To survive emerging economic and global changes, businesses must be aware and plan for the potential challenges that affect international business transactions. Compliance with U.S. and foreign government regulations is one of the most important challenges facing multinational organizations. How can organizations manage the legal risks of doing business globally?
Most companies have an employment manual that provides basic policies and procedures for topics such as sexual harassment, attendance, dress code, benefits, etc. All importers and exporters should have policies and procedures for international transactions, but some of those documents may not encompass topics such as contracts, cultural issues and dispute resolution. How many companies have a concise set of guidelines for international trade that can be used as a reference tool by almost all functional areas in the organization?
It is not necessary to combine the gigantic piles of documents found in the import and export compliance manuals to create these guidelines. Consider your audience. What you want is a practical guide that is informative, yet easy to understand and apply, so that employees of your organization can conduct themselves appropriately in international transactions. These guidelines are not about how to file entries with CBP or apply for export licenses. Instead, the collection of international guidelines provides concise information about potential legal risks, definitions, links to relevant information and other issues that will help your organization improve management and compliance of your international business transactions. When developing your manual, you will want to consider how it should be presented to your employees. Should the information be presented as a small handbook or posted to the company Intranet or both? The key is to provide relevant information in a format that is easily understood and accessible by the user.
Now it’s time to develop an outline of topics that should be included in your “Guidelines for Conducting Business Globally.” We’ve provided a few to help get you started. For some topics, you may want to include links to additional information so that the user can access more detail on a subject as needed.
· Ethics Policy
1. General Company Ethics Policy
2. FCPA Policy
3. Child Labor
4. Convict and Forced Labor
5. Antitrust
· Cultural Issues: Focus on cultural differences and guidelines for dealing effectively with other cultures.
· Contracts: Provide standard contract terms, clauses and potential differences.
· Dispute Resolution: Provide various types, preferences by country and enforcement of judgments.
· Employment: Discuss legal, ethical, and cultural issues.
· Sales: Address laws related to international sales for countries in which your company transacts business.
· Logistics: Identify terms of sale, modes of transportation, etc.
· U.S. Trade Law: Provide the major U.S. trade laws and violations that affect your organization.
· Documentation: Provide a list such as commercial invoices, licenses, etc.
· Free Trade Agreements: Address requirements and use of FTA’s.
· Intellectual Property: Discuss IPR laws and potential violations.
· Glossary
