
B/L |
Negotiable transport document |
| LETTER OF CREDIT or ACCREDITED |
L/C |
Payment method |
| TRANSPORT COSTS PAID BY THE SENDER |
PREPAID |
|
| TRANSPORT COSTS TO BE PAID BY THE CONSIGNEE |
COLLECT |
|
| LESS CONTAINER LOAD |
LCL |
Lot representing less than a full container |
| FULL CONTAINER LOAD |
FCL |
Full container |
| CONTAINER FREIGHT STATION |
CFS |
Covered area (hall) or deposited LCL containers |
| TERMINAL HANDLING CHARGES |
THC |
Charges Unloading container |
