Gartner’s Global Trade Management Checklists

In the not too distant past, Gartner’s C. Dwight Klappich put out an article on Developing an End-to-End Global Trade Management Functional Map which, although not long enough, in-depth enough, or complete enough for the topic they were tackling, did contain a number of good check lists that you should review while putting your global trade plan together.

The check lists cover trade functions, trade compliance, movement of goods, and trade finance. Furthermore, they discuss global trade planning, monitoring and evaluation and indicate that global trade is a source of competitive differentiation.

Trade functions are defined as extensions to common business activities to recognize the nuances of conducting trade across borders. Major functions are:

  • Sourcing
  • Selling
  • Export (customer) orders
  • Import (purchase) orders
  • Collaboration
  • Product Management
  • Vendor Management
  • Document Management

Trade compliance functions address the activities that ensure that international transactions comply with and adhere to the rules and regulations of importing and exporting countries and the activities that involve insuring reporting, documentation, and financial obligations are met in a timely fashion.

  • Preferential Trade Agreements
  • License Determination
  • Document Management
  • Document Filing
  • Product Classification / HTS (Harmonized Tariff Schedule)
  • Customs Declarations
  • Import Rules
  • Export Rules
  • Duties / Taxes
  • RPS (Restricted Party Screening)

Move functions refer to all the activities needed to ship goods internationally.

  • Carrier Booking
  • Global Logistic Execution
  • Shipment Planning
  • Multimode Transportation
  • Shipment Consolidation
  • Shipment Routing
  • Carrier Communication
  • Global Visibility
  • Landed Cost Control
  • Shipment Documentation

Trade finance functions refer to determining the true total landed and delivered costs for trades, the calculation of duties/tariffs/fees/taxes, duty drawbacks, and collaboration with financial institutions for letters of credit, invoicing, and settlement.

  • Letters of Credit
  • Settlement
  • Reconciliation
  • Invoice Management
  • Payment
  • Insurance
  • Trade Finance

The also recommend evaluating the performance of your global supply chain from a trade management viewpoint regularly by way of scorecards, performance indicators/metrics, and analytic reports to diagnose potential problems early and determine remedial actions. Considering an interruption in your supply chain could lead to a major disruption, this is sound advice.