Page 229 - DMGT547_INTERNATIONAL_MARKETING

International Marketing

Notes Self Assessment

State whether the following statements are true or false:
1. Export documentation facilitates the flow of goods and payments across national
boundaries.

2. Export documents are prepared only to meet regulatory terms imposed by the government.

Caselet Document Alignment

ocument Alignment is a major trade facilitation activity, whereby trade documents
are based on the United Nations Layout Key and thus aligned in a standard
Dformat. Deriving national document subsets from the UN Layout Key rules
simplifies trade documentation on an international scale, bringing considerable benefits
to traders.
History
International trade developed over the centuries in an unstructured and ad hoc manner, as
countries exchanged goods and products they excelled in for those, which they lacked.
Documents accompanying these transactions followed a similarly haphazard path, to
where numerous documents in a variety of formats were required for each export shipment.
An order number might appear on the right or left side of a form; addresses could be
shown as lines or blocks.
The situation started to improve in the mid 1960s with the document alignment work
initiated by Sweden, standards developed by the Trade Facilitation Working Party of the
UN/ECE (WP.4), and the 1965 publication of the United Kingdom Board of Trade’s Simpler
Export Documents.
Alignment Aims
The objective of an aligned series of documents is to have as many forms as possible
printed on the same size paper and to have common items of information occupying the
same relative position on each form.
For example, shipper top left, references top right, signatory details bottom right and so
on. This makes forms both easier to complete and easier to process. Since common positions
are used for data items, it is possible to use multi-part sets of different forms or to type a
‘master document.’ This master document can be used to produce a range of documents
using a photocopier and overlays (to provide the form outlines and hide unwanted data).

Everyone in the international trade chain benefits from easier document processing. Using
documents that comply with UN alignment standards speeds up form preparation, cuts
costs and reduces errors. You may actually get paid quicker! Aligned documents simplify
document checking and training of new staff. They even enhance an organisation’s
professional image.
Document alignment has been a major agenda item for the UN/ECE Expert Group on
procedures and documentation, with the goal of simplified international trade documents.

Source: Lining up benefits for international trade by Tessa Jones, Head of Publications at SITPRO, the
Simple Trade Procedures Board, the UK’s trade facilitation agency http://www.unece.org/trade/cnct/
art1944.

224 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY