Uluslararası ticarette kullanılan teslim ve ödeme şekilleri

Abstract

Uluslararası ticaret kavramı ülkemiz için özellikle 1980' li yılların başından itibaren önemi giderek artan bir kavram olmuştur. Bu yıllardan itibaren Türk firmaları ciddi olarak dış pazarlara açılmaya başlamış ve gün geçtikçe ülkemizin ihracatçı artmıştır. İhracatın artışına paralel olarak dış ticaretin diğer bir kanadı olan ithalat da artış eğilimini bu dönemde sürdürmüştür. Dolayısıyla, Türkiye'nin dış ticaret açığını önemli ölçüde etkileyen ithalat-ihracat farkı yulardır süregelen bir problem olmuştur. Ancak, doğu bloku ülkelerinin ve dağılan Sovyetler Birliği'nde kurulan yeni cumhuriyetlerin bile kullandığı serbest piyasa ekonomisi ile dünya ticaretine katılmak artık bir zorunluluk haline gelmiştir. Dolayısıyla, Türkiye'nin dış ticaret hacminde yaşanan bu gelişmeler dönemin icaplarına uygundur.. Diğer yandan, dünya piyasalarına açılarak ihracatım hızla arttıran ülkemiz, şu günlerde çok hassas dönemler yaşamaktadır, özellikle, Gümrük Birliği' ne katılma sebebiyle yıllardır kullanılan İthalat, İhracat ve Kambiyo Rejimi köklü değişikliklere uğramış, Avrupa' da kullanılan yeni yeni terim ve belgeler ile kurallar günlük hayatımıza girmiş ve uluslararası dış ticaret yapan firmalarımızı da etkilemiştir. Çünkü, yapılan bu değişikliklerle, daha önceki rejimlere göre uzman sayılabilecek elemanlar, bir anda bu yeni belgeler ve değişikliklerle karşılaşmış ve uyum sağlama çabası içine girmişlerdir. Ancak, bu durum sadece elemanlar için değil, firmalar, finans kurumları, devlet kuruluşları hatta sıradan vatandaşlar için de geçerlidir. Avrupa ile Türkiye arasındaki Gümrük Birliği anlaşmasının devreye girdiği 1 Ocak 1996 tarihinden itibaren, artık İzmir' deki bir firma Berlin' deki bir firmayla aynı şartlarla hem Türkiye'de hem Almanya'da hem de İtalya'da rekabet edecektir. Bu sebeple, ülkemizdeki her firma ve yatırımcı faaliyetlerini planlar ve uygularken olayın uluslararası boyutunu da gözönüne almak durumundadır. Bu ifâdenin anlamı, artık Türk yatırımcısı ve firmasının uluslararası kuralları çok iyi bilerek hareket etmeleri gerektiğidir. Uluslararası ticaretle ilgili olan en önemli uluslararası kurallar ise; uluslararası teslim şekilleri ve uluslararası ödeme şekilleridir. Bu sebeple, uluslararası ticaret işlemlerinde kullanılan ve firmaların finansman yapılarım da oldukça yakından ilgilendiren bu kavramlar, bu çalışmada incelenerek önemli noktalara işaret edilmeye çalışılmıştır. Uluslararası boyutta çalışan veya çalışmayı düşünen tüm kişilerin bu kavramları çok iyi bilmeleri gerekmektedir. Bu kavramlara ait özellikler iyi anlaşıldığı takdirde, firmalar gereksiz risk ve masraflardan kurtulacak, uluslararası boyuttaki sözleşmeleri daha güvenle Ve sonuçlarını daha iyi bilerek imzalayacaklardır. Çalışmanın son bölümünde, o ana kadar anlatılmaya çalışılan teslim ve ödeme şekillerine açıklık sağlamak amacıyla bir uygulama işlemi bulunmaktadır. Ancak, yine de bu çalışmada yer alan tüm bilgi ve belgeler her an değişebilecek niteliktedir. Bu sebeple, özellikle uluslararası ticaret işlemleriyle uğraşan herkesin muhtemel bu değişiklikleri yakından takip etmesi gerekmektedir.

International trade is very important term for both firms and countries. The development of the countries and the firms depends on various parameters. It can be said that international trade is one of the effectual parameter of the continuing development of both countries and firms. International trade transactions have some special rules which to be used by each relevant institutions. In this thesis, two important parts of international trade terms are examined such as international commercial terms called INCOTERMS and INTERNATIONAL PAYMENT TERMS. Added to this, the current applied rules on the international transactions are given for both INCOTERMS and PAYMENT TERMS. INCOTERMS are used in sales contracts stand for the specific obligations of the two main side (importer - exporter) of this contract. Every commercial transaction is based upon a contract of sale and the trade terms used in that contract have the important function of naming the exact point at which the ownership of the merchandise is transferred from the seller to the buyer. The contract also, defines the responsibilities and expenses of the seller up to that point and those of buyer at that point. In using INCOTERMS, it is important to remember that the rights of each party correspond to the duties of the other. However, INCOTERMS are not accepted by all countries. Therefore, especially, the exporter must watch out the variations in certain countries and in certain trades. On the other hand, the other important point in the international transactions are to define the price of the goods. Pricing for the world markets is more difficult than pricing for the domestic markets. Because, there are some different actors between the domestic trade and the international trade. These are as follow:. Laws and economical policies of the countries are different in each other.. Currency of each country are different. Market conditions of countries are different.. Markets are fiir from each other in proportion to the local (domestic) ones. To prevent the different practice in the world markets, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has adopted a principle mat a contract price settled on the basis of INCOTERMS provides for minimum liabilities on the part of the seller, leaving it to the parties to provide in their contracts for greater liabilities than those in the set of rules, if the exporter-importer wish to do so. On the other hand, there is another guide for international trade terms. This guide is called "Revised American Foreign vn Trade Definitions" and it is frequently used by US exporters, but, this rules cannot be become more widely accepted. For this reason, ICC's DSfCOTERMS are mostly used all over the word. However, the exporter has a potential problem for the export transactions because of using the possible different terminology between the exporter and the importer. Because of this risk, exporters and importers are well advised to be sure that there is agreement in the meaning of the terms of the contract. It means that, the agreed term in the contract has to be understood in the same meaning by the exporter and the importer. In the following paragraphs, the international trade terms which published by ICC are defined and shortly discussed. Ex works (ex factory, ex mill, ex plantation, ex warehouse etc.) means to deliver the goods to the exporter has the minimal responsibility and the importer has full risk of the goods. FOR / FOT (Free on Rail / Free on Truck) is used for land transport and means that the seller has the liability of delivering the goods on a wagon of train or board of truck. Exporter pays the freight to the named point but the importer has all the risks after the goods are delivered to the first carrier. In the term's called FAS, (Free Alongside Ship, named port of shipment) the exporter must place the goods alongside the vessel during its loading period and all the charges up to that point belong to itself. The importer effect the custom clearance for export and has all the charges (including taxes and commissions). In the FOB (Free on Board) term, the seller delivers the goods on board the vessel named by buyer at the named port of shipment. The buyer' s responsibility begins thereafter. C & F (CFR, Cost and Freight named port of destination) is another INCOTERMS and in this trade term, the goods are delivered to the agreed destination port by the exporter. The transport charge up to that point is also paid by the exporter. However, the risks of the goods belong to the importer after the goods delivered on board of vessel as FOB term OF (Cost, Insurance and Freight, named port of destination) term is like FOB and CF terms, the risks of the goods are transferred from the exporter to the importer when they have been loaded on board of ship. However, the exporter must pay for the transport charges until the destination port also, assure the goods with the amount of CIF value plus 10 % of the CIF value. FOA (FOB Airport) has the same meaning with the FOB term but, there is only one difference from it. In FOA term, the seller delivers the goods in the named airport instead of the vessel board as in FOB. According to EXS (Ex Ship), the exporter agrees to make the goods available to buyer on board of the ship at the named destination port and after that importer's responsibility begins. VHl In EQX (Ex Quay) term, seller must deliver the goods at the destination port to the buyer. If EXQ is followed by "duty paid-named port" clause, the seller must clear the goods for import. In DAF (Delivered at Frontier) term, the exporter is responsible until the goods arrive to the named frontier but, before the customs. As the opposite of Ex works term, in DAF (Delivered Duty Paid) delivery clause, the exporter agrees to make the goods available to the importer at the named point of destination as duty paid. DDP represents the maximum responsibility of the exporter. In FRC/FCA (Free on Carrier, named port) is similar to FOB but, FRC/FCA is used for intermodel transports. The seller responsibility continues up to the goods are delivered to the first carrier. DCP (Freight/Carriage Paid to, named point) is like CF but, the seller's responsibility ends when the goods are delivered to the first carrier instead of the board of ship as CF. Also, DCP can be used for all kinds of transport models. CD? term is similar to CD?. The differences between DCP and CF are also valid for DCP and CD3. DSfCOTERMS which are summarized above are related with the responsibilities of the exporter and the importer for the movements of the goods. The other important subject of the international trade is the payment clauses. In practice, it is possible to use tiie different payment clauses in the contracts which are shortly explained below. In feet that, each payment type can examined inside of the Commercial Letters of Credit (L/C). Because, changing the L/C conditions the other payment types can be accomplished. These international commercial payment terms: The Advanced Payment (cash, pre-payment) means that the buyer pays the amount of the goods before the shipment. This term should be used for the small values and/or between the exporter-importer know eachother very well Because, it has the serious risks for the importer. In Cash Against Document (CAD), the seller can receive the value of the goods when the shipment documents are arrived to the bank. This term is safer than the advanced payment Because, the bank can guarantee to pay the value of the goods to the exporter. The opposite of the Cash Payment is Cash Against Goods and in this clause, the importer transfers the money after the custom clearance of the goods. Therefore, all the risks related with the value of the goods belong to the exporter. The L/C is issued by a bank and it is the bank's promise to pay for the defined amount to the exporter. An L/C can be opened through a bank as; revocable, irrevocable, confirmed, unconfirmed, revolving, back to back, transferable, stand-by, red clause or down payment by the importer. Added to this, the Letters of Credit should be IX clarified as Sight, Deferred and Acceptance. It is possible to use these types together such as irrevocable, confirmed and at sight L/C. There are generally four sides of in L/C transaction. These are; Applicant, is the importer and instruct the bank for opening the L/C, Beneficiary, is the exporter, Issuing bank is the applicant's bank, Corresponding bank is the beneficiary's bank and it might be called the confirming bank. In revovable L/C, it is always possible to cancel the L/C. So this kind of L/C's are not commonly used in the practice because, it has no any warranty for the exporter and his bank. For this reason, irrevocable L/C types are preferred. Because, up to the end of the expiriy date, it is not possible to cancel the L/C (If there is no acceptance of all sides of the L/C). In confirmed L/C, the confirming bank (corresponding bank) also promise to pay the value of the L/C to the exporter at the validity date whether the L/C conditions are realized. In unconfirmed L/C, since the exporter has no guarantee, this kind of L/C's are not preferred. The revolving L/C permits to periodically use the same L/C with the same conditions up to the maximum level The maximum level can be a value or a period. Back to back L/C is generally used by the exporters. There are two L/C's in this term; in the second L/C, the beneficiary of the first L/C becomes to the applicant. Also, the second L/C is oblige to have the same L/C conditions of the first L/C except the dates. Transferable L/C is similiar to back to back L/C but, there only one L/C which can be transferred to the new beneficiary by the first beneficiary. Stand-by L/C is a little different from the other L/C types. Because, in order to benefit this L/C, theagreed job has not been realized by the applicant In feet that stand-by L/C is a guarantee letter. In an L/C, the applicant can make an advance payment to the beneficiary so that the exporter can buy the raw materials and/or the goods. The payment date is another subject of the sale contracts. For this reason, a L/C can be opened as Sight which means that the value of the goods is paid to the exporter when the correct documents are given to the bank. Also, a L/C should be opened as deferred. The value of the goods is paid according to the deferred value date. Usually, the interests are added into this kind of L/C's. Moreover, the exporter might use the policy for the warranty, in acceptance L/C type. On the other hand, the new technics in the finance are clarified in this thesis. One of these new technics, Leasing, is an alternative to owning the product. A company needs the leasing agreement applies to leasing institution and a leasing agreement are signed between them. According to this agreement, the lease holder company periodically pays a defined rent containing a certain interest to the leasing company able to use the leased product. The other technic is called Factoring and this is commonly known as a short term credit technic. The sides in factoring transactions are the importer-exporter and the factoring company. It is generalfy used for the consumption goods. The explained last tecnic in this working is Forfeiting. This financial term is in relation with the export amounts. The amount of the exported goods is guaranteed by a bank. There are some special documents in the forfeiting transactions. One of them is "promissory note" and the other is "bul of exchange". In a forfeiting transaction, the bank cannot return to the exporter if the documents are presented by the exporter. Forfeiting is a long term financial technic and it is usually used for the investments. As a conclusion, all these terms are widely used in the world markets. For this reason to understand these clarified terms are very important A practice for the L/C is, therefore, attached to the end of the thesis in order to indicate and explain an application between a Turkish company (OTOYOL SANAYİ A.Ş.) and an Italian one (IVECO S.p.A.).