So the new Standard and Basic Membership system went live at the end of last month. Whew!!! It has been such a stressful time, so much to take care of!

Happily it went without a hitch and the number of Standard members is rising (more slowly than we would have hoped but we’ll give it time).

Just to recap on the differences, Standard members (they pay a small membership fee) can post up to 50 Sell Trade Leads, 50 Products, unlimited Buy Trade Leads and unlimited Partner Trade Leads, have an extended company profile including more contact details. They can also post Documents and appear higher in lists and search results. It all serves to make their company and products a lot more visible to Buyers and, we all hope, will help increase the volume of international trade these members enjoy.

For the time being Basic members can post 2 Sell Leads, 1 Partner Trade Lead, Unlimited Buy Trade Leads, 2 Products and a Company Profile. This subscription level is free and is really aimed at Buyers.

Those of you who are considering subscribing might be interested to know we’re running a promotion until the end of this month - 33% off the first quarter’s membership fees!

The importance of obtaining adequate insurance has been highlighted these past few days with the wrecking of the cargo ship MSC Napoli off the coast of Devon, England.

The ship was travelling from Belgium to Portugal when it was caught in bad weather.  Fortunately the crew were all rescued but the ship itself suffered damage in the storms.

At least 200 (out of about 2400) of the ship’s 40 foot long containers were lost overboard, some of them have washed up onto nearby beaches to the delight of some locals who have been helping themselves to the contents - automotive parts, babies nappies, perfume, dog food, barrels of wine and even BMW motorcycles!!!

Under UK law people are supposed to report any items they’ve salvaged to the quaintly titled ‘Receiver of Wreck’ within 28 days.  Chances of this happening or of the police following up any/all leads are pretty slim - some goods are already being sold on Ebay!

None of this will be at all amusing to anyone with products in those containers.  There’s not much they can do about the goods themselves if they are lost but you would expect any trader to have arranged adequate insurance (assuming it is their responsibility under the terms of sale). 

Marine cargo insurance covers the risk of damage or loss to your goods when they are in transit.  It covers the goods whether they are being transported by sea, air, rail or road.

Or perhaps I should say Happy Holidays?

Apparently our friends in the US are getting themselves a bit worked up over the more traditional Christmas greeting.  They feel its insulting to people of other faiths, this has got to be political correctness gone a step too far.

Anyway, since most visitors to this site are international import-export traders, I can rest assured you won’t be fussed about a good natured greeting.

When you trade with people from every part of the world you have to be far more accommodating towards foreign customs.  Tolerating, understanding, participating in and even enjoying foreign cultural events.  Even when you don’t accept the underlying belief systems, show them respect and you will build the trust you need for successful business.

Keep those trade leads coming and I’ll see you in the New Year.
           

There was an interesting feature on the news yesterday.  It was a look at cotton farming in the States and Africa.

The American farmers are subsidised by their government and so can afford to flood the market with cheap (and, it must be said, high quality) cotton, effectively pricing out third world farmers.  But what really struck me was the difference in technology levels.

They showed the American farmer mowing down acres of cotton fields with a huge mechanical harvester; then gave us a shot of a number of Africans happily compressing (hand-picked) cotton with their feet, accompanied by some traditional chants.

Charmingly rustic as the Africans were, they just can’t compete.  One of those harvesters apparently collects more cotton in a day than an African farmer can in a lifetime.  And if the subsidies were stopped it’s countries like Brazil that would fill the gap not Africans.

Clearly ensuring that goods are sold at a fair price is just one factor that needs to be addressed in the fight against poverty in Africa.

To grab a bigger share of world trade Africans will need to increase volumes, improve manufacturing processes and raise standards.   And the best way forward is a balanced combination of external technological help (for the short term) and home-grown innovation.
           

Let’s hope something positive comes out of the WTO talks in Hong Kong next month.

The developed world should be doing all they can to help the developing countries break out of their cycle of poverty. 

And they shouldn’t use it as an opportunity to make more money out of the poor - by trying to link removal of farming subsidies with the removal of industrial tariffs by the poorer nations.  Without these tariffs manufacturing and industry will never really get off the ground in the developing countries.

Wouldn’t it be great to see more trade leads from the smaller African, Asian and South American countries?

We want them not just importing manufactured Western goods, but also exporting the produce of their own industry. 
We want them not just exporting raw materials but also importing the building blocks of the products they’ll sell for high profit.