Comprehensive legal advice for companies with international trade activity: customs, Incoterms 2020, international contracts and EU regulatory compliance.
International trade is the engine of much of our clients' activity. Importers, exporters, international buyers and sellers and companies with global supply chains operate in a highly complex legal environment, where contract law, international taxation, customs regulations and foreign trade controls interact simultaneously. At Vectoris Legal we offer comprehensive legal advice on international trade with an integrated view of all these disciplines.
One of the most frequent — and costly — confusions in international trade is between the international sale of goods contract and the contract of carriage. They are two distinct contracts, with distinct parties, distinct obligations and distinct legal regimes. The sale of goods contract is governed, unless otherwise agreed, by the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG, Vienna Convention), in force in Spain since 1991. The contract of carriage is governed by different rules depending on mode: the CMR Convention for road, the Hague-Visby Rules for sea, the Montreal Convention for air.
The Incoterms 2020 — published by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) — are eleven standardised terms defining who bears transport costs, who arranges insurance, where risk of loss or damage transfers and what documentary obligations apply to each party. Choosing the right Incoterm is one of the most important decisions in any international trade operation, with direct impact on price, customs taxation, insurance and liability in the event of loss. We advise on Incoterm selection and on disputes arising from their incorrect application. We also deliver Incoterms 2020 training for commercial, logistics and procurement teams.
The documentary credit (Letter of Credit, L/C) is the highest-security payment instrument for the exporter in international trade. Governed by the ICC Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (UCP 600), it provides an irrevocable bank payment obligation conditional on presentation of complying documents. We advise exporters and importers on negotiating documentary credit terms, preparing and reviewing presentation documents, managing discrepancies and claiming when a bank wrongfully refuses payment.
Triangular trade operations — involving a seller, an intermediary and a buyer in different countries — have specific VAT, customs and contractual treatment that must be carefully structured. We advise on the legal and fiscal structuring of triangular operations and defend before the AEAT when the Administration challenges the treatment applied.
Companies accessing foreign markets through commercial agents or distributors must structure that contractual relationship with precision. International commercial agency and distribution agreements have very different legal and economic consequences — particularly on exclusivity, goodwill indemnity and post-contractual competition — that must be analysed before signing.
We advise on choice of law and jurisdiction and represent clients in international commercial arbitration before the ICC, CIMA and other specialist tribunals, in court proceedings before Spanish courts in international trade matters, and in international mediation where the commercial relationship merits preservation.
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