How to Address Foreign Regulations

When you are dealing in an international environment- one of the big complexities could be the fact that you are not only dealing with the regulations of your own country but that of the other country to.

If you are a manufacturer for example and you want to export your product to Europe you will need CE and RoHS certification. In my field of telecommunications, certain countries require homologation tests on your equipment, and there are many variations of these requirements.

The first and most important thing to get done when you plan to address a foreign market is to find someone who understands the regulations in that market. You may get all of your information from a customer, a distributor, an agent, a local lawyer, a goverment regulator, or maybe even the foreign country’s embassy.  It is no use trying to do business in a foreign market without understanding the constraints or additional costs you may face.

Once you understand the regulatory environment for your product or service, you still have another thing to address- the foreign commercial regulations. These include any banking or legal regulations which you will need to understand. For example, most countries allow for payment of goods or services with Letters of Credit. However, some places will not guarantee on this Letter of Credit. Other countries may not be allowed to pay for things other than in their local currency. This may or may not be a problem, depending on whether there are any restrictions on the export of currency.

All of these issues are not meant to dissuade you for working on international business, rather they illustrate the added level of complexities you will need to thoroughly understand.