--------------

      C

--------------


CAIRNS GROUP.

A group of agricultural-exporting nations comprising Australia,
Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Fiji, Hungary, Indonesia,
Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand and Uruguay,
established to develop a common negotiating position for the Uruguay
Round. See also Codes of Conduct; Multilateral Agreement;and Uruguay
Round.


C AND F.

An abbreviation used in some international sales contracts when the
selling price includes the cost of the goods and freight but not the
cost of insurance.  The formula is often used when the government in
the importing country requires that insurance must be supplied from a
company subject to its jurisdiction.  See also CIF; FAS; and FOB.


CAP.

See Common Agricultural Policy.


CAPITAL.

Property or wealth that yields income expressed in terms of money, or
the accumulated stock of tools, machinery, equipment, buildings and
other goods employed, in turn, to produce other goods and services.
See also Capital Goods; Infrastructure; Interest; Money; Profit; and
Risk.


CAPITAL ACCOUNT.

That portion of a country's balance of payments that includes the
inward and outward flow of money for investment and international
grants and loans (public and private).  See also Balance of
Payments; and Current Account.


CAPITAL GOODS.

Industrial products or other goods that are used in the creation of
additional wealth, such as machine tools.Capital goods are sometimes
called intermediate goods because they only indirectly satisfy human
wants, and sometimes producer goods, because they are used to produce
other goods.  See also Capital; Consumer Goods; and Production.


CAPITAL MARKET.

The market for longer-term loanable funds.  The capital market in a
country is not one institution; rather it includes securities
exchanges, underwriters, investment banks and insurance companies that
canalize supply and demand for long-term capital and claims on
capital, especially when concentrated in such major financial centers
as New York City or London.  The marketing of securities is an
important element in the efficient working of a capital market.  See
also Capital; Developing Countries; Insurance; International Finance
Corporation; Market; Security; Underwriter; and World Bank.


CARIBBEAN BASIN INITIATIVE (CBI).

A broad program to promote economic development through private-sector
initiative in Central America and the Caribbean islands.  The goal is
to expand foreign and domestic investment in nontraditional sectors,
diversifying CBI country economies and expanding their exports.  The
major elements of the program are: duty-free entry to the United
States in perpetuity for a wide-ranging group of products; U.S.
economic assistance to the region; continuing self-help efforts to
improve investment climate and trade; a deduction on U.S. taxes for
countries that hold conventions in qualifying CBI countries to
increase tourism; U.S. government, state government and private-sector
promotion programs; and support from other trading partners and
multinational development institutions.  See also Developing
Countries; Economic Development; Liberalization; and Tariff Quota.


CARGO SHARING.

The reservation and division of maritime traffic between designated
trading partners who agree that vessels owned or controlled by either
will carry a specified percentage of the cargo moving between them.


CARNET.

See ATA Carnet.


CARTEL.

An alliance or arrangement among industrial, commercial or
state-controlled enterprises producing the same commodity, aimed at
regulating the purchase, production or marketing of the commodity.  A
cartel agreement is often accompanied by output and investment quotas.
When a cartel gains monopoly power, it will normally seek to maximize
profits by raising prices and limiting supply.  See also Commodity;
Monopoly; and Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.


CASE LAW.

The codes of conduct negotiated in the Tokyo Round are expected to
evolve according to decisions made with respect to specific "cases"
resulting from allegations of violation brought before the committees
responsible for monitoring the codes.  The decisions made in these
cases serve as precedents that are taken as interpretations of the
relevant provisions applicable to future cases.  See also Codes of
Conduct; Dispute Settlement; and Tokyo Round.


CBI.

See Caribbean Basin Initiative.


CCC.

See Commodity Credit Corporation; and Customs Cooperation Council.


CCCN.

See Customs Classification.


CEILING PRICES.

See Buffer Stocks.


CENTRAL PLANNING.

See Non-Market Economy.


CER.

See Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Agreement.


CERTIFICATE OF ORIGIN.

See Customs and Administrative Entry Procedures.


CET.

See Common External Tariff.


CFTA.

See Binational Panel and U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement.


CIF.

An abbreviation used in some international sales contracts, when the
selling price includes all "costs, insurance and freight" for the
goods sold ("charge in full"), meaning that the seller arranges and
pays for all relevant expenses involved in shipping goods from their
point of exportation to a given point of importation.  In trade
statistics,"CIF value" means that all figures for imports or exports
are calculated on this basis, regardless of the nature of individual
transactions.  See also C and F; FAS; and FOB.


CIT.

See Court of International Trade.


CLEARING AGREEMENTS.

See Countertrade.


COCOM.

See Coordinating Committee on Export Controls.


CODES OF CONDUCT.

International instruments that indicate standards of behavior by
nation states or multinational corporations deemed desirable by the
international community.  Several codes of conduct were negotiated
during the Tokyo Round that liberalized and harmonized domestic
measures that might impede trade, and these are considered legally
binding for the countries that choose to adhere to them.  Each of
these codes is monitored by a special committee that meets under the
auspices of GATT and encourages consultations and the settlement of
disputes arising under the code.  Countries that are not Contracting
Parties to GATT may adhere to these codes.  GATT Articles III through
XXIII also contain commercial policy provisions that have been
described as GATT's code of good conduct in trade matters.  The United
Nations has also encouraged the negotiation of several "voluntary"
codes of conduct (meaning that they are not legally binding),
including one that seeks to specify the rights and obligations of
transnational corporations.  See also Aircraft Agreement; Anti-Dumping
Code; Articles of GATT; Case Law; Countervailing Duties; Customs
Valuation Code; Dispute Settlement; Export Subsidies; Government
Procurement Policies and Practices; Liberalization; Licensing Code;
Multinational Corporation; Multilateral Agreement; Non-Tariff
Barriers;Offer List; Restrictive Business Practices; Safeguards;
Standards; and Transparency.


COLLATERAL.

See Security.


COLUMN 1 RATES.

U.S. tariff rates (nearly all of which are "bound" rates) established
through trade negotiations.  They are usually substantially lower than
column 2 rates and apply to all countries to which the United States
grants most-favored-nation treatment.  See also Bound Rates; Column 2
Rates; and Most-Favored-Nation Treatment.


COLUMN 2 RATES.

U.S. statutory thrift rates, generally set by the Smoot-Hawley Tariff
Act of 1930, as amended.  These rates are substantially higher than
column 1 rates.  For countries receiving most-favored-nation
treatment, they have been supplanted by lower tariffs established
through concessions, which are set out in column 1 of the tariff
schedule.  Column 2 rates are currently assessed only on imports from
countries that do not receive most-favored-nation treatment from the
United States, all of which are state trading nations.  See also
Column 1 Rates; Concession; Most-Favored-Nation Treatment; State
Trading Nations; and Tariff Act of 1930.


COMECON.

See Council for Mutual Economic Assistance.


COMMERCIAL COUNTERFEITING.

The production or marketing of goods with the intent of defrauding the
purchaser by falsely implying, directly or indirectly, that the goods
are produced by a known and reputable manufacturer.  Counterfeit goods
are usually distinguished from bogus goods in that in addition to
replicating the legitimate good, they bear a forged trademark.  The
Uruguay Round accord includes TRIPS provisions to discourage
counterfeiting.  See also Intellectual Property; Trademark; and
Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).


COMMERCIAL PAPER.

Short-term financial instruments that can be bought and sold,
particularly promissory notes that call for the payment of specified
amounts of money at a given time.  See also Bond; Capital Market;
Loan; and Security.


COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY.

See European Community.


COMMODITY.

Broadly defined, any article exchanged in trade, but most commonly
used to refer to raw materials, including such minerals as tin, copper
and manganese, and bulk-produced agricultural products such as
coffee,tea and rubber.  See also Buffer Stocks; Common Fund; Forward
Market; Integrated Program for Commodities; Primary Commodity; and
Tropical Products.


COMMODITY AGREEMENT.

See International Commodity Agreement.


COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION (CCC).

A public corporation attached to the U.S. Department of Agriculture
that provides financial and other services associated with public
price-support activities for certain agricultural commodities,
including loans, guarantees, purchases, sales, storage, transport and
export programs.  See also Export Enhancement Program.


COMMODITY EXCHANGE.

See Forward Market.


COMMODITY STOCKPILES.

See Buffer Stocks.


COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY (CAP).

A comprehensive system of production targets and market regulations
adopted by the European Community covering most agricultural goods
produced within the Community.  Its purposes are to achieve fair and
rising standards of living for the farm populations of member states,
stable agricultural markets, increased farm productivity and food
security within the Community.  To achieve these objectives, the CAP
relies on uniform prices and the free circulation of agricultural
goods among member states; preferences for agricultural products
produced within the Community; the imposition of variable levies on
imported goods to bring their prices to the level of Community prices;
and subsidization of exports to countries outside the Community.  (In
practice, agricultural prices sometimes vary from one member country
to another, principally because exchange rates applied to goods moving
from one country to another within the Community do not always reflect
market exchange rates.) The European Community finances the CAP
through receipts from customs duties, including variable levies, and
the value added tax.  See also Conversion Product; Deficiency
Payments; European Community; Export Subsidies; Restitutions;
Threshold Price; Value Added Tax; and Variable Levy.


COMMON EXTERNAL TARIFF (CET or sometimes CXT).

A tariff rate uniformly applied by a common market or customs union,
such as the European Community,to imports from countries outside the
union.  For example, the European Common Market is based on the
principle of a free internal trade area with a common external tariff
(sometimes referred to in French as the Tariff Exterieur Commun (TEC)
applied to products imported from non-member countries.  "Free trade
areas" do not necessarily have common external tariffs and free trade
agreements seldom have common external tariffs.  See also Customs
Union; European Community; and Free Trade Area.


COMMON FUND.

An international institution designed as the centerpiece of the UNCTAD
Integrated Program for Commodities (IPC).  Its first account
(sometimes called its first "window," and financed from mandatory
contributions of member governments) provides funds to help finance
buffer stocks operated under International Commodity Agreements to
stabilize commodity prices.  Its second account (sometimes called its
second "window," and largely financed by voluntary contributions)
supports research and development and export promotion for selected
commodities.  See also Buffer Stocks; Integrated Program for
Commodities; and International Commodity Agreement.


COMMON MARKET.

See Customs Union; European Coal and Steel Community; and European
Community.


COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE.

A central concept in international trade theory which holds that a
country or a region should specialize in the production and export of
those goods and services that it can produce relatively more
efficiently than other goods and services, and import those goods and
services in which it has a comparative disadvantage.  This theory was
first propounded by David Ricardo in 1817 as a basis for increasing
the economic welfare of a population through international trade.  The
comparative advantage theory normally favors specialized production in
a country based on intensive utilization of those factors of
production in which the country is relatively well endowed (such as raw
materials, fertile land or skilled labor), and perhaps also the
accumulation of physical capital and the pace of research.  See also
Competitive; Efficiency; Exports; Imports; Structural Change; and
Welfare.


COMPENSATION.

The principle, central to GATT, that any country that raises a tariff
above its bound rate, withdraws a binding on a tariff, or otherwise
impairs a trade concession must lower other tariffs or make other
trade concessions to offset the disadvantage suffered by countries
whose exports are affected.  See also Binding; Bound Rates;
Concession; Consultations; and General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.


COMPENSATION TRADE.

See Countertrade.


COMPENSATORY FINANCE.

A loan or transfer of financial resources on concessional terms to a
country when its export receipts -- either total receipts from
merchandise exports or receipts from a component of total exports,
such as an individual commodity or a stated group of commodities --
fall below a predetermined level.  The loan, to be repaid according to
a previously agreed formula, is intended to stabilize the country's
export receipts over an indicated period.  Compensatory arrangements
exist under the International Monetary Fund and the Lome Convention.
See also Commodity; International Monetary Fund; and Lome Convention.


COMPENSATORY TARIFF REDUCTIONS.

See Special and Differential Treatment.


COMPETITIVE.

A competitive product is one that can be sold in an appropriate
quantity within a specific market because buyers consider its price
and quality acceptable, taking account of support services, credit,
delivery terms, guaranteed repairs and promotion, or a combination of
such considerations, in comparison with other available goods. See also
Comparative Advantage; Efficiency; Export Promotion; Market; Monopoly;
Safeguards; Structural Change;and Tariff.


COMPETITIVE DEVALUATION.

See Beggar-Thy-Neighbor Policy.


COMPETITIVE NEED.

See Generalized System of Preferences.


COMPOUND TARIFF.

A combination of an ad valorem tariff plus a specific tariff.  Also
called a "mixed tariff."  See also Ad Valorem Equivalent; Ad Valorem
Tariff; Specific Tariff; and Tariff.


CONCESSION.

A grant of a position, privilege or right by a negotiator to induce
the other party to yield an equivalent position, privilege or right.
In GATT trade negotiations, a country normally makes concessions in
the form of reductions or bindings in its tariff and non-tariff import
barriers in exchange for reductions in the barriers of other countries
to its exports.  A country's "schedule of concessions," accepted as
part of its obligations to other Contracting Parties, becomes an
integral part of GATT under Article II of the General Agreement.  See
also Binding; Bound Rates; Compensation; Escape Clause;
Most-Favored-Nation Treatment; Negotiations; Offer List; Principal
Supplier; Reciprocity; Safeguards; Section 301; Tariff; and Tariff
Schedules of the United States.


CONCESSIONAL AID.

See Official Development Assistance.


CONDITIONAL MOST-FAVORED-NATION TREATMENT.

The extension of concessions by an importing country to other
countries that provide equivalent benefits for its exports.  The
United States applied conditional most-favored-nation treatment in its
trade relations with other countries from 1789 to 1923, when it first
applied unconditional most-favored-nation treatment in a commercial
treaty with Germany.  More recently, signatories to the Agreement on
Government Procurement, including the United States, have applied
conditional most-favored-nation treatment to their trade with each
other,in the sense that benefits foreseen in the agreement are
extended only to countries that sign it.See also Government
Procurement Policies and Practices; and Most-Favored-Nation Treatment.


CONDITIONALITY.

The set of conditions attached to the use of its resources by the
International Monetary Fund, involving undertakings and adjustment
policies that will restore a sustainable balance of payments position
within a one- to three-year period.  See also Adjustment; and
International Monetary Fund.


CONSTRUCTED VALUE.

See Dumping.


CONSULAR FORMALITIES AND DOCUMENTATION.

Certain documents or procedures required by some countries before
their customs authorities will permit goods produced in other
countries to enter their markets, such as special invoices approved by
a consul or other official of the importing country.  These procedures
impede trade, particularly when fees are charged for the
authorizations.  The number of countries that apply consular
formalities has declined in recent years and most countries that still
apply them are developing countries.  See also Non-Tariff Barriers;
and Tokyo Round.


CONSULAR INVOICE.

See Consular Formalities and Documentation; and Customs and
Administrative Entry Procedures.


CONSULTATIONS.

Formal discussions between two or more parties to an agreement,
particularly with respect to their rights under the agreement.  GATT
Article XXII obligates a Contracting Party to consult on any
GATT-related matter whenever any other Contracting Party requests it
to do so.  GATT Article XXIII provides that any country that believes
its trade interests have been adversely affected -- "nullified" or
"impaired" -- by changes in the trade regime of another country or by
another country's failure to carry out its GATT obligations may
request bilateral consultations with the concerned party.  If such
government-to-government consultations do not yield results
satisfactory to the concerned parties, the complaining country may
seek the establishment of a special panel under the aegis of GATT to
review the facts and recommend compensation or other appropriate
action.  A GATT Contracting Party is also expected to hold
consultations with other interested Contracting Parties to discuss any
trade restrictive measures it imposes for balance of payments reasons.
Bilateral agreements may also provide for consultations under
specified circumstances.  See also Balance of Payments Consultations;
Compensation; Dispute Settlement; and Panel of Experts.


CONSULTING SERVICES.

See Services.


CONSUMER GOODS.

Goods that directly satisfy human desires (as opposed to capital
goods).  An automobile used for pleasure is considered a consumer
good.  An automobile used by a businessperson to deliver wares is
considered a capital good.  See also Capital Goods; Consumers; and
Goods.


CONSUMER PREFERENCE.

See Demand; and Structural Change.


CONSUMERS.

Individuals or groups who consume or use economic goods, thus deriving
utility from them.  See also Consumer Goods; Microeconomics; and
Utility.


CONSUMPTION.

The purchase and utilization of goods or services for the
gratification of human desires or in the production of other goods or
services.  The consumer may be an individual, a business firm, a
public body or other entity.  See also Production; and Utility.


CONSUMPTION TAX.

See Excise Tax.


CONTRACTING PARTY.

A country or economic entity (e.g., Hong Kong) that has adhered to the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), thereby accepting the
body of specified obligations and benefits contained therein.  The
signatories of GATT are referred to in GATT documents as the
CONTRACTING PARTIES, in capital letters, when they act collectively
within the framework of the General Agreement.  See also General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade; and Protocol of Provisional
Application.


CONVENTIONAL TARIFF.

A tariff established through a "convention" (or international
agreement) resulting from tariff negotiations and hence not subject to
modifications by national action.  See also General Tariff.


CONVERSION PRODUCT.

A product whose price is affected under the Common Agricultural Policy
of the European Community by the price of feed grains, such as pork,
eggs and poultry.  Its value is determined by the feed cost per unit
produced.  See also Common Agricultural Policy.


CONVERTIBILITY.

A characteristic of a currency when it may be legally exchanged by its
holder for other currencies through banks in the issuing country.  See
also Currency; and International Monetary Fund.


COORDINATING COMMITTEE FOR MULTILATERAL EXPORT CONTROLS (COCOM).

A committee consisting of representatives from all NATO countries
(except Iceland) for coordinating policies restricting exports of
products of potential strategic value to the former Soviet Union and
certain other countries.  Created in 1949, the committee not only
reviewed military technology transfer for potential embargo, but also
tried to anticipate the "end use" of products manufactured for
civilian purposes, such as computers and transistors.For reasons
including the disintegration of the Soviet Union, and the goal of
assisting economic and political reform in Russia and the New
Independent States, the United States and its COCOM partners agreed in
1993 to end the Cold War regime effective March 31, 1994, and to work
toward a new arrangement to enhance transparency and restraint in
conventional weapons and sophisticated technologies to countries whose
behavior is cause for serious concern and to regions of potential
instability.  COCOM members agreed to maintain the existing lists as
the basis for national export controls after March 31 while new
control lists and arrangements were being finalized. See also Boycott;
and Export Administration Act of 1979.


COPYRIGHT.

An exclusive right conferred by a government for a specified period to
the creator of literary or artistic works such as books, maps,
articles, drawings, charts, photographs, musical compositions, motion
pictures, recordings or computer programs.  The Uruguay Round accord
on trade-related aspects of intellectual property (TRIPS) incorporates
all substantive trade-related protection afforded under the Bern
Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works,
clarifying that computer programs are protected as literary works and
compilation of databases as intellectual creation.  Protection extends
for the duration of the life of the author plus 50 years, and includes
rights of translation, reproduction, public performance, broadcasting,
adaptation and arrangement, and rental.  See also Intellectual
Property; Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights;and
World Intellectual Property Organization.


CORE COMMODITIES.

See Integrated Program for Commodities.


COST AND FREIGHT.

See C and F.


COST, INSURANCE AND FREIGHT.

See CIF.


COTTON TEXTILES.

See Multi-Fiber Arrangement Regarding International Trade in Textiles;
and Textiles.


COUNCIL FOR MUTUAL ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE (COMECON).

An intergovernmental organization established in 1949 to coordinate
the economies of member states, consisting of the Soviet Union,
Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic ("East
Germany"), Hungary, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, Cuba and Vietnam.  The
purpose of the council, according to its charter, was to improve
economic cooperation among participating countries and to accelerate
their economic and technological progress.  This organization was
formally disbanded in June 1991.  See also Group D.


COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY.

See European Community.


COUNTER PURCHASE CONTRACTS.

See Countertrade.


COUNTERTRADE.

Arrangements under which the sale of goods or services from one
country to another are linked to sales in the opposite direction.
Countertrade arrangements frequently characterize East-West trade.
Such transactions include:

*Counter purchase contracts that expressly stipulate that the vendor
must purchase goods from the importer equivalent in value to a
specified percentage of the value of the exported goods;

*Reverse countertrade contracts require the importer (a U.S. buyer of
machine tools from Eastern Europe, for example) to export goods
equivalent in value to a specified percentage of the value of the
imported goods -- an obligation that can be sold to an exporter in a
third country;

*Buy-back (or compensation) arrangements, through which a company
selling equipment, licenses, technology or a turnkey plant agrees to
accept in full or partial payment products manufactured with such
equipment, licenses, technology or plant;

*Clearing agreements between two countries that agree to purchase
specific amounts of each other's products over a specified period of
time, using a designated "clearing currency" in the transactions;

*"Switch" arrangements that permit the sale of unpaid balances in a
clearing account to be sold to a third party, usually at a discount,
that may be used for producing goods in the country holding the
balance;

*Swap schemes through which products from different locations are
traded to save transportation costs (e.g., Russian oil may be
"swapped" for oil from a Latin American producer, so the Russian oil
is shipped to a country in South Asia, while the Latin American oil is
shipped to Cuba); and

*Barter arrangements through which two parties directly exchange goods
deemed to be of approximately equivalent value without any flow of
money taking place.

See also Barter; Offset Requirements; and Tied Loan.


COUNTERVAILING DUTIES.

Specific duties imposed on imports to offset the benefits of subsidies
to producers or exporters in the exporting country.  GATT Article VI
permits the use of such duties.  The Executive Branch of the U.S.
government has been legally empowered since the 1890s to impose
countervailing duties in amounts equal to any "bounties"or "grants"
reflected in products imported into the United States.  Under U.S. law
and the Tokyo Round Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Duties
(the GATT Subsidies Code), a wide range of practices are recognized as
constituting subsidies that may be offset through the imposition of
countervailing duties.  The Trade Agreements Act of 1979, through
amendments to the Tariff Act of 1930, established rigorous procedures
and deadlines for determining the existence of subsidies in response
to petitions filed by interested parties such as domestic producers of
competitive products and their workers.  In all cases involving
subsidized products,whether dutiable or duty-free, from countries
recognized by the United States as signatories to the Code on
Subsidies and Countervailing Duties, or from countries which have
negotiated substantially equivalent obligations in a bilateral
agreement with the United States, U.S. law requires that
countervailing duties may be imposed only after the U.S. International
Trade Commission (USITC) determines that the imports are causing or
threatening to cause material injury to an industry in the United
States.  A USITC injury determination is also required if the
merchandise under investigation is a duty-free import from a GATT
signatory.  Otherwise, where evidence of subsidization is found,
countervailing duties may be imposed without the necessity for a
material injury investigation by the USITC.  See also Bounties or
Grants; Codes of Conduct; Export Subsidies; Subsidy; Trade Act of 1974;
and U.S. International Trade Commission.


COUNTRY OF ORIGIN CERTIFICATE.

See Customs and Administrative Entry Procedures.


COURT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE (CIT).

The United States Court of International Trade (formerly the U.S.
Customs Court) is a court developed under Article III of the U.S.
Constitution to provide a single forum with expertise in international
trade law for the judicial review of administrative actions of
government agencies arising from import transactions.  The Court
reviews decisions of the United States Customs Service, the
International Trade Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce
and the U.S. International Trade Commission.  Such cases include,
inter alia, challenges to classification rates and duties charged,
anti-dumping and countervailing duty determinations and embargoes or
other quantitative restrictions.  Generally, in the review of
administrative determinations of record, the court will uphold an
agency decision unless it is found to be unsupported by substantial
evidence, or otherwise not in accordance with law.  A party can appeal
a decision by the CIT to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
which will apply the same standard of review.  Finally, a party can
appeal a decision of the Federal Circuit court by filing a writ of
certiorari with the United States Supreme Court.


CREDIT.

A promise of future payment given in exchange for present delivery of
money, goods or services, usually with interest, at a rate that varies
with the risk involved and the reputation as a risk that a particular
borrower enjoys with an actual or potential lender.  See also Bond;
Bridging Credit; Demand; Interest; Mixed Credits; Purchasing Power;
and Risk.


CREDITOR CLUBS.

See Paris Club.


CURRENCY.

The circulating media of exchange in a country.  Prior to World War I,
"currency" generally meant coins and paper money, but with the
expanding use of credit instruments, it has come to include checks
drawn on bank accounts, postal money orders and prepaid travelers
checks which usually require identification of maker or endorser. Most
business transactions are carried out by means of bank checks. See
also Convertibility; Devaluation; Mercantilism; Money; Par Value; and
Reserve Currency.


CURRENT ACCOUNT.

That portion of a country's balance of payments that records current
(as opposed to capital) transactions, including visible trade (exports
and imports), invisible trade (income and expenditures for services),
profits earned from foreign operations, interest and transfer
payments.  See also Balance of Payments; Capital Account; Invisible
Trade; Transfer Payments; and Visible Trade.


CUSTOMS.

The government service responsible for the assessment and collection
of import and export duties and taxes and the administration of other
laws and regulations that apply to the importation, transit and
exportation of goods.  See also Customs and Administrative Entry
Procedures; Kyoto Convention; Port of Entry; Tariff; Tariff Schedules
of the United States; Transit Zone; and Valuation.


CUSTOMS AND ADMINISTRATIVE ENTRY PROCEDURES.

Clearance formalities at national ports of entry may be considered
non-tariff barriers if they result in undue procedural delays that
raise import costs.  Such formalities may include licensing
procedures, health and sanitary controls designed to protect
consumers, certificates indicating the country of origin, and consular
invoices confirming that the shipment is what it appears to be.  See
also Consular Formalities and Documentation; Kyoto Convention;
Licensing; Non-Tariff Barriers; Port of Entry; and Quarantine,
Sanitary and Health Laws and Regulations.


CUSTOMS AREA.

A geographic area, usually but not necessarily identical with one or
several contiguous national political jurisdictions, applying a
particular tariff schedule on goods entering or leaving the area. See
also Customs; Tariffs; and Tariff Schedules.


CUSTOMS CLASSIFICATION.

The particular category in a tariff nomenclature in which a product is
classified for tariff purposes, or the procedure for determining the
appropriate tariff category in a country's nomenclature system used
for the classification, coding and description of internationally
traded goods.  Most major trading nations classify imported goods in
conformity with the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding
System, also called the Harmonized System.  The United States adopted
the Harmonized System on January 1, 1989.  See also Customs
Harmonization; Harmonized System; Tariff; and Valuation.


CUSTOMS COOPERATION COUNCIL (CCC).

See Customs Harmonization.


CUSTOMS COOPERATION COUNCIL NOMENCLATURE (CCCN).

A system for classifying goods for customs purposes, formerly known as
the Brussels Tariff Nomenclature (BTN).  See also Customs
Classification.


CUSTOMS DUTY.

See Tariff.


CUSTOMS HARMONIZATION.

International efforts to increase the uniformity of customs
nomenclatures and procedures in cooperating countries.  Discussions
and action to further these efforts are normally coordinated by the
Customs Cooperation Council (CCC), an international organization with
its secretariat headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.  The Harmonized
System, a uniform system of tariff classification adopted by most
major trading countries in recent years, was one such effort, begun in
1970.  The CCC is also involved in developing international standards
for the exchange of trade data, determining international rules of
origin, and related international customs technical questions.  See
also Customs Classification; Harmonization; Harmonized System; and
Kyoto Convention.


CUSTOMS UNION.

A group of nations that have eliminated tariffs and sometimes other
barriers that impede trade with each other, while maintaining a common
external tariff on goods imported from outside the union.  The Common
Market of the European Community is the best known example.  GATT
Article XXIV defines the meaning of a customs union in GATT and the
application of other GATT provisions to customs unions.  See also
Common External Tariff; European Community; Free Trade Area; Kyoto
Convention; Trade Diversion; and Welfare.


CUSTOMS VALUATION CODE.

A code of conduct negotiated during the Tokyo Round to establish a
uniform, fair and predictable international system for the valuation
of goods for customs purposes, and to preclude the use of arbitrary
national valuation systems as non-tariff barriers to trade.  Also
known as the GATT Valuation Code.  The code establishes the
"transaction value" -- or the price actually paid or payable for
imported goods plus certain permitted additional costs -- as the
primary method of valuation by customs officials and specifies a
hierarchy of other methods to be employed when the transaction value
cannot be used.  The code also contains technical provisions intended
to ensure equitable currency conversion, rapid clearance of goods when
there are delays in determining the value of imported goods, domestic
appeal rights, and publication of laws and regulations affecting
customs valuation.  See also Codes of Conduct; Customs; Tokyo Round;
Trade Agreements Act of 1979; and Valuation.


CUSTOMS WAREHOUSE.

See Bonded Warehouse.


CXT.

See Common External Tariff.