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Quality assurance company to provide global inspection and testing services to online trade transaction network
New York, May 2, 2000 - TradeCard, Inc., an online international trade transaction company for buyers and sellers, announced today a partnership with Bureau Veritas, a quality assurance company which has provided a wide range of inspection services to importers and exporters for over 170 years.
The agreement paves the way for TradeCard buyer members to connect to Bureau Veritas's pre- and post-export inspection services in order to ensure that imported products meet expected standards prior to shipment. In addition, the partnership provides access to Bureau Veritas' Consumer Products Division, ACTS Testing Labs, a third-party laboratory and quality assurance provider. ACTS offers a wide range of testing, inspection, and consulting services throughout the supply chain ranging from product development to final distribution.
"TradeCard allows buyers and sellers around the world access to a streamlined system of document compliance and online financial settlement," said Kurt Cavano, Chairman and CEO of TradeCard. "But buyers also need access to independent, third party testing and quality assurance services to ensure that the products they're buying meet the standards they expect. Now, because of our agreement with Bureau Veritas, buyers will be able to obtain such services through TradeCard's straightforward, easy-to-use system."
The TradeCard/Bureau Veritas partnership calls for co-marketing efforts between the two companies to their respective customer databases. Bureau Veritas joins other key TradeCard partners who provide value-added services in the areas of trade financing, inspection and logistics.
"Bureau Veritas has been providing trusted inspection services for buyers and sellers around the world for over a century" said William Maggio, Jr., Director, Business Development for the Consumer Products Division of Bureau Veritas. "Our partnership with TradeCard allows us to reach existing customers more efficiently, as well as new customers who are introduced to us through the TradeCard system."
How TradeCard works
Before using TradeCard's patented transaction system, buyers and sellers must become approved members of TradeCard by completing the online application.
When a buyer and seller agree to enter into a trade transaction, the buyer creates an electronic purchase order. The buyer and seller can then negotiate this purchase order online. TradeCard stores the draft purchase order on its secure, proprietary database, and notifies the parties via email as changes are made to the draft document.
Once the buyer and seller agree upon the terms of the purchase order, they finalize logistics details and execute the purchase order by electronic signature.
Using the purchase order data already in the TradeCard system, the seller creates a commercial invoice and packing list. Then, the seller receives an electronic notification of payment assurance, and an approved logistics provider creates proof of delivery documentation, which both parties can view through the system.
Our patented compliance engine automatically verifies that all required terms of the transaction are met by comparing the purchase order with the commercial invoice, packing list and proof of delivery documents. If discrepancies are noted, the buyer and seller can resolve them online.
Once compliance is met, TradeCard instructs a global payment provider to electronically transfer funds from the buyer's financial institution to the seller's financial institution, settling the transaction. If necessary, foreign currency exchange services can also be obtained from the global payment provider.
In addition to these core features, TradeCard members can contract for inspection services and will be able to contract for cargo insurance and other value-added services.
TradeCard is a business-to-business e-commerce infrastructure that enables buyers and sellers to conduct and settle international trade transactions securely over the Internet. By aggregating buyers, sellers and disparate trade service providers, our solution automates and streamlines existing international trade transaction processes, which are complex, paper-based, time-consuming and expensive. Our objective is to make our secure, reliable, cost-effective and easy-to-use solution the industry standard for conducting and settling international trade transactions.
TradeCard, Inc. is headquartered in New York City with offices in Hong Kong, and can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.tradecard.com.
About Bureau Veritas
Bureau Veritas is a professional firm dedicated to quality, health and safety and environment management. With a presence in 120 countries, 500 offices world-wide and a qualified workforce of more than 10,000 experts, Bureau Veritas provides an extensive range of specialized services including inspections, conformity assessment, testing, consulting & training, certifications and other quality-related activities. For more information please visit, www.bureauveritas.com or www.actstesting.com.
