The language of trade - excerpts from the Commerce Department's 'A Comprehensive Guide to International Trade Terms'

Business America, July, 1994

With new trade agreements, new free trade areas, and new U.S. government programs, the language of trade is changing. Definitions of some of the new names and terms, interspersed with a few older and more familiar terms, follow. The information is extracted from the 242-page Commerce Department publication, A Comprehensive Guide to International Trade Terms, which can be purchased from the Department's National Technical Information Service for $36.50; tel. (703) 487-4650. It is available in electronic form through Fedworld for $36.50; tel. (703) 487-4608. It is also available through the National Trade Data Bank, an automated trade information library, which can be reached at tel. (202) 482-1986.

* Advocacy Center--The Advocacy Center, established in November 1993, facilitates high-level U.S. official advocacy to assist U.S. firms competing for major projects and procurements worldwide. The Center is directed by the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee; offices are located in the Commerce Department, Washington, D.C.; tel. (202) 482-3896, fax (202) 482-3508.

* American Business Center--The ABC program provides U.S. companies which are exploring or establishing commercial opportunities in the Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union with business services such as telephone and fax, temporary office space, market information, and assistance in making business contacts. An ABC operates in Bratislava, Slovakia, under the direction of the Commerce Department's International Trade Administration in cooperation with the Agency for International Development. Additional centers are being opened in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.

* Association of Southeast Asian Nations--ASEAN was established in 1967 to promote political, economic, and social cooperation among its six member countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Brunei. ASEAN headquarters are in Jakarta, Indonesia. In January 1992, ASEAN agreed to create a free trade area, ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA).

* Business Information Service for the Newly Independent States--BISNIS is a one-stop shop for U.S. firms interested in obtaining assistance on selling in the markets of the Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan). BISNIS provides information on trade regulations and legislation, defense conversion opportunities, commercial opportunities, market data, sources of financing, government and industry contacts, and U.S. government programs supporting trade and investment in the region. BISNIS maintains a 24-hour automated flashfax system through which U.S. companies can receive information on doing business in the NIS via fax (202-482-3145).

* Caribbean Basin Initiative--The CBI is an inter-American program to increase economic aid and trade preferences for 28 states of the Caribbean region. The Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act of 1983 provided for 12 years of duty-free treatment of most goods produced in the Caribbean region. The Initiative was extended permanently (CBI II), by the Customs and Trade Act of August 1990. The 23 countries which are currently eligible for CBI benefits include Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, Costa Rica, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemela, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Montserrat, the Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, St. Christopher-Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobagao.

* Commonwealth of Independent States--The CIS was established in December 1991 as an association of 11 republics of the former Soviet Union. The members include: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus (formerly Byelorussia), Moldova (formerly Moldavia), Armenia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kirgizstan (formerly Kirghiziya). The Baltic states did not join. Georgia maintained observer status, before joining the CIS in November 1993. Until that time, the NIS (Newly Independent States) differed from the CIS in that the NIS is a collective reference to 12 Soviet republics, including Georgia.

* Consortia of American Businesses in Eastern Europe--The CABEE program, administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce, provides grants of up to $500,000 to each of five non-profit consortia of for-profit companies to cover up to one-half of costs of starting-up commercial operations in Eastern Europe. Launched under the American Business and Private-Sector Development Initiative for Eastern Europe, CABEE is intended to help overcome difficulties faced by small- and medium-sized firms in entering Eastern Europe markets. CABEE was established in June 1991.

* Consortia of American Businesses in the Newly Independent States--CABNIS is a cooperative, cost-sharing program of government and the private sector that helps non-profit business consortia establish a commercial presence and pursue business in the Newly Independent States on behalf of profit-making U.S. corporations and associations. The program provides matching government grants of up to $500,000 to each consortia. CABNIS, established in July 1992, is administered by the Commerce Department.