C-3-2- The sales agent contract


Esandis offers you free import and export tools, and all the necessary skills. Our objective here is to provide the necessary information to help you understand the issues facing contractual parties through an import or export transaction. Though international transactions are governed by laws and conventions, contract clauses and options must be well-understood.

It would be a good idea to seek legal advice to guide you through this process.

Our objective here is to guide you to the right decisions. The drafting of contracts carries the danger of assigning responsibilities. Each word is important, and a poorly drafted clause may be considered unfair or invalid.

Indeed, a simple pro-forma invoice is often not enough to make a transaction secure. Well-written general conditions of export sales can provide more transaction security. There is comfort in the ability to include desired clauses in your contract, but, of course, they must be valid. Clauses are valid when they are not contrary to the legal provisions in accordance to the country named in the contract.

3-2-1- The commercial agent contract: definition

The selling firm may make choices as to direct control of the distribution of its products by recruiting a sales agent. If this is the case, the company should set up a binding contract with the commercial agent. This contract will be signed by the two parties, and the clauses that are set out in this contract can be negotiated.

3-2-2- The representative or agent sales contract: specifics

The commercial agent will be self-employed and will be listed on the Registar of commerce. He/she will be their own boss with their own company. The agent is entitled to choose to rent an office, hire employees, or, if authorized by the seller, recruit sub-agents.

This agent shall be paid on commission. Payment is in proportion to the sales made. The sales agent should draft invoices for services that will need to be sent to the collaborating company.

The exporting company could then propose two solutions for sales agent: become an exclusive agent or become a multi-product agent. In the first case, he will distributed only the products from the exporting company. In the second case, authority is granted by the exporting company to the multi-product agent to sell other products from other companies.