What details need to be paid attention to when trading?
As of April 22, there were more than 2.55 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide. The long-lasting, large-scale and harmful virus disaster quickly consumed the stock of medical materials in many countries. The demand rapidly increases for medical supplies such as masks and surgical gowns. With the expansion of the Chinese mask industry, more and more companies turn to export medical supplies, which leads to the trade fraud.
The frequent fraud in international trade
An enterprise in Macau found a medical supplier in Hungary on the Internet in February, which has various product categories and the sufficient production capacity. So they got in touch soon and negotiated about the details. Subsequently, the Hungarian company sent an invoice (PI), requesting that 50% of the payment as a deposit and promised the shipments immediately.
The Macao companies paid a 50% deposit to designated accounts over the next few days. After the payment, the Hungarian mailed to promise that they will ship on time. However, they disappeared later and nowhere could be found.
The US Treasury Department ’s Financial Crime Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) also issued a notice on March 16 to warn financial institutions of illegal activities related to the COVID-19. It also noted that the imposter fraud, investment fraud, product fraud, and insider trading can be frequently seen in the international trade.
What details should we pay more attention to?
A complete process of foreign trade generally includes:
- To inquiry about qualifications and prices
- To confirm the purchase intention
- Customer place an order
- Company gives Invoice (proforma invoice)
- Customer paysdeposit or full payment
- Company places orders and paysdeposit or full payment to the factory
- Factory production, factory shipment.
- Arrange the customs declaration andshipment.
In this process, some details need to be paid attention in every step. it is often the certain details that lead to unpleasantness and even affect the progress of the import.
Detailed requirements should be put forward when inquiring. For example, how is the packaging of the KN95 mask? whether it is bowl-shaped or folded? Different specifications are usually at different prices. Secondly, some companies are not long-term and professional in the medical industry. Therefore, it is important to confirm the qualifications of the supplier. What we can do is to check whether they have relevant CE / FDA certification.
It may take a long time to make an inquiry and place an order for the customer. The continuous new orders and the fixed output lead to the rising price of masks. And the production schedule was also affected. Plenty of orders easily brought about the delay in delivery.
The last step is logistics. During the urgent epidemic, many countries are importing medical supplies. The air logistics is in a state of tension. It is likely to result in losses due to the lack of shipping space or and air transportation.
It also needs to be vigilant that some manufacturers use other manufacturers’ qualifications and certificates to cheat. At the same time, some suppliers resort to deceit in production, which leads to the delay in shipment.
The above details are complicated for many purchasers. On the one hand, they are not engaged in the medical industry and do not know much about related industries. On the other hand, the procurement process is particularly cumbersome. Now it is time to find us! HiGlobal International Consulting always devotes to studying the high-quality supply chain. We not only guarantee quality certification for you, but also provide you with the lowest cost, highest efficiency, and safest medical supplies. HiGlobal helps you in product sourcing, price negotiation, factory audit, QC, legal support and after service. Making you more resilient in the global value chain and protect your business and family from beginning to end is what we are doing. Get in touch with us to start a profitable business NOW!