The Trust Manual

Introduction

Exporting starts before the cargo

The first commitment is to make your company verifiable.

Exporting starts before the cargo. It starts when someone in another country must decide whether to make a commitment to your company. They still need to understand who is selling, where the supply comes from, who has authority and what supports delivery. The seller needs to make the same assessment of the buyer.

For a producer, manufacturer, originator or trading company, this work runs through the entire transaction. Sales presents terms; the source confirms supply; quality establishes a reference; logistics tests the route; finance checks the resources. Information that fails to cross these interfaces can sound convincing in a meeting and fall apart when it becomes an obligation.

This manual organizes six questions: who the company is, what it offers, what it can substantiate, who is responsible, how it gets paid and how it delivers. Trust develops when the answers can be examined, connected and updated. A good presentation helps open the conversation. Evidence makes the commitment assessable.

Use this guide to select a real offer and opportunity. Requirements vary by product, destination, contract and bank. The manual supports preparation; its value becomes visible when your team identifies a gap, assigns responsibility and obtains the confirmation needed.

The greater the commitment, the more verifiable the company needs to be.

01 · Who the company is

An identifiable company

The counterparty needs to recognize the legal entity assuming the obligation.

Start with the name that will appear in the contract. The brand, domain, presentation and legal name may differ, provided their relationship is clear. Give its registration, address, activity and contacts. Help the other party understand which entity negotiates, which supplies and which will receive payment.

The role in the supply chain also needs to be stated. A producer substantiates its production base; an originator demonstrates its relationship with supply; a trading company explains how it buys, sells and coordinates fulfilment; an agent clarifies its mandate. Each role calls for different evidence. Using photographs of a third party’s facility without explaining the relationship leaves that assessment incomplete.

Company registration information is a starting point. Checks of legal registration, address, representatives and activity should use sources suited to the information. A form completed by the company records its declarations. The person conducting due diligence must record what they could confirm and what remains open.

Apply the same care to the buyer. Identify who will import, who will sign and who will pay. A contact in a particular country may represent a distributor, manufacturer or intermediary. The distinction changes the commercial discussion and the documents that deserve examination.

The trading name opens the conversation. The legal entity assumes the commitment.

References: S02

01 · Who the company is

Who controls and who can sign

Identity, control and authority need to form a coherent picture.

A negotiation can progress with a capable contact who still needs to submit the transaction to management. Problems arise when a company treats commercial interest as authorization. Record the contact’s position, negotiating role and authority limits. Before signature, check the authority to represent the company and the validity of the instrument supporting it.

The ownership structure helps explain control of the legal entity. Depending on risk and applicable requirements, due diligence may extend to ultimate beneficial owners, the natural persons who ultimately own or control the structure. FATF addresses this transparency through standards directed at national frameworks. The specific obligation depends on the rules and participants involved.

Do not turn this assessment into indiscriminate data collection. Define the purpose of each item, who needs access and the appropriate sharing channel. A power of attorney relevant to signature should be examined by the person checking authority; personal data unrelated to the decision merely increases exposure.

Where a group includes several companies, map their relationship. Make clear who contracts, who exports, who supplies and who receives payment. A change in that configuration requires a fresh check of the affected responsibilities and documents before the next commitment is made.

Knowing your contact includes understanding the limits of their authority.

References: S01

01 · Who the company is

A presence that can be checked

The website, presentation and documents should tell the same story.

Your website is often among the first references examined by a contact who does not yet know the company. It should explain the activity, supply chain role, leadership, products and contact channel. Current information and professional English help the buyer find what they need to assess without repeated messages.

Your institutional presence should align with your documents. Check names, addresses, responsible people, product range and capabilities across the website, company profile, proposal and corporate information form. Conflicting information may have a legitimate explanation but still needs clarification. Resolve the discrepancy at its source and maintain a reference version.

Present your track record in context. State the company’s or professional’s role, when the work took place and what the record demonstrates. A photograph of a vessel shows a vessel. To support a claim about participation, volume or results, connect it to relevant evidence that you are authorized to share.

Useful institutional material makes further assessment possible. It identifies who explains the offer, who confirms capacity and how to request restricted information. It also distinguishes illustrative images from real records. Visual quality should help the reader assess the capability your team can demonstrate.

The presentation should make its claims easier to verify.

02 · What it offers

Capacity has a period and a limit

Production, availability and the right to sell are distinct pieces of information.

A company can have substantial production capacity and little availability in the requested window. Some output may be committed or depend on raw materials. Before offering a volume, identify its source, period, existing commitments and the person who can confirm the available balance.

For an originator or reseller, the question includes the relationship with supply. Which facility supports the offer? Is there a contract, mandate or other verifiable basis for selling the product? What still needs confirmation? A mill’s or producer’s capacity does not automatically become supply available to an intermediary.

Organize the answer by lot or time window. Link product, quantity, technical reference, availability, evidence and responsibility. Explain which conditions are confirmed and which depend on assembling the lot, approval or purchase. If the window changes, review the offer and the logistics and financial commitments based on that information.

Test a straightforward question with your team: if the buyer accepts the proposed terms, what still needs to happen before you can fulfil them? The answer reveals dependencies that should be visible before signature. Alternative supply, working capital and the time needed to assemble the lot must fit the commitment that sales intends to make.

Installed capacity needs to be related to the availability of the transaction.

02 · What it offers

An offer that can be executed

Product, price, timing, payment and delivery need to fit the same calculation.

The offer starts with product, origin, specification, quantity and unit. It then incorporates price, currency, validity, timing and payment terms. Each component must refer to the same configuration. A price calculated for one route cannot circulate as though it applied to every destination, volume or deadline.

ICC presents the Incoterms® rules as references for allocating delivery tasks, costs and risks. When incorporating them, state the selected rule, edition and named place or port. The contract must also address the transaction’s other matters, including payment, quality and the parties’ responsibilities.

Detail what the price includes and which expenses remain outside it. Check origination, transport, storage, inspection, insurance, financing costs and margin as applicable. Whoever assumes an expense needs to know when it arises and which resources will pay for it. The proposal should allow comparison of equivalent terms.

Control the version sent. Record the date, validity period, authorized signatory and conditions still awaiting confirmation. If freight, exchange rates, product or payment changes, repeat the relevant assessment before renewing the commitment. A clear offer reduces later explanations and helps both parties recognize exactly what they are negotiating and what their teams need to confirm.

The proposal needs to answer: who will execute each condition?

References: S03

02 · What it offers

The offer for the right buyer

Buyer Pack and Buyer Book serve different purposes.

The Buyer Pack presents your company and offer to a specific buyer. It brings together the relevant profile, technical references, executable terms and evidence that assists that assessment. A manufacturer may need to start with a sample and specification. A distributor may examine packaging, frequency and availability. The presentation follows the identified purchasing process.

The Buyer Book is the internal register of qualified buyers. It records the company, its role, the contact, the relationship’s origin, the requirement, the commercial stage and qualification evidence. It also preserves open items, the next action and its owner. It shows what the team knows and needs to investigate.

A contact list can start research. To represent an opportunity, it must develop into an identified requirement compatible with the offer. A response, information request, proposal, negotiation and contract are distinct stages. Record progress with corresponding evidence, without attributing a commitment that the contact has never made.

Build the Buyer Pack from this understanding. Send what supports that account’s assessment and make additional information available through the appropriate channel. The document should explain how the discussion continues: which technical confirmation is missing, who can provide it and which decision the buyer is preparing.

A well-directed presentation begins with a well-understood account.

03 · What it can substantiate

Declared, verified, pending, expired

The evidence status needs to travel with the information.

Consider a statement of availability. Sales received it from the supplier but has not checked the period or existing commitments. The information is declared. Following the relevant review, record what was verified, the date and the limits.

Use four statuses: declared, verified, pending and expired. Declared identifies the origin of the statement. Verified records a specific check. Pending shows what is missing for the decision. Expired indicates a reference requiring revalidation. These statuses prevent reuse of another window’s confirmation as current.

For each item of evidence, retain the issuer, reference, date, validity where applicable, verification source and reviewer. Associate the document with the information it supports. A laboratory report can be authentic and relate to a different lot; a registration record can confirm the company’s existence while leaving its operational capacity unresolved.

Decide whether to proceed based on what was checked for that purpose. A verified item does not automatically approve the whole transaction. The record should also show gaps and limits. Anyone returning to it needs to understand why the team proceeded, what remained conditional and who undertook the next confirmation.

“Verified” needs to explain what was checked and for which decision.

03 · What it can substantiate

Due diligence at both ends

Buyer and seller need to support the commitments they assume.

When your company sells, it needs to assess the counterparty that will buy and pay. When it purchases or originates, it needs to assess the supplier. In both directions, the question is concrete: can this entity, with these people and conditions, perform the role it is assuming? The International Trade Administration recommends examining markets, buyers and partners and continuing due diligence as expansion progresses.

Organize the investigation around the transaction. Identity, authority, track record, capacity and financial position call for sources suited to each subject. Applicable sanctions and restrictions also enter the assessment. Country, product, route, bank and third parties can change what needs examination. The form gathers information; verification requires additional work.

Observe inconsistencies without immediately treating them as conclusions. A conflicting address, third-party account or representative with unsubstantiated authority calls for explanation and evidence. Record the response, check the source and submit residual risk to an authorized decision-maker. If a gap prevents a sound commitment, suspend the affected action.

Due diligence continues beyond initial registration. Changes in control, contact, bank, destination or commercial terms may require reassessment. The record should help the team recognize those changes and identify earlier decisions that depended on information that has now changed.

Assessing the buyer deserves the same care applied to supply.

References: S02

03 · What it can substantiate

Quality linked to the actual product

Specification, sample and report need to refer to the same offer.

The technical reference enables a discussion about the same product. Identify specification, composition where relevant, tolerances, application and storage conditions. For a commodity, differences in quality and assessment method can alter price, acceptance and destination. Identify the reference used and who confirmed it.

If there is a sample, record its origin and representativeness. Explain its relationship to the lot that will be supplied. An analysis report or certificate of analysis, COA, should be read with the product, lot, issuer, date and method identified. Sample approval, inspection and contractual acceptance have distinct purposes that need to be agreed.

Certifications require checks of authenticity, validity and scope. Establish which entity, facility, product or process they cover and which requirement they are intended to satisfy. A badge on a cover does not resolve this assessment. Buyer and destination requirements must be confirmed for the transaction, without automatically transferring requirements from one market to another.

Agree how discrepancies will be handled before shipment. Who samples, who tests, which reference guides the decision and how will a complaint be recorded? These arrangements connect technical material to execution. A prepared company can locate evidence supporting the promised quality and identify who will respond if the observed result requires explanation.

Technical evidence needs to follow the lot and the agreed conditions.

04 · Who is responsible

A responsible person for every obligation

Coordination requires visible information and authority.

A transaction involves many people, but each obligation needs an identifiable owner. Product, quality, lot assembly, sales, legal, finance, transport and documents may sit with different teams. Coordination connects these functions and shows where a decision depends on someone else’s confirmation.

Record who prepares the information, who checks it and who can approve the commitment. Combining roles requires capacity and authority. Make clear which volume, price, expense and contract changes require further approval. A meeting ends more usefully when each open item has a name, deliverable and agreed deadline.

Assign the interfaces with service providers as well. The customs representative needs the correct documentary reference; the carrier needs the schedule; the bank needs to examine payment terms; the inspector needs to know what to verify. When something changes, identify who needs to receive the update and confirm its impact.

The result becomes visible when the team can explain the next milestone without depending on one individual. Which information is ready? Which decision is missing? Who can authorize it? This understanding keeps work moving and routes exceptions while there is still time to adjust the affected commitment and communicate with the participants involved in the next step.

An open item without an owner remains open after the meeting.

04 · Who is responsible

Documents that explain their obligations

The acronym cannot replace reading the content.

RFQ, LOI, SCO, FCO, PO, ICPO, proforma and SPA appear in negotiations under different commercial practices. The useful question is what each document does within that process: enquiry, expression of interest, offer, order or contract. Examine the product, terms, signatory, validity and commitment its content seeks to establish.

There is no universal sequence of acronyms that approves every transaction. A document’s effect depends on its content and applicable law. A term such as “irrevocable” deserves careful reading; the heading alone does not demonstrate solvency, authority or an enforceable obligation. Before signature, legal review should consider the specific configuration.

The contract should connect quality, quantity, delivery, price and payment with the parties’ responsibilities. Also record how default, complaints, amendments, termination and disputes will be handled. The prevailing language and applicable law should be conscious choices. Parties need to understand the obligations they assume and may enforce.

If agents or intermediaries are involved, define their authority, services and remuneration. Confidentiality, non-circumvention and commission agreements should address an identified need. Clarify the beneficiary, calculation basis and payment trigger. Preserve versions, signatures and amendments so that a negotiated condition can be located when a dispute arises during execution.

Read the commitment before relying on the document’s name.

04 · Who is responsible

Governance that follows the transaction

MESA organizes the assessment; authorized people make the decisions.

At Taylor, MESA Internacional organizes opportunity assessment and connects counterparty, offer, transaction economics, resources and risks. It works across the process within the contracted mandate. It submits matters to the defined approval levels so that authorized people can decide whether an opportunity proceeds, needs adjustment or should be discontinued.

This approach connects scattered information to a decision. The record should bring together the configuration examined, relevant evidence, obstacles, conditions for proceeding and responsible people. A recommendation retains its limits. Approval of commercial terms does not automatically approve every subsequent change in product, route or payment.

Organize the data room with an index, versions and proportionate permissions. Identify what may circulate commercially and what requires restricted access. Financial documents, representation instruments and personal data should reach the people who need to examine them through an appropriate channel. The history should allow the reference used to be recovered without multiplying conflicting copies.

Prepare the handling of exceptions too. When suspected fraud, a supply failure or a bank account change arises, the team needs to know who can suspend the action, verify the facts and authorize resumption. Governance becomes concrete when this response works at the moment the transaction changes and the next commitment needs a fresh decision.

A useful decision retains its basis, limits and responsible people.

05 · How it gets paid

Cash is needed before payment arrives

The company must sustain the cycle it is selling.

The selling price can look attractive while requiring resources your company does not have available. Purchase or lot assembly, freight, storage, inspection, taxes and bank expenses occur at different times. Payment needs to be connected to this schedule, with margin and exposure assessed for the transaction’s configuration.

Map inflows and outflows by milestone. Identify what will be paid before shipment, what depends on documents and what may remain open after delivery. Record your own funds, credit actually available and conditions still under assessment. Intended financing remains a dependency until confirmed.

Examine the effect of a delay consistent with known risks. If a document needs correction or a delivery date changes, which payments will still fall due? The team needs to know who covers that interval and which condition requires a fresh decision. Financing costs and material variations should return to the calculation before consuming the planned margin.

The buyer’s assessment is part of this picture. Commercial timing, exposure limits and payment method should match financial capacity and the risk your company accepts. Whoever approves the sale needs to see the cash schedule and understand which confirmations are still needed to sustain the cycle through payment and final reconciliation.

A sale needs resources while the money is still outstanding.

05 · How it gets paid

The instrument must fit the transaction

The bank should examine wording, conditions and documents before commitment.

Choose the payment method with the counterparty and your finance team. Advance payment, collection, open-account terms and bank instruments allocate risks differently. The choice needs to consider the relationship, credit, country, costs, timing and ability to produce the required documents. No acronym resolves that combination on its own.

A documentary letter of credit, LC, involves a bank undertaking conditional on presentation of the documents required under its terms. The International Trade Administration highlights documentary errors and discrepancies and the need to consult the bank beforehand. Review while the negotiated condition can still be adjusted.

An LC and a standby letter of credit, SBLC, have different functions and require their own assessment. Examine the actual instrument proposed, its issuing bank, beneficiary, validity, presentation conditions and incorporated rules. Finance and the bank should confirm suitability; the commercial contract needs to reflect conditions the parties can meet.

Compare documentary requirements with the planned execution. Who will issue each document? Which deadline depends on third parties? How will discrepancies and additional costs be handled? If a condition requires evidence your team cannot obtain within the window, resolve the incompatibility before contracting supply or mobilizing cargo. The banking terms and operational plan need to work together.

Banking terms need to be read alongside what the transaction can substantiate.

References: S04, S05

05 · How it gets paid

Confirm the account and the content

Messages, letters and bank details require appropriate verification.

Confirm the beneficiary account through a channel independent of the payment request. Connect the account holder to the contracting party and explain any third-party involvement. An account change requires a fresh check with the authorized contact using a previously validated reference. The process should allow the instruction to be suspended while the change is examined.

Apply the same attention to documents presented as evidence of resources or banking readiness. POF, BCL and RWA may circulate with different content. Identify issuer, recipient, purpose and scope, and request bank analysis when needed. A copy forwarded by the contact still requires authentication through a method appropriate to the decision.

The Swift MT799 standard corresponds to a free-format message. The code alone does not establish blocked funds or constitute a payment guarantee. Assessment requires the content, context and bank confirmation. Assess the message and any financial obligation it describes separately.

After receiving payment, reconcile the amount, currency, date, expenses and contract reference. Identify differences and assign their resolution. Sales needs to know whether the financial milestone was met on the agreed terms; finance needs a reference that supports closing the transaction and explaining any remaining balance, charge or obligation.

A payment instruction proceeds only after the relevant confirmation.

References: S05

06 · How it delivers

The destination changes preparation

Product, classification, route and importer determine what needs checking.

Market access starts with the product and the specific destination. Identify tariff classification, use, presentation, origin, importer and route. A country contains private companies, manufacturers, distributors, state-owned enterprises and public bodies with different purchasing processes. Know which entity will assess the offer and which will undertake the import.

In Brazil, examine registration, representation, the export declaration, DU-E, and administrative treatment according to the operating model. Siscomex manuals distinguish declaration procedures from the LPCO required for exports subject to administrative controls. Consult the current official reference for the product and involve the people responsible for customs execution.

For plant products, MAPA provides references on phytosanitary requirements, certification and export protocols. Confirm the requirement relevant to the product and importing country. Sanitary, technical and labelling rules and any destination certifications should be examined for the specific configuration, including with the buyer and competent participants.

Do this before fixing timing and price. A requirement may affect eligible origin, treatment, packaging, inspection or preparation time. Document who will confirm it and which evidence will allow progress. Market knowledge starts the enquiry; each transaction needs its own current verification basis.

Preparation needs to reach the actual destination and importer.

References: S06, S07

06 · How it delivers

Documents that follow the cargo

Contract, product, transport and payment need to align.

Build the document matrix from the transaction. A commercial invoice, packing list where applicable, transport document, origin, quality or inspection certificates and sanitary documents may be required. The International Trade Administration recommends confirming documents with the importer and logistics provider and recognizes that particular products need specific documents.

Define issuer, reference, time needed to obtain each document and responsibility for checking. Banking and transport documents and official certificates must come from competent issuers. A company can organize data and requests, but preparing a file that looks official cannot replace legitimate issuance. Distinguish drafts, issued documents and corrected versions.

Check fields across the contract, invoice, product, transport and bank instrument. Names, quantities, units, locations, dates and references should align with the relevant requirements. Perform the check before a presentation that could generate cost, delay or a correction. Also identify who retains originals and who may distribute copies.

For bulk cargo, examine which weight and cargo records actually apply. Adapt the matrix to the transaction rather than copying another sale’s document package. When a discrepancy arises, preserve the correction trail and inform anyone who depends on the altered field to release payment, transport, customs clearance or receipt.

A useful document can be linked to the obligation and cargo it accompanies.

References: S08

06 · How it delivers

Delivery includes closing the cycle

The cycle ends with reconciled records and assigned open items.

Confirm route, transport, terminal, storage, inspection and scheduling with whoever will perform each service. Timing presented to the buyer needs to account for dependencies at origin and destination. Extraordinary costs and delays require defined responsibility, particularly where a change affects several participants.

During execution, track milestones and incidents against the same reference used for the decision. If volume, quality, timing or payment changes, identify affected commitments. The authorized team decides the adjustment before assuming new obligations. Update participants so that the next schedule uses the terms actually approved.

Shipment produces important evidence, but receipts, complaints, expenses and balances may still need reconciliation. Connect what was contracted to what was performed. Locate differences in quantity, quality, timing and cost, and document their treatment. An assigned open item should show its owner, action and condition for closure.

This closing work prepares continuity. Record which suppliers and providers fulfilled their roles, where rework occurred and which conditions need to change. The track record informs the next assessment. Before repeating the transaction, update availability, buyer, resources and risks. The next cycle should build on learning and present conditions, with its own approval of the commitments to be assumed by the company and the other participants.

Continuity begins when the company can explain the completed cycle.

Closing

From reading to the next commitment

Choose an offer. Examine the evidence. Define the next confirmation.

Return to an offer your team intends to negotiate. Answer the manual’s six questions with retrievable references. Who is the company? What does it offer? What can it substantiate? Who is responsible? How does it get paid? How does it deliver? Identify where the answer still depends on a declaration and what needs checking before the next commitment.

Use the accompanying checklist as a working inventory. Assess each item’s applicability and record evidence, issuer, date, owner, open issue and decision to proceed. “Not applicable” needs a reason; missing information should be treated as a gap. Build an assessment the team can use and update.

At Taylor, IMAT organizes preparation and export capability. Vessel Ready is the checkpoint within that preparation. Execution through Vessel ONE depends on current conditions, its own contracted scope and approval. MESA Internacional supports assessment throughout the process. Buyer Book and Buyer Pack continue to serve buyer registration and offer presentation respectively.

This material grants no badge or certification and guarantees no sales. Trust requires evidence, responsibility and the ability to perform. The next step is concrete: bring together the selected offer, identify responsible people and obtain the confirmations needed to discuss the transaction clearly and assume only commitments the company can sustain.

Trust requires evidence and continues to be built through execution.