O
- OVs
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- o.a. - Over all
- O.A.L. - Overall length
- O.B.O. - Oil/bulk/ore carrier
- O.C.I.M.F. - Oil companies International Marine Forum
- O.E.C.D. - Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
- O.G.P.I - Original fross premium income (reinsurance)
- O.M.C.A.S. - Outstanding marine claims advisory settlements
- O.N.P.I. - Original net premium income (reinsurance)
- O.N.R. - Original net rate
- O.P. - Open (or floating) policy
- O.P.E.C. - Organisation of PetroleumExporting Countries
- O.R. - Owner's risk, Original rate
- O.S.D. - Open shelter deck
- o/a - On account of
- O/b - On board
- o/b - On or before
- O/C - Open charter. Open cover. Old charter. Old crop
- o/c - Overcharge
- o/c - Overcharge, open cover
- o/d - On demand
- O/D - Overdeck
- O/o - Order of
- O/R - Overrideing commission
- O/S - On sample, Out of stock, On sale or return
- O/t - On truck
- OAPEC - Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries
- OAS - Organization of American States
- OATUU - Organization of African Trade Union Unity
- OAU - Organization of African Unity
- OBL - Ocean Bill of Lading
- obo - Oil/bulk/ore carrier
- OBR - Overseas Business Report
- OBU - Offshore Banking Unit
- OC - Operating Committee
- Oc.B/L - Ocean bill of landing
- Occ. - Occurrence
- Ocean Bill of Lading - A receipt for the cargo and a contract
for transportation between a shipper and the ocean carrier. It
may also be used as an instrument of ownership which can be bought,
sold, or traded while the goods are in transit. To be used in
this manner, it must be a negotiable "Order" Bill-of-Lading.-
A Clean Bill-of-Lading is issued when the shipment is received
in good order. If damaged or a shortage is noted, a clean bill-of-lading
will not be issued.- An On Board Bill-of-Lading certifies that
the cargo has been placed aboard the named vessel and is signed
by the master of the vessel or his representative. On letter of
credit transactions, an On Board Bill-of-Lading is usually necessary
for the shipper to obtain payment from the bank. When all Bills-of-Lading
are processed a ship's manifest is prepared by the steamship line.
This summarizes all cargo aboard the vessel by port of loading
and discharge. - An Inland Bill-of-Lading (a waybill on rail or
the "pro forma" bill-of-lading in trucking) is used
to document the transportation of the goods between the port and
the point of origin or destination. It should contain information
such as marks, numbers, steamship line, and similar information
to match with a dock receipt.
- Ocean Freight Differential - OFD is the amount by which the
cost of the ocean freight bill for the portion of commodities
required to be carried on U.S. flag vessels exceeds the cost of
carrying the same amount on foreign flag vessels. When applied
to agricultural commodities shipped under Food for Peace, OFD
is the amount paid by the Commodity Credit Corporation.
- Ocean Freight Forwarder - See: Freight Forwarder.
- ODA - Official Development Assistance
- ODS - Operating Differential Subsidy
- OEA - Organizacion de los Estados Americanos
- OECD - Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
- OECD - Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
- OECF - Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund
- OECS - Organization of Eastern Caribbean States
- OEL - Office of Export Licensing
- OEM - Original Equipment Manufacture
- OFAC - Office of Foreign Assets Control
- OFD - Ocean Freight Differential
- Offene Handelsgesellschaft - OHG (German, meaning: "general
partnership") is characterized by the unlimited and direct
liability of all partners who are jointly and severally liable.
Their liability cannot be restricted. The partnership must carry
the family name of at least one partner with reference to the
kind of partnership (such as "& Co.").
- Office of International Cooperation and Development - The Department
of Agriculture's OICD is responsible for cooperative international
research, scientific and technical exchanges, and liaison with
internaitonal agricultural organizations. OICD also directs training
and technical assistance in efforts in approximately 80 development
countries.
- Office of Munitions Control - See: Defense Trade Controls.
- Official Development Assistance - Financial flows to developing
countries and multilateral institutions provided by official agencies
of national, state, or local governments. Each transaction must
be:- administered with the promotion of the economic development
and welfare of developing countries as its main objective; and
concessional in character and contain a grant element of at least
25 percent.
- Offsets - The term offsets is an umbrella label for a broad
range of industrial and commercial compensation practices required
as a condition of purchase in commercial or government-to-government
sales of either military or high-cost civilian hardware. Whether
commercial or military, offsets involve overseas production that
results in the creation or expansion of industrial capacity in
the importer's country. The compensatory forms of offset include
coproduction, licensed production, subcontractor production, overseas
investment, and technology transfer. Coproduction permits a foreign
government or producer to acquire the technical information to
manufacture all or part of a U.S.-origin article. Licensed production
of a U.S.-origin article involves transfer of technical information
under direct commercial arrangements between a U.S. manufacturer
and a foreign government or producer. Subcontractor production
of a U.S.-origin article usually involves a direct commercial
arrangement between the U.S. manufacturer and a foreign producer
but does not necessarily involve license of technical information.
Overseas investment arising from an offset agreement involves
capital contribution toward the establishment or expansion of
a subsidiary or joint venture in a foreign country. Technology
transfer arises from agreement to conduct research and development
abroad, to provide technical assistance to a subsidiary or joint
venture of overseas investment, or to perform other activities
under direct commercial arrangement between a U.S. manufacturer
and a foreign entity. Countries require offsets for a variety
of reasons: to ease (or "offset") the burden of large
defense purchases on their economies, to increase domestic employment,
to obtain desired technology, or to promote targeted industrial
sectors. Governments sometimes impose offset requirements on foreign
exporters, as a condition for approval of major sales agreements
in an effort to either reduce the adverse trade impact of a major
sale or to gain specified industrial benefits for the importing
country. In these circumstances, offset requirements may be direct
or indirect, depending on whether the goods and services are integral
parts of the product. In a direct offset, a U.S. manufacturer
selling a product uses a component that is made in the purchasing
country. In an indirect offset, the exporter would buy products
that are peripheral to the manufacture of its product. See: Countertrade.
- Offshore Banking Center - See: Offshore Banking Unit.
- Offshore Banking Unit - An OBU is normally a foreign bank which
conducts domestic moneymarket, Eurocurrency, and foreign exchange
settlements. OBUs cannot accept domestic depostis but their activities
are unrestricted by domestic authorities. OBUs are located in
major financial centers (known as offshore banking centers) with
liberal reserve, tax, and capital market requirements.
- Offshore Dollars - See: Eurodollars.
- Offshore Manufacturing - Offshore manufacturing is the foreign
manufacture of goods by a domestic firm primarily for import into
its home country.
- OHG - Offene Handelsgesellschaft
- OIC - Organization of the Islamic Conference
- OICD - Office of International Cooperation and Development
- oil port - Port whose main or only type of cargo handled is
oil. This port is often characterized with deep water jetties
to accommodate large oil tankers and with storage tanks and refineries.
- Old-To-Market - As defined by the International Trade Administration,
old-to-market is a term which refers to committed/experienced
larger-scale firms. A significant portion of manufacturing capability
may be foreign sourced. Export sales volume is often in excess
of 15 percent of total sales.
- OMA - Orderly Marketing Agreement
- OMC - Office of Munitions Control
- OMPI - Organisation Mondiale de la Propriete Intellectuelle
- OMVG - Organisation pour la Mise en Valeur du Fleuve Gambie
- OMVS - Organisation pour la Mise en Valeur du Fleuve Senegal
- OPEC - Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
- Open Account - A trade arrangement in which goods are shipped
to a foreign buyer before, and without written guarantee of, payment.
Because this method poses an obvious risk to the supplier, it
is essential that the buyer's integrity be unquestionable.
- Open Insurance Policy - A marine insurance policy that applies
to all shipments made by an exporter over a period of time rather
than to a single shipment.
- open rate - Freight rate negotiated by a shipper with a shipping
line for shipping in excess of a minimum agreed quantity of cargo
on any one ship.
- open side container - Shipping container with side doors that
drop down to give unrestricted access to the sides of the container
for loading or discharging.
- open top container - Shipping container that has an open top
instead of a solid roof to enable cargo, such as timber, to be
loaded from the top. The container is covered by waterproof sheeting
while in transit.
- Operating Committee - The Operating Committee (chaired by the
Commerce Department) is the first step in resolving interagency
disputes over the disposition of license applications for dual-use
items not reviewed by one of the other interagency working groups.
The other working groups include: (a) the Subgroup on Nuclear
Export Coordination (SNEC), chaired by State for applications
involving nuclear concerns; (b) the Missile Technology Export
Control Group (MTEC), chaired by State for applications involving
missile technology concerns; and (c) the "Shield," chaired
by State for applications involving chemical or biological warfare
concerns. These committees review applications and participate
in the dispute resolution. Prior to any escalation to the Advisory
Committee on Export Policy (ACEP), all applications must be reviewed
by one of these working groups. See: Advisory Committee on Export
Policy.
- Operating Differential Subsidy - ODS is a payment which the
U.S. government makes to vessels carrying the American flag to
offset the difference in operating costs between U.S. and foreign
carriers.
- Operation Exodus - Operation Exodus is a U.S. Customs Service
export enforcement program that was developed in 1981 to help
stem the flow of the illegal export of U.S.-sourced arms and technology
to the Soviet bloc and other prohibited destinations.
- OPIC - Overseas Private Investment Corporation
- OPIC - Overseas Private Investment Corporation
- optional cargo - Cargo that is destined for one of the ship's
discharge ports, where the exact port is not known when the goods
are loaded. The optional cargo is stowed so that it can be removed
at any of the optional ports without disturbing other cargo.
- Orderly Marketing Agreement - A bilateral agreement between
governments by which one government limits exports to the other.
Similar to a voluntary export restriction agreement or a voluntary
restraint agreement. Used to address injury to a domestic industry.
Contracts negotiated between two or more governments, in which
the exporting nation undertakes to ensure that international trade
in specified "sensitive" products will not disrupt,
threaten, or impair competitive industries or workers in importing
countries.
- Orderly Marketing Agreements (OMA) - Bilateral agreements limiting
imports from one country to another. OMAs are generally undertaken
to avoid imposition of unilateral import restrictions.
- Organisation Mondiale de la Propriete Intellectuelle - See:
World Intellectual Property Organization.
- Organisation pour la Mise en Valeur du Fleuve Gambie - See:
Gambia River Basin Development Organization.
- Organisation pour la Mise en Valeur du Fleuve Senegal - See:
Organization for the Development of the Senegal River.
- Organizacion de los Estados Americanos - See: Organization
of American States.
- Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development - OECD
provides a forum for discussion of common economic and social
issues facing the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Japan,
Australia, and New Zealand. OECD was founded in September 1960
as successor to the Organization for European Economic Cooperation
(OEEC) which had administered European participation in the Marshall
Plan. OECD seeks "to achieve the highest sustainable economic
growth and employment and a rising standard of living in member
countries while maintaining financial stability and thus contribute
to the world economy." Members include: Australia, Austria,
Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland,
Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand,
Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United
Kingdom, and the United States. OECD headquarters are in Paris,
France. See: Arrangement on Guidelines for Officially Supported
Export Credits.
- Organization for the Development of the Senegal River - The
Organization (French: Organisation pour la Mise en Valeur du Fleuve
Senegal, OMVS) promotes hydroelectric, irrigation and navigation
use of the Senegal river. The organization was established in
March 1972; headquarters are in Dakar, Senegal. Members include:
Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, and Senegal.
- Organization of African Trade Union Unity - OATUU is recognized
as the sole representative of African organized labor by the Organization
of African Unity (OAU) and the International Labor Organization
(ILO). OATUU is formally non-aligned and independent of all internaitonal
trade union organizations, but maintains relations with trade
unions worldwide. OATUU headquarters are in Accra, Ghana.
- Organization of African Unity - The OAU, founded in May 1963
with 32 African countries, has since grown beyond 5 members. The
Organization aims to further African unity and solidarity, to
coordinate political, economic, cultural, scientific, and defense
policies; and to eliminate colonialism in Africa. Members include:
Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon,
Cape Verde, Central Africa Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Cote
d'Ivoire, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethopia, Gabon, the Gambia,
Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya,
Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique,
Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal,
Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania,
Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zaire, Zambia, Zimbabwe. OAU headquarters
are in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
- Organization of American States - The OAS (Spanish: Organizacion
de los Estados Americanos, OEA), or the Pan American Union, is
a regional organization created in Bogota, Colombia in April 1948
(entered into force in December 1951) which promotes Latin American
economic and social development. Members include the United States,
Mexico, and most Central American, South American, and Caribbean
nations. Members include: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, the
Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia,
Costa Rica, Cuba (participation suspended), Dominica, Dominican
Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti,
Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru,
St. Christopher-Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines,
Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States, Uruguay, and
Venezuela. The U.S. accredits an Ambassador to the OAS. The OAS
secretariat is located in Washington, D.C. See: Sistema de Informacion
al Comercio Exterior.
- Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries - OAPEC
was created in 1968; members include: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt,
Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and the United
Arab Emirates. Headquarters are in Cairo, Egypt. See: Organization
of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
- Organization of Eastern Caribbean States - OECS was intended
to promote territorial integrity; changing focus includes the
recent founding of an export development agency. The Organization
was established in 1981; headquarters are in St. Lucia. Members
include: Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint
Christopher and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, and the Grenadines.
- Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries - An association
of the world's oil-producing countries, formed in 1960, with headquarters
in Vienna, Austria. The chief purpose of OPEC is to coordinate
the petroleum policies of its members: Algeria, Ecuador, Gabon,
Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,
the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. See: Organization of
Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries.
- Organization of the Islamic Conference - The OIC, established
in May 1971, promotes cooperation in cultural, economics, scientific
and social areas among Islamic nations. Headquarters are located
in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. About half the ICO members are also members
of the Organization of African Unity. OIC members include: Afghanistan,
Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Cameroon,
Chad, Comoros, Cyprus, Djibouti, Egypt, Gabon, the Gambia, Guinea,
Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon,
Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria,
Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia,
Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, the United Arab Emirates,
and Yemen.
- Orientation Visits - See: Trade and Development Agency.
- original bill of lading - Bill of lading that bears the original
signature of the master of a ship or his agent.
- OTM - Old-To-Market
- Overseas Business Reports - These are marketing studies of
America's major trading partners which provide updated export
and economic outlooks, industrial trends, trade regulations, distribution
and sales channels, transportation, and credit situation in individual
countries.
- Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund - The OECF, a Japanese government
development financial institution, provides developing countries
and areas with grants and long-term, low-interest loans. As a
result of difficulty in distinguishing between the Fund and the
Export-Import Bank of Japan, a 1975 reorganization put OECF in
charge of all direct loans to be made as official development
assistance (ODA) with the grant element of 25 percent of more.
The Fund was created in 1961; headquarters are in Tokyo, Japan.
See: Export-Import Bank of Japan Japan International Cooperation
Agency.
- Overseas Private Investment Corporation - OPIC is a government
corporation which assists U.S. private investments in less developed
nations by providing direct loans and loan guarantees, insuring
against a broad range of political risks, and providng a variety
of investor services. The overseas investments may include distributorships
owned by U.S. manufacturers which are consistent with the economic
interests of both the United States and the developing country
involved. OPIC was formed as a part of the Agency for International
Development in 1961 and became an independent agency 10 years
later.
- overstow - To stow an item of cargo on top of another in a
ship.
- OVs - Orientation Visits
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