International Trade Finance Terms from TEFO - V

V

Validity

1. Validity - Legal sufficiency. Mere regularity in the execution of documents may not be enough for "legal sufficiency."
2. The time period for which a letter of credit is valid.

Valuation

The act of ascertaining the worth of a thing. The estimated worth of a thing.

Valuation Charges

Transportation charges assessed shippers who declare for carriage a value of goods higher than the carriers' limits of liability. They may be in lieu of or in addition to regular freight charges.

Value Added

The amount by which the value of an article is increased at each stage of its production, exclusive of initial costs.

Value Added Tax

An indirect tax on consumption that is assessed on the increased value of goods at each discrete point in the chain of production and distribution, from the raw material stage to final consumption. The tax on processors or merchants is levied on the amount by which they increase the value of items they purchase and resell.

Vendor

A company or individual that sells goods or services. A merchant, a retail dealer; a supplier; one who buys to sell.

Vessel Ton

A unit of measurement of vessels which provides that 100 cubic feet of vessel volume equals one ton.

Visa

A stamp, seal or endorsement on a document validating it for a particular use such as on a passport admitting the holder to a country, or on a license issued by the government of an exporting country for the export to a specific importing country of a certain quantity of a quota controlled commodity subject to a voluntary export restriction or a voluntary restraint agreement.

Volume Rate

A freight rate assessed in connection with a specified volume of freight based upon the premise that it will be substantial in total over a period of time. It is generally a lower rate than normally assessed for smaller lots of cargo.

Voluntary Export Restriction

An understanding between trading partners in which the exporting nation, in order to reduce trade friction, agrees to limit exports of a particular good to the other partner.

Voluntary Restraint Agreements

Informal bilateral or multilateral arrangements through which the exporting nations voluntarily restrain certain exports, usually through export quotas, to avoid economic dislocation in an importing country and to avert the possible imposition of mandatory import restrictions by the importing country.