Environmental and International Trade: Case Study of UK Furniture

This report examines the environmental impact of international trade, focusing on a case study of the Global Furniture Alliance, a UK-based furniture importer and sales agency. The report details the company's product offerings (recliner chairs, accent chairs, and riser recliners) and their export route from the UK to Cape Town, South Africa, highlighting the shipping process, required documentation (bill of lading, bill of exchange, letter of credit, and insurance documents), and relevant laws and regulations (International Chamber of Shipping, Collision Convention, LLMC). The analysis includes considerations for product weight, temperature, packing style, and delivery details. The report also compares quotes from different shipping companies and discusses the importance of adhering to trade regulations. The report concludes by emphasizing the environmental considerations in international trade, including the impact of shipping on pollution and the depletion of natural resources.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND
INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Contents
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................3
TASK....................................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES......................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
International trade refers to delivering the products from one country to another in
respect of sustaining the longer term growth of the business in market. As trade mainly cause
both positive and negative impact upon the business. The positive impact lies in respect of
increasing the economy of the country through dealing in expanding the business regarding
importing and exporting business (Sturmey, 2017). The negative impact lies in respect of
affecting the environment regarding increasing pollution or also degrading the natural
resources. Present report is based upon the Global furniture alliances which is situated in UK
and carrying the business of importing and sales agency of their products with the help of
shipping. This report will carry the matters relating to the product details about the company
and also the route which they choose to deliver the goods to buyer and seller.
TASK
1)
Scenario of Shipment
Global Furniture Alliance is a UK based importer and sales agency who used to trade
variety of the product in the market with the help of shipping. This time organization is
looking ship different auspicious furniture from one nation to another. Recliner Chairs,
Accent Chairs and Riser Recliners in faux leather, bonded leather, fabric and real leather are
some of the primary product which will be exported from UK to another nation. At the same
time some secondary product which will be also shipped from UK to Africa. Secondary
product of the company is two variant categories of leather and fabric made cover from UK
to Africa. There are three different type of leather cover will be shipped in three different size
(Adams and Zierdt, 2016). Also, there are two different type of fabric cover which will be
exported in two different sizes. All this product of the company will be shipped in different
colour using different container as this product as to go with through the ship and there might
be many different weather which has to be seen by the product, so it is very important for all
the product to ship the different product with the help of different container. Looking at the
characteristic of different product size of different furniture will be big and they are not
flexible in nature, at the same time the characteristic of secondary product is very small in the
size. At the same time the nature of that product is that they will be flexible and can be
contain together. Primary product will be containing alone (Sui, 2018).
2)
Route through which shipment will commence
Looking at the route through which the product of the company will be shipped from
UK to Africa it has been find out that ship with the product of the company will be leaving
the port of UK from United Kingdom and will be exported to the port of Cape Town, South
Africa. Real Distance between both the ports is 7209 nm if ship used to run at an average
speed of 15 Knots then it will take 45 days for the ship to reach the port of Africa. Ship will
start from the port of London with the help of Thames River will go into the North sea and
after that will cross the English channel. After that ship will cross the Bay of Biscay and
North Atlantic Ocean to enter into the South Atlantic Ocean After crossing the same ship will
able to rich the port of Cape Town, South Africa. This product will be sold two buyer of

South Africa that is Dunamis Global furniture. Who is generally one of the most known
furniture retailer in South African market, at the same time Dunamis Global furniture also
used to export variety of the raw material to Global Furniture Alliance of UK. As it has been
find out that there are many different type of raw material which are very cheaply as compare
to UK. So they used to sometime export the raw material and on the basis of the same Global
Furniture Alliance used to develop different product in the organization.
3)
Different document which are generally require in commencing International Shipping
There are many different type of document which is requiring by the organization to
conduct a trade with the help of shipping. Some of the documents are as follows:
Bill of landing: Bill of landing is a document which is generally issued by a carrier to help the
cargo shipment. This document is generally defines as a guarantee which means that exporter
receives the payment and importers receive the merchandize. Main functions of bill of
landing are as follows:
 It is the document which helps the exporter in sending the proof to the importer that
the product which is demanded by the company has been successfully loaded to the
ship.
 It used to contain the term of contract of carriage.
 It also used to consider the title of the goods i.e. subject to the nemo dat rule.
Bill of exchange: Bill of exchange is one of another important document which are used in
international trade. This is the document which is agreement which is done by both the party.
In this one party use to grantee the other party that one party will pay fixed amount of money
on predetermine date or on the demand. In this document drawer used to draw and bill and
ask the drawee to sign the document. After that drawer used to wait for the predetermine
period and after that they demands money from the drawee of bill. Some of the information
which are included in the bill of exchange are title, Amount, As of, payee, Identification of
number and signature on bills of exchange. Different organization can redeem the bills of
exchange with different institute before it maturity but organization has to pay some fees for
same (Meral, 2018).
Letter of credit: It is mainly stated that the letter of guarantee is given by the banks regarding
securing the right of the buyers and seller in respect of getting the accurate amount paid
which is decide in the documents (Sturmey, 2017). As the contract is made between the buyer
and seller regarding paying the money on the set date and time and in case if any of the party
fail to pay money, bank is liable to pay the whole money. Thus, it carries to be the major
document which secures the right of the parties regarding facing any breach in not following
any of the terms.
Insurance documents: It refers to such documents in which the insurance is provided by the
company regarding securing their goods if they are damaged during the shipping. As
insurance are mainly created under the following aspects such as International convention on
Civil liability for oil Pollution damages, 1992 which stated that strict liability are imposed
upon the oil owners regarding sending any products in which the leakage is undertaking

(Visvikis and Panayides, 2017). The policies are also examined through viewing the Fund
convention act, 1992 and also supplementary fund Protocol, 2003 regarding providing
security to the parties if their goods are delivered through shipping.
Different laws and regulation which used to govern international shipping
International chamber of shipping is the institute which used to regulate different laws
and regulation related to international shipping.
Organization has to make sure that they used to select the shipping company which
are legally allowed to trade between two nations. As 1910 collision convention and 1972
collision regulation used to allow all the ship and provide the license to British as well as
other countries ship who are allowed to operate in the English Channel (Bramble and et.al.,
2017).
Another law is the 1976 convention of limitation of liability for Maritime Claim
(LLMC). This law in the nation used to set the variety of the limit liability which is based
upon the tonnage of the vessels concerned. This law of the shipment was generally applied on
to the ship-owner, operation, organization and manager. Amendment to 1996 protocol was
come into the action in the year June 2015.
5)
In respect of transferring the goods through ships, the basic points which is considered
is relating to the weightage of the products. As most of the cases are occurred thorough
overloading of the ships or not disclosing the accurate weight of the products instead of not
paying the higher amount (Chircop and Shan, 2020). As the charges are imposed on the bases
of quantity and weightage of the products. Thus, in respect of checking the checklist
regarding transferring the goods from one place to another, Global furniture alliances check
the following aspects such as:
 Weightage: As every products carry different weights to produce such goods. Thus, in
this aspects the weight of leather is also different depending upon the design and
outlook which is ordered by the customers. Thus, it is necessary to check the accurate
weightage of the products before finalizing the dealing of delivering the products to
different place (Bodansky, 2018).
 Temperature: The raw material used to produce the leather is different and also its
survival rate is also changed depending upon the outside temperature. Thus, it is
necessary to fix the temperature depending upon the products quality and quantity. So
that they can survive and remain stable in case of carrying the long journey.
 Packing style: This is one of the necessary things which is mainly taken care by the
dealers and also ship owner in respect of taking such products which is accurately
packed. As delivering through ship is not liable to face any such injuries if the
products is not packed in right manner (Freestone, Kwon and Lee, 2017). Thus,
minute things are to be taken care in respect of not packing too hardly that air can’t
passed or not packing too lightly, as there are chances of damaging the products.

 Consistency: It is necessary that the products must be consistent to survive in any type
of environment. As during the travelling, it is not necessary to get pleasant
environment every time, thus, results in surviving in bad condition as well.
 Delivery details: As business can only sustained in market, it the products are
delivered within the set time period and also appropriate communication is
undertaken. By this manner, they can freely communicate with the person and also
take the orders and all the details regarding the receiver which is receiving the orders
during that particular time period (Gilbert and Carvalho, 2018).
 Documentation: Before taking any order for delivery, it is necessary to assure that all
document are clear and also relevant to the order which is placed. Thus, resulting in
dealing in authentic manner and also working under the Fair Trade dealing act.
In context of recommending the various points which is useful in taking care during
shipping the products is relating to following the amended norms mentioned under the
Navigation Act of 1651 (Jones and et.al., 2017). This act is mainly designed for the UK in
respect of dealing in exporting the products to different countries. Bill of lading must be
authentic and also signed by carriers who taking the right of the products and shipper who are
in charge of shipping the accurate products.
6)
In respect of examining the quotes and shipping carriers of the UK, it is stated that in
comparison to the Global Alliances furniture, three main shipping company are identified
which deliver the goods through shipping. As in case of Ocean Freight, they mainly quoted
the prices in respect of imposing £20 pounds. Similarly, in case of Maxton shipping
company, they charge £50 pounds for delivering the leather products to Africa. Another
quotation is also gathered from the HWFS shipping company which stated that they charge
the £40 pounds in delivering the goods.
In respect of understanding the terms of contract which is made through the letter of
credit, it is stated that HWFS is carrying more stability in business and also provide the
authentic document to the shippers (Oliveira and et.al., 2017). This indicates that they are
more reliable and also provide insurance in respect of paying whole money, if the default is
raised by their own side. Thus, the strong judgment is made on the bases of the viewing the
insurance policies which is provided by the shipping company to the sellers (Metcalfe and
et.al., 2018). As customer are attracted if they find strong policies in respect of securing their
goods and provide letter of credit in respect of guaranteeing regarding paying full amount.
7)
As most of the business are dealing their products through the ships, thus in respect of
undertaking such dealing, they had to take care of the Carriage of Goods by Sea act, 1992. In
this following document are to be filled before transferring any good through ships
(Mukherjee and Liu, 2018). As documents are relating to signing the consent form regarding
agreeing that they are owners of the goods and also delivering the goods to other party. They
also had to manage the pollution through working under the Prevention of Pollution Act,
1973.

It is also stated under the Merchant shipping act, 1989, the right are given to the
parties in respect of enjoying the flexibility given under the international conventions
(European Union: Shipping Law 2018, 2020). As parties rights are also secured under the
Marine Insurance Act, 1906 which provide compensation in context of facing any damages of
goods.
In some perspective, most of the illegal crime are undertaken through the shipping
procedure, thus in respect of securing the crime from any illegal offences, than public
authorities carry the right under section 20 of the senior courts act, 1981. If any person is
convicted for any illegal offences, than it is the duty of the public officers to appoint such
person in the court within the particular time period (Crawford, 2019). In case if the disputes
is raised between the parties regarding facing any issues related to the shipping, it can be
resolved through taking the matters to the out of court settlement. In this case, arbitrator is
appointed to resolve the disputes which is mentioned under section 44 of the arbitration act,
1996 (Kopela, 2017). As in this case the powers are given to the arbitrators in respect of
resolving the matters and also give rewards in respect of settling the matters in right manner.
CONCLUSION
From the above study, the report concludes the matters relating to delivering the
goods through the ships. As every ship container are prepared in different size and quantity
and also their storages of carrying the products is also different. Thus, in this report, the
discussion is based upon the route through which the shipment of the goods is undertaken. As
various document are needed regarding shipping the products from one country to another.
The documents are related to the bill of landing, Bill of Exchange, letter of credit and also
majorly the insurance documents. It is also stated that the different laws and regulation are
imposed by the government regarding managing the international shipping such as in case of
maritime claim or also navigation act. In this report, the details of various carriers services
are also provided which are dealing in the business of shipping the products from one place to
another.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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Bodansky, D., 2018. Regulating greenhouse gas emissions from ships: The role of the
International Maritime Organization. In Ocean Law Debates. (pp. 478-501). Brill
Nijhoff.
Bramble, B. A and et.al., United Parcel Service of America Inc, 2017. Dynamic code
assignment for international shipment of an item. U.S. Patent Application
15/231,974.
Chircop, A. and Shan, D., 2020. Governance of International Shipping in the Era of
Decarbonisation: New Challenges for the IMO?. In Maritime Law in Motion. (pp. 97-
113). Springer, Cham.
Crawford, J., 2019. Brownlie's principles of public international law. Oxford University
Press, USA.
Freestone, D., Kwon, M. S. and Lee, S., 2017. Marine Environmental Protection in Asia:
Regional Implementation of imo Conventions. Asia-Pacific Journal of Ocean Law
and Policy. 2(2). pp.195-200.
Gilbert, A. and Carvalho, M., 2018. Consultation response: Environmental principles and
governance after EU exit.
Jones, E. L. and et.al., 2017. Seals and shipping: quantifying population risk and individual
exposure to vessel noise. Journal of applied ecology. 54(6). pp.1930-1940.
Kopela, S., 2017. Making ships cleaner: Reducing air pollution from international
shipping. Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental
Law. 26(3). pp.231-242.
Meral, Y., 2018. Documentary Risk in International Trade. InStrategic Design and Innovative
Thinking in Business Operations (pp. 413-431). Springer, Cham.
Metcalfe, K and et.al., 2018. Using satellite AIS to improve our understanding of shipping
and fill gaps in ocean observation data to support marine spatial planning. Journal of
Applied Ecology. 55(4). pp.1834-1845.
Mukherjee, P. K. and Liu, H., 2018. Legal Regime of Marine Insurance in Arctic Shipping:
Safety and Environmental Implications. In Sustainable Shipping in a Changing
Arctic. (pp. 191-225). Springer, Cham.
Oliveira, S. and et.al., 2017. MMC modes of delivery in housing: Effects on Housing
Association clients.
Sturmey, S. G., 2017. British shipping and world competition. Oxford University Press.
Sui, X., 2018, October. Research on International Ship Dangerous Cargo Transportation.
In 8th International Conference on Management and Computer Science (ICMCS
2018). Atlantis Press.

Visvikis, I. D. and Panayides, P. M. eds., 2017. Shipping operations management (Vol. 4).
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Online
European Union: Shipping Law 2018. 2020. [Online]. Available through: <
https://www.mondaq.com/uk/marine-shipping/728018/shipping-law-2018>.