What is a foreign trade contract?

First of all, it should be noted that the foreign trade contract is the basic document of any foreign economic transaction. At the moment there are a large number of varieties of this document, however, as practice shows, most often there are contracts of sale. It is on this form that we will discuss this article.

Foreign trade contract in the territory of the Russian Federation

A foreign document is understood as a special document that confirms the conclusion of a so-called foreign trade deal between two parties (residents of different countries). The subject of this transaction, as a rule, is the purchase and sale of some goods. The basic document in the field of international trade law in this case is the Vienna UN Convention of 1980. This convention sets out the rules of law, which regulate the implementation of each transaction at the international level. It is important to note that the foreign trade contract is considered one of the main documents for direct customs clearance, as well as for controlling the transaction by the state administrative bodies.

In addition to the existing international rules and principles for the conclusion of such agreements, there are also requirements of the Russian customs legislation. Often, according to experts, foreign lawyers do not understand why to register data on the timing of the import of goods in contracts with advance payments.

The foreign trade contract, of course, serves as a kind of basis for concluding other transactions that are necessary for the execution of an international transaction. The parties that have concluded an agreement on the delivery of a certain product through the above-described contract must agree on issues related to the determination of delivery dates, accompanying documents, freight, freight forwarding, and also the actual transportation of goods. A properly drawn up foreign trade contract allows the parties involved to successfully realize the economic potential of the transaction and, if possible, avoid the additional financial costs associated with the immediate resolution of minor issues.

To optimize and standardize the conditions for concluding agreements at the international level, participants use a certain set of rules, otherwise called Incoterms.

It is believed that a foreign trade contract must be drawn up exclusively by a qualified specialist, namely a lawyer, in order to avoid problem situations. The specialist must be competent in matters of international law, customs clearance and other related fields. The most optimal option in this case is to entrust the drafting of a foreign trade contract to the lawyers of the customs representative, who will immediately deal with the customs declaration of the goods.