商务英语casestudy.docx

商务英语casestudy.docx

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商务英语casestudy

casestudy

【Case1】CIForNot?

AnimportandexportcompanyHinChinasignedwithaBritishcompanyDacontractonCIFbasis,wherebycompanyHexportedsomelightindustrialproductstocompanyD.Thereweretwospecialclausesinthecontract:

（1）.“ThegoodsmustbeshippedtoaportinBritainfromShanghaiinOctober1996;therelevantL/CopenedbycompanyDshouldreachcompanyHbytheendofAugust;companyHmustguaranteethattheloadedvesselarriveatthedestinationnotlaterthanDecember1.

（2）shouldtheloadedvesselarriveattheportofdestinationlaterthanDecember1,companyDisentitledtocancelthecontract.Ifthepaymenthasbeenmadeatthetime,itmustbereturnedtocompanyDexactlytheamount.”Afterthat,inthecourseofclearingupcontractfiles,acontroversyaroseincompanyHaboutthenatureofthisCIFcontract.SomepeopleheldtheopinionthatthecontractwasonCIFbasisinspiteofthetwoparticularterms,givingfollowingreasons:

firstly,thecontractwassignedunderthetradetermofCIF,whichindicatedthenatureofthecontract;secondly,companyDmadesuchspecialrequirementsonlytoprotecttheirbenefits;thirdly,thecontractprovidedpaymentbyL/C,whichwasinaccordancewithCIFterm’scharacteristicofpaymentagainstdocuments.OthersbelievedthataccordingtoINCOTERMS2000,theseller’sdeliveryobligationsarefulfilledaslongasthesellerhascompletedshipmentofgoodsattheappointedpointandhandedovertothebuyerdocumentsstipulatedinthecontractandsothesellerisnotrequiredtoguaranteethearrivalofgoodsatthedestination.Therefore,thiscontractwasafalseCIFcontract,asitchangedthenatureofCIFtermbytakingphysicaldeliveryasaconditionoffulfillment.Thecontractmustberenegotiated.Finally,companyHreachedacommonperceptionandgotthetwospecialclausesamendedthroughnegotiationwithcompanyD.Thecontractwascarriedoutsmoothly.

Analysis:

AlthoughthecontractwasconcludedonCIFbasis,itwasnotagenuineCIFcontract.ThiscaseindicatesthesignificanceofCIFterm’ssphereofapplication.ThetwospecialclausesintheoriginalcontractnotonlycontradictedwiththenatureofCIFterm,butalsodisagreedwiththepracticesofinternationaljusticeandarbitration.

First,theoriginalcontractnotonlysetalimittothedateofarrival,butalsostipulatedthatthebuyerwasentitledtocancelthecontractordemandbackthepaymentthathadalreadybeenmade.Evidently,therestrictivedateofarrivalservednotasthedateofpayment,butasaconditionofpayment.Therefore,legallythecontractwasnotagenuineCIFcontractasitmadephysicaldeliveryaconditionofpayment.

Second,underCIFterms,theriskoflossofordamagetothegoodspassesfromthesellertothebuyerwhenthegoodshavepassedtheship’srailattheportofshipment.Acontractthatexpandsthebuyer’sriskfromtheportofshipmenttotheportofdestinationisnotaCIFcontract.Accordingtotheprovisionintheoriginalcontract,companyHwasobligatedtorefundthepaymentincaseofnaturalcalamitiesoraccidentsduringthecourseofdeliveringthegoods,whichevidencedthatthesellerassumedalltherisksduringthetransport.

Third,underCIFterms,thebuyermustmakepaymentagainstdocumentsratherthanagainstthearrivalofthegoodsattheportofdestination,providedthatthesellerhasfulfilledhisdeliveryobligationsandpresentedtherequireddocuments.Aspertheoriginalcontract,whethercompanyHcouldreceivethepaymentforgoodsornotdependedonbuyer’sreceivingonschedule.AlthoughthesellermightreceivethepaymentbymeansofL/C,thepaymentwouldbetakenbackbythebuyerifthegoodscouldnotdulyarriveattheportofdestination.Besides,companyDcouldtakeadvantageofrelevantL/Cclausesthatareinaccordancewiththoseinthecontracttodenythesellerthepaymentforgoods.CompanyHcouldhardlymakeaclaimforhisrightsunderanormalCIFcontractsincethiscontractwastheone“innamebutnotinreality”.

【Case2】CFR&ShippingNotice

AnimportandexportcompanyinChinasignedanexportcontractwithanimporterinMarseilles,FranceondrawnworktableclothwithanamountofUSD80,000,paymentbyD/Patsight.

OnthemorningofJanuary8,1997,thegoodswereallloadedontothenamedvessel.Theexportsalespersoninchargeofthiscontractgotsobusythathedidnotremembertosendthebuyertheshippingadviceuntilthenextmorning.Unexpectedly,whentheFrenchimporterwenttothelocalinsurancecompanytoinsurethegoods,thelatterhadalreadylearnedthattheshipsufferedawreckonJanuary9andrefusedtounderwritethegoods.TheFrenchimporterimmediatelysentatelexsaying,“owingtoyourdelayedshippingadvice,weareunabletoinsurethegoodsbecausethevesselhasbeendestroyedinawreck.Thelossofgoodsshouldbeforyouraccount.Atthesametime,youshouldcompensateourprofitandexpenselosseswhichamounttoUSD8,000.”Soonalltheshippingdocumentssentthroughthecollectingbankwerereturnedtotheexportcompany,forthereasonthattheimporterrefusedtotakeupthedocuments.Beingaregularclientoftheexporter’s,theFrenchimporterdidnotinsistonclaimingforcompensationaftertheexporterexplainedhisdifficultsituationandapologizedforthewholething.However,theexportershouldlearnhislessonfromthisexperience.

Analysis:

1.UnderCFRterms,alltherisks,dutiesandexpensesaftergoods’passingship’srailarenormallybornebythebuyer.However,Incoterms2000providesthat“thesellermustgivethebuyersufficientnotice……”.Heretheword“sufficient”referstoboth“sufficient”contentand“sufficient”time.Thelattermeansthesellermustgivetheshippingnoticeinatimelymannertoallowsufficienttimeforthebuyertoeffectinsuranceofthegoods.Thelaterthesellersendstheshippingnotice,thelesstimethebuyerhastoinsurethegoods.Inthiscase,thebuyer’sfailuretosendthe“sufficientnotice”ledtohislossofbothgoodsandmoney.Ontheotherhand,ifthesellerhadinformedthebuyerimmediatelyaftershippingthegoods,thebuyerwouldhaveinsuredthegoodsintimeatthelocalinsurancecompany.Inthatcase,theinsurancecompanywouldhaveassumeditsliabilityforcompensationeveniftheaccidenthadhappenedpriortothebuyer’seffectinginsuranceasboththebuyerandtheinsurancecompanywereignorantoftheaccident.Thus,itcanbeseenhowimportantitistosendtheshippingadvicetothebuyerintimeunderCFRterms.Thatiswhyshippingadviceisoftenreferredtoas“insurancenotice”intradepractices.

2.WhenCFRtermsorFOBtermsareusedincombinationwithpaymentbycollection,thebuyermaycoverthegoodsagainst“seller’sinterestrisk”beforeexportingthegoodstocounteractthebuyer’sfailuretoeffectinsuranceorthebuyer’srefusaltoretirethedocuments.Hadthesellerinthiscasecoveredtheshipmentagainstthesaidrisk,thelosswouldhavebeensomewhatmitigated.

【Case3】CFR&GoodsQuality

AFrenchcompanyimportedabatchofwheatonCFRbasis.Thecontractprovidedthatthelandingqualityofthegoodsshouldbetakenasfinal.However,whenthegoodsarrivedatthedestination,theimportquarantinebureaudetainedthegoodsastheyhadfoundthatthegoodscontainedagreatdealofbacteriumforbiddentoenterthecountry.Unfortunately,thegoodswereconsumedbyafirewhileindetainment.Adisputebrokeoutbetweenthebuyerandtheseller.

Analysis

UnderCFRterms,thebuyershouldbearalltherisksafterthegoodshavepassedtheship’srailandbeenloadedonboard.However,shouldthesellerbeheldresponsibleforanydefaultbeforethatpoint?

Inthiscase,itwasthesellerwhoshouldassumetherisks.ThereasonisthatalthoughthiswasaCFRcontract,thesellerbreacheditbydeliveringthegoodswhichfailedtomeetthequalitystandardprovidedinthecontract.Thisfundamentaldefaulthascausedthedetainmentandthenthelossofthegoods.Therefore,whiletheriskshadbeentransferredtothebuyer,theseller’sdefaultreturnedtheriskstotheseller.

Ofcourse,underCFRcontract,whentheseller’sdefaultisnotfundamental,thebuyershouldbearalltherisksforanylossofthegoodsattheportofdestination.Meanwhile,thesellershouldmakeduecompensationtothebuyerasperthecontractandrelevantlaws.

【Case4】ThebuyerdelaysthesendingofthevesselunderFOB.

CompanyAinChinasignedacontractonFOBbasistoexportwheattoCompanyBinAfrica.Itwascontractedthatshipmentshouldbemadeinfourlots.Theshippingclauseranasfollows:

“thevesselnominatedbythebuyershouldreachtheportofshipmentwithineightdaysbeforethedateofshipment.Otherwise,anyoftheseller’slossordamagethusincurredshallbebornebythebuyer.”Thecontractalsospecified,“Thebuyermustgivetheselleranoticeofvesselnameandtheestimateddateofarrivalbytelecommunicationfivedaysbeforethevesselarrivesattheportofshipment.”Duringthecourseoffulfillment,thefirstthreelotswereshippedsmoothlyaccordingtothecontract.However,thebuyerwasslowtosendthevesselforthelastshipment.InreplytoCompanyA’srepeatedurges,companyBsaidthattheywereunabletobookshippingspacebecauseofshippingcompany’sbusyscheduleandaskedforpostponingdeliveryfortwomonths.CompanyArepliedasfollows:

“accordingtothecontract,youareboundtosendthevesseltopickupthegoods.Incaseofanydifficultiesinthisaspect,wemayallowyoutodelaytheshipmentonconditionthatyoumakeacompensationwhichamountstoUSD200,000.”Finally,thebargainofc