Helpful links for anyone conducting international business

 

Shipping/Logistics

Ocean Containers

Hapag Lloyd has a good page describing the different types of containers and their payloads, dimensions etc …

HS Codes

Tired of guessing what HS codes you should be using? Go here.

Incoterms 2000

This is an excellent resource for Incoterms.  You can save the PDF file and/or print it off for a wallchart.

International Sailing Schedules

I almost feel bad for giving this little gem away … Pay particular attention to the point to point search on this site.  It shows what shipping lines will service what ports around the world.

Airport / Airline Codes

Here is a site for when you need to decipher international Airline/Airport codes.

Customs / Phtyo-Sanitary Compliance

Here is a professional paid subscription site.  It provides customs + documentation requirements for 180 countries around the world.

Here is a site letting you know what the packaging/crating restrictions are for most countries around the world.

Metric Conversion Calculator

Here is a good metric conversion calculator.  Weight, dims, volume etc …

 

General Interest

Currency Converter

I’m sure you already know about this one … but figured I’d put it in here anyway.

CIA World Factbook

This is a great place to get current information on political, economical issues around the world.  A good place to check if you are going to be travelling or thinking about doing business in a new part of the world.

Price of Gold

If you’re involved in mining, I’m sure you already have your favorite place to visit for current Gold prices.  Here’s a good one if you don’t.

Journal of Commerce

This is a great site for International Trade news.

Time Zones

Here is a totally user-friendly site for world time zones.

World Maps

Google Earth is by far the slickest ‘where is it?’ software.  Although … if you don’t want to / don’t have time to download it MSN Encarta is an excellent runner up.