DPU? FAS? FOB? What’s that about?
Incoterms: Helpful and essential jargon to accelerate your global commercial ambitions.
The Incoterms or International Commercial Terms are a series of pre-defined commercial terms published by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) relating to international commercial law.
More here.
One of the apprenticeship career paths in German is the Industriekauffrau for young ladies or Industriekaufmann for young men, translated very roughly as “industrial (commercial) clerk”. There’s no American equivalent. We don’t have such standardized job designations laid out in exquisite detail by quasi-governmental bodies.
The German apprenticeship system has a workplace component where the youngsters work at a company for about two-thirds of their time, and another third in classrooms learning the underlying theory of the chosen trade. Nascent industrial clerks (and international industrial clerks in particular) have to learn a lot about the rules of international trade and commerce, as defined by the International Chamber of Commerce. In Germany, the testing on theoretical knowledge at the end of the apprenticeship is to the standards of the German Chambers of Industry and Commerce. The result is an official certificate and the legally protected designation “Industriekaufmann/-frau” as something akin to a title.
Much of that specialized knowledge for the trade has to do with the rules, traditions, and processes of international trade, which is conducted in English—international English, which very closely resembles British English in practice. There is a lot more involved having to do with business processes and enterprise structures and so on, but that’s mostly in German, even if the content knows no boundaries.
But if you want to embark on a cross-border commercial career, start by getting familiar with your Incoterms!
I’ve seen it as ROF.
Legally protected designation? Does that mean "you can't fire me because I'm an Industriekaufmann!"