| Back-to-Back | Consecutive, following immediately one after the other. A back-to-back escrow is one set up to handle the concurrent sale of one property and the purchase of another. A back-to-back lease is an agreement made by a lessor as a concession to a prospective lessee, in which the lessor agrees to take over an existing lease and, in return, secure a commitment from the lessee that he wants. |
| Back-To-Back Credit | A credit issued against the security back of another credit (master credit) on the understanding that reimbursement will stem from documents eventually presented under the first credit (master credit) issued – see Special DCs. It follows therefore that each side of a B/B transaction covers the shipment of the same goods. |
| Balance Of Trade | The difference between a country’s total imports and exports. If exports exceed imports, a favourable balance of trade exists; if not, a trade deficit is said to exist. |
| Bankers Acceptance | A draft drawn on and accepted by the importer’s bank. Depending on the banks creditworthiness, the acceptance becomes a financial instrument which can be discounted. |
| Barter Trade | Refers to a form of trade where goods are exchanged directly for other goods without the use of money to faciliate the transaction.. |
| B/B | See Break-bulk. |
| Belly Cargo | This term refers to cargo that is stored below the main deck of a ship.. |
| Beneficiary | A payee or recipient, usually of money. A party in whose favour a documentary credit is established, usually the exporter. |
| Berth | The place beside a pier, quay or wharf where a vessel can be loaded or discharged. |
| Berth Liner Service | Refers to a regular scheduled shipping line operating according to published schedules (ports of call) from and to defined trade areas. |
| Berth Terms | An expression covering assessment of ocean freight rates generally implying that loading and discharging expenses will be for ship owner’s account, and usually apply from the end of ship’s tackle in port of loading to the end of ship’s tackle in port of discharge. See also Liner Terms |
| Bilateral Trade Agreement | A trade agreement between a small group of countries – this term should indicate a trade agreement between just two countries, but it gets loosely used in trade agreements with five or more countries. |
| Bill For Collection (BC) | Document(s) or cheque submitted through a bank for collection of payment from the drawee. |
| Bill Of Exchange | A written unconditional order for payment from a drawer to a drawee, directing the drawee to pay a specified amount of money in a given currency to the drawer or a named payee at a fixed or determinable future date. |
| Bill Of Lading, Inland | A bill of lading used in transporting goods overland to the exporter’s international carrier. |
| Bill Of Lading, Ocean | Bill of lading indicating that the exporter consigns a shipment to an international carrier for transport to a specified foreign market. |
| Bill Of Lading, On Board | A bill of lading acknowledging that the relative goods have been received on board for shipment on a specified vessel. |
| Bill Of Lading, Received for Shipment | A bill of lading acknowledging the receipt of goods by a carrier for shipment on a specified vessel. This type of bill of lading is not acceptable under a letter of credit unless it is specially authorised. English law does not regard these bills as a valid tender under CIF contracts because the CIF seller is obligated to ship the goods, and a Received for Shipment Bill of Lading is not considered proof of shipment. |
| Bill Of Lading, Straight | A non-negotiable bill of lading whereby the consignee named in the bill is the owner of the relative goods. |
| Bill Of Lading, Through | bill of lading that covers transportation by more than one carrier from the point of issue to the final destination. Example, a bill from Cape Town, via Istanbul to Baku in Azerbaijan. |
| Bill Of Sight | A written description of goods given by an importer to a customs officer in the event shipping documents have not arrived in time and the importer wishes to avoid delayed entry charges. When an importer enters goods on a bill of sight, he usually must make a cash deposit covering the estimated amount of duty. When the shipping documents are received and a correct entry is made, the exact amount of duty is levied. |
| Bill Receivable (BR) | Bills which are financed by the receiving branch, whether drawn under a DC or not, are treated as BRs by both the remitting branch and the receiving branches |
| B/L | See Bill of Lading |
| Blank Endorsed | When a bill of lading is made out to order or shipper order and the shipper has signed on the back of it, it is said to be blank endorsed. The bill of lading then becomes a bearer instrument and the holder can present it to the shipping company to take delivery of the goods. |
| Bonded Warehouse | A warehouse authorised by Customs authorities for storage of goods on which payment of duties is deferred until the goods are removed from the warehouse. |
| Booking | An arrangement with a transporting company such as a shipping line or airline for the acceptance and carriage of freight. |
| Box car | A freight term denoting a closed car for transporting freight. |
| Break-Bulk (B/B or BB) | Cargo which is shipped as individual units and not in containers (i.e. palletised cargo, boxed cargo, large machinery, trucks and pre-slung cargo).. |
| Break-Bulk Vessel/Ship | This is a ship designed to handle palletised, pre-slung, boxed, and unitised cargo. The holds can be of the open bay or between deck type. Between deck means the hold can be converted from multi-levels to open bay. This type of vessel is usually self-sustaining and has its own cranes for on- and off-loading. |
| Bridge Loan | In lending terms, a bridge is a short-term loan, generally used to cover the period between the termination of one loan, such as a construction loan, and the take-out of another, such as a permanent loan. |
| Broker | An intermediary in a sale or transaction who receives a fee; an arranger of a deal for a fee or percentage real estate brokers act as representatives of owners while real estate consultants represent clients engaged in site selection (a site selection or real estate consulting agency should not also broker property). A data broker engaged by a site selector is generally an information assimilator who organizes what is collected into a form that that can be used for comparative analysis. Email address brokers who knowingly support spammers are partners in crime as a specialized contact data resource of the Internet, The Network is a target for cyberthugs and works with an email strategy to constantly fight spam |
| B/T | See Berth Terms or Liner Terms |
| B/s | An acronym that is used to refer to bags or bales.. |
| Bulk Container | A large container used for transporting bulk cargo. |
| Bulk Solids | Dry cargo shipped in containers, loose, in bulk, without mark or count. |
| Buyer Credit | Term to provide the exporter with prompt payment by the overseas importer, who borrows the necessary funds from the bank. The payment is usually made directly by the importers bank to the exporter. |
| Buying Agent | See Purchasing agent. |
