First of all, it should be noted that a foreign trade contract is a fundamental document of any foreign economic transaction. At the moment, there are a large number of varieties of this document, however, as practice shows, purchase and sale contracts are most often found. It is on this form that we will stop in this article.
Foreign trade contract in the territory of the Russian Federation
Under a foreign trade contract, it is customary to understand a special document that confirms the fact of the conclusion between the two parties (residents of different states) of the so-called foreign economic trade transaction. The subject of this transaction, as a rule, is the sale of some goods. In this case, the UN
Vienna Convention of 1980 acts as the fundamental document in the field of international trade law. This Convention spells out the rule of law that governs 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 control of the transaction by state administrative bodies.
In addition to the existing international rules and principles for concluding agreements of this kind, there are also requirements of the Russian customs legislation. Often, according to experts, foreign lawyers do not understand why to record data on the timing of importation of goods in contracts with
advance payments.A 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. 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, forwarding, as well as the transportation of goods directly. A correctly drawn up foreign trade contract allows the parties involved to successfully realize the economic potential of the transaction and, if possible, avoid additional financial costs associated with the direct settlement of minor issues.
To optimize and standardize the conditions for concluding agreements at the international level, participants use a specific set of rules, otherwise called “Incoterms”.
It is believed that a foreign trade contract should be drawn up exclusively by a qualified specialist, namely a lawyer, in order to avoid problem situations. The specialist should be competent in matters of international law, customs clearance and other related areas. In this case, it is considered the best option to entrust the preparation of the foreign trade contract to the lawyers of the customs representative, who will directly deal with the customs declaration of the goods subsequently.