- W.A. - With Average
- W.A. - With average
- W.B. - Water ballast, Warehouse Book, Way Bill
- W.B./E.I. - West Britain/East Ireland
- w.b.s. - Without benefit of salvage
- W.C. - West Coast
- W.C.I. - World Confederation of Labor
- W.C.S.A. - West coast of South America
- W.D.F. - Wireless direction finder
- W.E.C.M. - Warranted existing class maintained
- W.E.U. - Western European Union
- W.F.T.U. - World Federation of Trade Unions
- w.g. - Weight guaranteed
- W.H.O. - World Health Organization
- W.M.O. - World Meteorological Organization
- W.N.A. - Winter North Atlantic
- w.o.b. - Washed overboard
- W.O.L. - Wharfowners' liability
- w.p. - Without prejudice, Weather permitting
- W.P.A. - With particular average
- w.p.p. - Waterproof paper packing
- W.R. - Warehouse receipts
- w.r.o. - War risk only
- W.R.T.D. - Without reference to date
- W.T.B.A. - Wording to be agreed
- w.w.d. - Weather working days
- W/d - Warranted
- W/M - Weight and /or Measurement
- W/W - Warehouse warrant
- WACH - West African Clearing House
- WADB - West African Development Bank
- WAEC - West African Economic Community
- WAMU - West African Monetary Union
- WAOB - World Agricultural Outlook Board
- WARC - World Administrative Radio Conference
- WARDA - West Africa Rice Development Association
- waybill - Document used as a receipt for goods. Unlike a bill
of lading it is not a cument of title. This document is also synonymous
with liner waybill, ocean waybill, or sea waybill.
- WCL - World Confederation of Labor
- Wdg. - Wording
- Webb-Pomerene Association - Associations engaged in exporting
that combine the products of similar producers for overseas sales.
These associations have partial exemption from U.S. anti-trust
laws but may not engage in import, domestic or third country trade
or combine to export services.
- West Africa Economic Community - CEAO (French: Communaute Economique
de l'Afrique de l'Ouest), created in 1974, includes: Benin, Burkina
Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal. (Togo
has observer status). The CEAO operates as a free trade area for
agricultural products and raw materials and as a preferential
trading area for approved industrial products, with a regional
cooperation tax (TCR) replacing import duties and encouraging
trade among members. A Community fund (FOSIDEC) promotes private
lender Community participation in advancement of the Community's
least developed nations (Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger).
CEAO envisions eventual creation of a customs union and coordination
of fiscal policies. Community headquarters are in Ouagadougou,
Burkina Faso.
- West Africa Rice Development Association - WARDA conducts research
on rice improvement in mangrove swamps, inland swamps, upland
conditions, and irrigated conditions. The Association is one of
several centers associated with the Consultative Group on International
Agricultural Research. WARDA was established in 1970; headquarters
are in Bouake, C"te d'Ivoire. Members include 16 West African
countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, C"te d'Ivoire, Gambia,
Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger,
Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. See: Consultative Group
on International Agricultural Research.
- West African Clearing House - WACH (French: Chambre de Cooperation
de l'Afrique de l'Ouest, CCAO) provides settlement of payments
services among central bank and other monetary authorities in
West Africa. WACH was established in 1975 (began operations in
1976); headquarters are in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Membership
includes the Central Bank of West African States (representing
Benin, Burkina Faso, C"te d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal,
and Togo) as well as The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau,
Liberia, Mauritania, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.
- West African Development Bank - The West African Development
Bank, WADB, (French: Banque Quest-Africaine de Developpement,
BOAD) promotes regional economic development and integration in
West Africa. The Bank was established in 1973 (began operations
in 1976); headquarters are in Lome, Togo. WADB members include:
Benin, Burkina Faso, C"te d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal,
and Togo.
- West African Monetary Union - WAMU (French: Union Monetaire
Quest Africaine, UMOA) began operation in 1963 and was revised
in 1973. The Union comprises seven French-speaking African countries:
Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and
Togo which share a: (a) central bank (Banque Centrale des Etats
de l'Afrique de l'Ouest) which coordinates the Union's monetary
and credit policies; (b) common currency (CFA Franc) which is
freely convertible into the French Franc at a fixed parity; and
(c) a common regional development bank, the West African Development
Bank. WAMU headquarters are in Daka, Senegal.
- Western European Union - The WEU was created in October 1954
(began operations in May 1955) to promote mutual defense and progressive
political unification of its members. The Union, which serves
interests between those furthered by the European Economic Community
and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, has faced the need
to change and has become focused on three missions: humanitarian
aid, peacekeeping, and crisis management and some peace enforcement
considerations. Membership, which included Belgium, France, Germany,
Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, the United
Kingdom, has been increasing toward approximately 40 nations as
a result of negotiations on membership or associate status with
Greece, Turkey, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, and Ireland. WEU headquarters
moved from London, England to Brussels, Belgium in December 1992.
- WEU - Western European Union
- Wf. - Wharf
- WFC - World Food Council
- WFDFI - World Federation of Development Financing Institutions
- WFP - World Food Program
- WH - World Health Organization
- wharf - Structure built alongside the water where ships berth
for loading or unloading goods.
- Wharfage - A charge assessed by a pier or dock owner for handling
incoming or outgoing cargo.
- white products - Refined products.
- WIP - World Intellectual Property Organization
- With Average - A marine insurance term meaning that a shipment
is protected from partial damage whenever the damage exceeds 3
percent (or some other percentage). If the ship is involved in
a major catastrophe, such as a collision, fire or stranding, the
minimum percentage requirement is waived and the insurance company
pays for all of the damage. See: Marine Cargo Insurance.
- Without Reserve - A term indicating that a shipper's agent
or representative is empowered to make definitive decisions and
adjustments abroad without approval of the group or individual
represented.
- WM - World Meteorological Organization
- World Administrative Radio Conference - WARC refers to the
conferences convened regularly by the United Nations' International
Telecommunications Union (ITU) to allocate and regulate radio
frequencies for the purposes of television and radio broadcasting,
telephone data communications, navigation, maritime and aeronautical
communication, and satellite broadcasting.
- World Agricultural Outlook Board - The WAOB acts as the focal
point for U.S. economic intelligence related to domestic and international
food and agriculture. The Board coordinates and clears all commodity
and aggregate agricultural and food-related data used to develop
outlook and situation material within the Department of Agriculture.
WAOB was established in 1977.
- World Bank - The World Bank is an integrated group of international
institutions which provides financial and technical assistance
to developing countries. The World Bank includes the International
Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International
Development Association. World Bank affiliates, legally and financially
separate, include the International Center for Settlement of Investment
Disputes, the International Finance Corporation, and the Multilateral
Investment Guarantee Agency. World Bank headquarters are in Washington,
D.C.
- World Confederation of Labor - The WCL represents the cultural,
economic, political, and social interests of millions of workers
in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. The
Confederation was founded in 1920 as th International Federation
of Christian Trade Unions (IFCTU .. not to be confused with ICFTU,
the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions); headquarters
are in Brussels, Belgium.
- World Federation of Development Financing Institutions - WFDFI
(Spanish: Federacion Mundial de Instituciones Financieras de Desarollo,
WFDFI) promotes improved technical operations of, and coordination
among, worldwide development banking activities. Federation members
include development financing institutions. The Federation was
established in 1979; headquarters are in Madrid, Spain.
- World Food Council - The WFC is a UN body which was created
in December 1974 to help eliminate hunger and malnutrition. The
Council monitors world food production, consumption, and trade
patterns. The Council provides a forum for international discussion
and assistance on ways of improving food production in developing
countries and in increasing world food security. WFC headquarters
are in Rome, Italy.
- World Food Program - The WFP, created in 1963, is a United
Nations program with headquarters in Rome, Italy. WFP administers
the International Emergency Food Reserve and supports projects
which incease agricultural production, nutrition, and social and
economic development in developing countries.
- World Health Organization - The WHO (French: Organisation Mondiale
de la Sante, OMS) is a specialized agency of the United Nations
which sets standards for the quality control of drugs, vaccines,
and other substances affecting health. WHO was established in
July 1946; headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland. See: Codex
Alimentarius Commission.
- World Intellectual Property Organization - WIPO (French: Organisation
Mondiale de la Propriete Intellectuelle, OMPI) promotes protection
of intellectual property around the world through cooperation
among states, and administers various "Unions," each
founded on a multilateral treaty and dealing with the legal and
administrative aspects of intellectual property. The Organization
was established in 1967 (came into force in 1970), and became
a specialized agency of the United Nations in December 1974; headquarters
are in Geneva, Switzerland.
- World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) - One of the
15 'specialized agencies' of the United Nations system of organizations.
WIPO, located in Geneva, is responsible for the promotion of the
protection of intellectual property (copyrights, trademarks, patents)
throughout the world through cooperation among states, and for
the administration of various 'Unions,' each founded on a multilateral
treaty and dealing with the legal and administrative aspects of
intellectual property.
- World Meteorological Organization - Originally established
under another name in 1875, the WMO was reconstituted and renamed
in 1951. The WMO facilitates worldwide cooperation in establishing
a network for meteorological, hydrological, and geophysical observations,
for exchanging meteorological and related information, and for
promoting standardization in meteorological measurements. Organization
headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland.
- World Tourism Organization - The WTO, associated with the United
Nations, is an intergovernmental technical body dealing with all
aspects of tourism. The Organization promotes and develops tourism
as a means of contributing to economic development, international
understanding, peace, and prosperity. The WTO provides a world
clearing house for the collection, analysis, and dissemination
of technical tourism information and it offers national tourism
administrations and organizations a means for multilateral approaches
to international discussions and negotiations on tourism policy
and practice. The Organization was established in November 1974;
headquarters are in Madrid, Spain.
- World Trade Organization - Provisions to establish the WTO
were reached in the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The WTO is scheduled to be established
no later than 1997 as an international organization of comparable
stature to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
The Organization is expected to facilitate implementation of trade
agreements reached in the Uruguay Round by bringing them under
one institutional umbrella, requiring full participation of all
countries in one new trading system, and providing a permanent
forum to discuss new issues facing the international trading system.
The WTO system will be available only to countries which: (a)
are contracting parties to the GATT, (b) agree to adhere to all
of the Uruguay Round agreements, and (c) submit schedules of market
access commitments for industrial goods, agricultural goods, and
services.
- World Traders Data Reports - WTDR is an International Trade
Administration fee-based service which provides a confidential
background report on a specific foreign firm, prepared by commercial
officers overseas. WTDRs provide information about the type of
organization, year established, relative size, number of employees,
general reputation, territory covered, language preferred, product
lines handled, principal owners, financial references, and trade
references. WTDRs include narrative information about the reliability
of the foreign firm.
- WT - World Tourism Organization, World Trade Organization
- wt. - Weight
- Wtd. - Warranted
- WTDR - World Trade Data Report
- WTDR - World Traders Data Report
- Wties - Warranties
- WTM - World Tourism Market
- Wty - Warranty
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