| U
|
| Ultimate Consignee |
The
person who is the true party in interest, receiving goods for
the designated end use. |
| UN/Edifact |
United Nations Electronic Data Interchange for
Administration, Commerce and Transport: A United Nations
approved Electronic Data Interchange standard. |
| Unconfirmed Letter Of Credit |
A
type of letter of credit bearing the obligation of the issuing
bank only, not of any other bank. |
| Unconscionable |
Unreasonable; outrageous. Courts in many countries may
refuse to enforce contracts which they deem to be
unconscionable. |
| Underdeveloped Country |
A
nation which, comparative to others, lacks industrialization,
infrastructure, developed agriculture, and developed natural
resources, and suffers from a low per capita income as a
result. |
| Unfair Trade Practice |
Unusual government support to firms, ranging from
export subsidies to anti- competitive practices by the firms
themselves, such as dumping, boycotts or discriminatory
shipping arrangements, that result in competitive advantages
in international trade for the benefiting firms. |
| Uniform Commercial Code |
(USA) A law governing commercial transactions (sales of
goods, commercial paper, bank deposits and collections, letter
of credits, bulk transfers, warehouse receipts, bills of
lading, investment securities, and secured transactions)
adopted by all states in the US except Louisiana. |
| Unit Load |
Various cargo carrying devices, or sizes of containers,
which carry several smaller shipping packages, including the
banding together of a number of individual packages on a
pallet to create a single unit. |
| Unit Load Device |
Term commonly used when referring to containers and
pallets and similar devices which consolidate packages of
freight for mechanical handling. |
| United Nations Conference On Trade And
Development |
A
part of the UN General Assembly which promotes international
trade and seeks to increase trade between developing countries
and countries with different social and economic systems. |
| United Nations Industrial Development
Organization |
Established in 1967, under the UN Secretariat, UNIDO
serves as a specialized agency to foster industrial
development in lesser developed countries through offering
technical assistance in the form of expert services, supplying
equipment and/or training. |
| United States And Foreign Commercial Service |
United States And Foreign Commercial Service An agency
of the U.S. Department of Commerce that helps U.S. firms be
more competitive in the global marketplace. |
| United States Code
(USC) |
A
set of volumes containing the official compilation of U.S.
law. are also local offices of the U.S. Government Printing
Office in major U.S. cities. |
| United States Customs Service
(USCS) |
U.S. governmental agency whose primary duties include
the assessment and collection of all duties, taxes and fees on
imported merchandise, and the enforcement of customs and
related laws and treaties. |
| United States Department Of Agriculture |
An
executive department which serves as the principal adviser to
the president on agricultural policy. which works to improve
and maintain farm income, implement nutrition programs and
develop and expand markets abroad for U.S. agricultural
products. It is also charged with inspecting and grading food
products for safe consumption. |
| United States Department Of Commerce (DOC) |
An
executive department which encourages and promotes the United
States' economic growth, international trade, and
technological advancement. |
| United States Department Of Defense |
A
civilian executive department providing the military forces
needed to deter war and protect the security of the
U.S. |
| United States Department Of Energy (DOE) |
An
executive department created in 1977 to consolidate all major
Federal energy functions into one department. The principal
programmatic missions are energy programs, weapons and waste
clean-up programs, and science and technology
programs. |
| United States Department Of Labor
(DOL) |
An
executive department which promotes and develops the welfare
of U.S. wage earners, improves working conditions, and
advances opportunities for profitable employment. The DOL
keeps track of changes in employment, prices, and other
national economic measures. |
| United States Department Of State |
An
executive department which directs U.S. foreign relations and
negotiates treaties and agreements with foreign nations.
Activities of the State Department are coordinated with
foreign activities of other U.S. departments and
agencies. |
| United States Department Of The Interior
(DOI) |
An
executive department that has responsibility for most U.S.
federal government owned public lands and natural resources;
the principal U.S. conservation agency. The office of
Territorial and International Affairs oversees activities
pertaining to U.S. territorial lands and the Freely Associated
States and coordinates the international affairs of the
Department. |
| United States Department Of The Treasury |
An
executive department which performs four basic functions:
formulating and recommending economic, financial, tax and
fiscal policies; serving as financial agent for the U.S.
government; enforcing the law; and, manufacturing coins and
currency. |
| United States Department Of Transportation
(DOT) |
An
executive department of the U.S. government which is
responsible for the development of national transportation
policies. |
| United States Information Agency
(USIA) |
Responsible for the U.S. government overseas
information and cultural programs, including Voice of America.
Conducts a wide variety of communication activities-academic
and cultural exchanges to press, radio, television and library
programs abroad in order to strengthen foreign understanding
of American society, obtain greater support of U.S. policies,
and increase understanding between the U.S. and other
countries. |
| United States International Trade Commission |
An
independent fact-finding agency of the U.S. government that
studies the effects of tariffs and other restraints to trade
on the U.S. economy. It conducts public hearings to assist in
determining whether particular U.S. industries are injured or
threatened with injury by dumping, export subsidies in other
countries, or rapidly rising imports. |
| United States Price |
(USA) In the context of investigations regarding
dumping, this term refers to the price at which goods are sold
to the U.S. compared to the sale price in the home market or
in 3rd countries. The comparisons are used in the process of
determining whether the imported merchandise is sold to the
United States at less than fair value. |
| United States Trade And Development Agency |
The
U.S. Trade and Development Agency assists in the creation of
jobs for Americans by helping U.S. companies pursue overseas
business opportunities. Through the funding of feasibility
studies, orientation visits, specialized training grants,
business workshops, and various forms of technical assistance,
we help American businesses compete for infrastructure and
industrial projects in middle-income and developing
countries. |
| United States Trade Representative |
A
cabinet-level official with the rank of Ambassador who is the
principal adviser to the President on international trade
policy, and has responsibility for setting and administering
overall trade policy. The U.S. Trade Representative is
concerned with the expansion of U.S. exports. |
| United States Travel And Tourism
Administration |
An
organization within the Department of Commerce which:
stimulates demand internationally for travel to the United
States, coordinates marketing projects and programs with U.S.
and international travel interests, encourages and facilitates
promotion in international travel markets by U.S. travel
industry principals, works to increase the number of
new-to-market travel businesses participating in the export
market, generates cooperative marketing opportunities for
private industry and regional and local governments,
researches and provides timely and pertinent data, carries on
training programs in international marketing for U.S.
professionals, and works to remove government imposed travel
barriers. |
| United States-Canada Free Trade Agreement |
The
provisions of the US/Canada Free Trade Agreement were adopted
by the US with the enactment of the FTA Implementation Act of
1988. The FTA reduced tariffs on imported merchandise between
Canada and the U.S. and opened up new areas of trade in
investment. It was followed by the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA) which also includes Mexico. |
| Unitization |
The
practice or technique of consolidating many small pieces of
freight into a single unit for easier handling. |
| Universal Copyright Convention |
An
international agreement that affords copyright protection to
literary and artistic works in all countries that voluntarily
agree to be bound by the Convention terms. |
| Unloading |
1.
The physical removal of cargo from a vessel, a truck, an
airplane, a railroad car.
2. The physical removal of
cargo from a container; also called devanning. |
| Unrestricted Letter Of Credit |
A
letter of credit which may be negotiated through any bank of
the beneficiary's choice. |
| Uruguay Round |
The
eighth round of multilateral trade negotiations under the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The Uruguay
Round (so named because meetings began in Punta de Este,
Uruguay in 1987) concluded in December, 1993 after seven years
of talks between 117 member nations. From these negotiations
the World Trade Organization came into being. |
| Usance |
The
common period fixed for payment by usage, custom, or habit of
dealings between the country where a bill of exchange is drawn
and that where it is payable. It varies according to the
countries involved. |
| Users Fee |
(USA) Assessments collected by the U.S. Customs Service
to help defray various costs to Customs involved in the
handling of shipments. |
| V
|
| Validity |
1.
Validity - Legal sufficiency. Mere regularity in the execution
of documents may not be enough for "legal
sufficiency."
2. The time period for which a letter of
credit is valid. |
| Valuation |
The
act of ascertaining the worth of a thing. The estimated worth
of a thing. |
| Valuation Charges |
Transportation charges assessed shippers who declare
for carriage a value of goods higher than the carriers' limits
of liability. They may be in lieu of or in addition to regular
freight charges. |
| Value Added |
The
amount by which the value of an article is increased at each
stage of its production, exclusive of initial
costs. |
| Value Added Tax |
An
indirect tax on consumption that is assessed on the increased
value of goods at each discrete point in the chain of
production and distribution, from the raw material stage to
final consumption. The tax on processors or merchants is
levied on the amount by which they increase the value of items
they purchase and resell. |
| Vendor |
A
company or individual that sells goods or services. A
merchant, a retail dealer; a supplier; one who buys to
sell. |
| Vessel Ton |
A
unit of measurement of vessels which provides that 100 cubic
feet of vessel volume equals one ton. |
| Visa |
A
stamp, seal or endorsement on a document validating it for a
particular use such as on a passport admitting the holder to a
country, or on a license issued by the government of an
exporting country for the export to a specific importing
country of a certain quantity of a quota controlled commodity
subject to a voluntary export restriction or a voluntary
restraint agreement. |
| Volume Rate |
A
freight rate assessed in connection with a specified volume of
freight based upon the premise that it will be substantial in
total over a period of time. It is generally a lower rate than
normally assessed for smaller lots of cargo. |
| Voluntary Export Restriction |
An
understanding between trading partners in which the exporting
nation, in order to reduce trade friction, agrees to limit
exports of a particular good to the other
partner. |
| Voluntary Restraint Agreements |
Informal bilateral or multilateral arrangements through
which the exporting nations voluntarily restrain certain
exports, usually through export quotas, to avoid economic
dislocation in an importing country and to avert the possible
imposition of mandatory import restrictions by the importing
country. |