Principio de "Conciliación uno a uno" en las Transacciones de Comercio Mercantil

“Merchant Trading Transactions” are those transactions wherein goods neither enters into India nor Moves out of India. However, shipment moves from one country outside India to another country outside India with an Indian acting as intermediary in such a transaction.

Las "Operaciones de Comercio de Mercancías" (Merchant Trading Transactions) son aquellas transacciones en las que las mercancías no entran ni salen de la India. Sin embargo, el envío se desplaza de un país fuera de la India a otro país también fuera de la India, con un intermediario indio que actúa en dicha transacción.

Con la expansión de las plataformas de comercio en línea, las Operaciones de Comercio de Mercancías se han vuelto bastante comunes, ya que resulta sencillo para una persona adquirir bienes en un país extranjero y encontrar un cliente en el mercado internacional. En el caso de estas operaciones, aunque las mercancías no entran ni salen de la India, siguen estando reguladas por el Banco de la Reserva de la India, ya que implican la entrada y salida de divisas extranjeras.

En este artículo se analiza detalladamente el principio de "Conciliación Uno a Uno" (One-to-One Matching) en las Operaciones de Comercio de Mercancías:

• A Merchant Trading Transaction involves two legs of transaction, i.e., Import Leg and Export Leg.
• Import Leg is when intermediaries based out In India procure goods from outside India and Export leg is when such goods are sold out of India.
• As per guidelines issued by Reserve Bank of India with respect to MTT vide circular No. RBI/2019-20/152 A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No.20 dated 23rd January, 2020, an MTT commences with date of shipment and ends which such shipment reaches to the destination of ultimate customer.
• Entire MTT transaction should be completed within 9 months and the outlay of Foreign Currency should not go beyond 4 months.
• In order to show compliance with RBI Guidelines, Indian Intermediary may show import leg of one MTT transaction and export leg of another MTT transaction to AD Bank. 
• E.g. An Indian Intermediary has entered into following 2 MTT Transaction:

‍

‍

• First MTT transaction has not been completed within 9 months, time stipulated by RBI. Therefore, while giving documents for verification to AD Bank, Indian Intermediary may disclose Import Leg of 1st Transaction and Export Leg of 2nd transaction to disclose that MTT-1 has been completed within permitted time.
• Therefore, RBI has directed AD bank shall ensure “One-to-One” matching of each Merchant Trading transaction, i.e.,  import transaction and export transaction should pertain to one MTT.
• If AD Bank discovers any default in any leg by the trader then such default shall be reported to the concerned regional office of RBI.

2. What are documents an AD Bank should consider for “One-to-One” Matching

2. ¿Qué documentos debe considerar un banco autorizado para la "conciliación uno a uno"?

1. Import Invoice: This is the invoice raised by the supplier, based outside India, on the Intermediary for supply of goods. Supplier enter address of Intermediary under ‘Bill to” column and address of ultimate customer, i.e., to whom goods to be delivered, under “Ship to” Column.
2. Export Invoice: This is the invoice raised by Indian Intermediary on customers based outside India. Name and address of Customer appears under “Bill to” Column.
3. Packing List: Packing list contains information about Goods to be exported including Details of Exporter/Consignor, Importer/Consignee, Invoice Number, country of origin, country of destination, description of goods etc. Therefore, information in packing list should match with the corresponding invoice prepared by the supplier.
4. Bill of Lading: A bill of lading is a legal document issued by the carrier to the shipper that contains details of goods being carried in the cargo. It contains information about Type, Quantity and destination of goods being carried. This document must be signed by an authorised representative from the carrier, shipper, and receiver and must accompany the transported items.
5. Airway Bill:  An air waybill (AWB) is a document that accompanies goods shipped by an international air courier. Air waybill is a type of Bill of Lading, but an AWB is issued in non-negotiable form, meaning there's less protection with an AWB versus bills of lading.
6. Import General Manifest (IGM): IGM is a legal document filed by the carrier with the custom authority of the designation country before the arrival of goods at the customs station. IGM contains details about Importer’s Name and address, description of goods, country of origin etc.
7. Swift Message: SWIFT is a messaging network that financial institutions use to securely transmit information and instructions through a standardized system of codes about funds transfer. 

3. Information to be matched by AD Bank

3. Información que debe conciliar el banco autorizado

El RBI no emite una lista de verificación específica de la información que el banco autorizado debe revisar para asegurar la conciliación uno a uno de las operaciones de comercio de mercancías. Sin embargo, un banco debe cotejar 18 puntos estándar para verificar que todos los documentos compartidos por el comerciante correspondan a una misma operación.

3.1 18 puntos de conciliación a considerar

‍

‍

En la tabla siguiente puede encontrar los 18 puntos de conciliación que deben considerarse como prueba irrefutable bajo el principio de uno a uno en una operación de comercio de mercancías.

3.2 Discrepancias en cierta información

Aunque la información mencionada anteriormente debe coincidir en los documentos correspondientes, pueden existir casos legítimos donde la siguiente información difiera:

3.2.1 Diferencia de peso/volumen:

1. Whether shipment is full container load (FCL) or Less than container load (LCL)
   • Full container Load is an ocean shipping term wherein supplier has enough cargo to fill a container. Therefore, the shipper books an entire container for him and all goods in the container belong to a shipper only. 
   • However, in case of Less than Container Load (LCL), a shipper does not have enough goods to fill a full container, he will book cargo with a consolidator who will combine his commodities with the goods of other shippers.
   • Therefore, in case of LCL, weight of the consignment differs from weight shown in commercial invoice.

2. Si el envío es de contenedor completo (FCL) o carga consolidada (LCL)
   • El contenedor completo es un término de transporte marítimo en el que el proveedor tiene suficiente carga para llenar un contenedor. Por lo tanto, el remitente reserva un contenedor entero para sí mismo y todos los bienes pertenecen únicamente a él.
   • Sin embargo, en el caso de la carga consolidada (LCL), el remitente no tiene suficientes bienes para llenar un contenedor completo, por lo que reserva espacio con un consolidador que combinará sus mercancías con las de otros remitentes.
   • Por lo tanto, en el caso de LCL, el peso del envío difiere del peso mostrado en la factura comercial.

3. Si el envío realizado por el remitente consolida bienes de múltiples proveedores
   • A veces, los compradores internacionales realizan pedidos a varios proveedores y prefieren que el envío sea gestionado por sus propios medios.
   • En esa situación, el comprador instruye a los comerciantes para que informen a sus proveedores, y los productos se entregan desde el almacén al almacén del remitente. El remitente envía los artículos después de recibir los bienes de varias fuentes y combinar todos los suministros en una sola carga.
   • Como resultado, el peso mostrado en la factura comercial del proveedor difiere del peso mostrado en el manifiesto de importación.

3.2.2 Mismatch of Buyer Name and Remitter’s Name

• The buyer's name should be the same on the export invoice under "Bill to," on the import invoice under "Ship to," on the import manifest and airway bill under "consignee," and finally on the swift message. 
• Any discrepancy on any document should be considered a "Buyer-Remitter" mismatch.
• During the transition phase, companies may merge or change their names, which is not reflected in transport papers, commercial invoices, or export invoices, and is not reported to customs.

To arrive at a final resolution or accept the name change, the following documents must be supplied to authenticate the name change.

• CIN: Number assigned to a business. The CIN number should be the same before and after the products are shipped. As a result, together with the application to the ROC, a copy of the CIN must be produced as evidence.
• Letterhead: A copy of the letterhead with the CIN must also be distributed.
• Court Order: A copy of the court order must also be presented as proof.
• Address proof: A copy of the utility bills will be generated as a supporting document in order to authenticate the same entity.
• PAN: For validating the subject m, both a copy of the PAN from before the merger/change in business stage and a copy of the new PAN appropriate for the new company are necessary.

4. Reporting to RBI in case of Non-compliance

As per RBI guideline names of defaulting merchant traders where outstanding reach 5% of annual export earning would be caution listed.

Merchant trader is caution listed when Merchant trader fails to adhere the merchant trade guideline i.e. Breach in merchant trade :

1. The export proceeds exceed the time limit of 270 days from the date of dispatch.
2. Foreign exchange outlay occurs after 4 months from the date of receipt of funds in the case of advance payment.
3. Merchant traders fail to provide unambiguous proof of shipment, such as transport paperwork, as required.
4. According to FTP Policy, merchant traders completed transactions for banned commodities on the import negative list.
5. After subtracting import payments and related expenses from export earnings for the specific MTT, the merchant trader fails to reach margin on merchant trade or has a reduced margin.
6. Import duties on merchant trade (excluding other import duties such as direct import and presumed import) account for 5% of yearly merchant export earnings (excluding regular exports).
7. Merchant trade announces export proceeds as conventional exports rather than declaring them as merchant trade proceeds, and takes advantage of the direct credit facility without earmarking the cash.