“International Trade and Payments” seeks to give a basic introduction to the practice rather than the law relating to exports, imports and the payment therefor. Clearly, in less than 140 pages of text, the problems cannot be analysed and discussed in great detail, but as an introduction it is explicit and informative and will doubtless be of considerable value to students commencing their studies in this field. The book covers the syllabus of the International Trade and Payments paper in the Foundation Course in Overseas Trade run by the British Overseas Trade Board in conjunction with the British Education Council, a course which serves as a qualification for entry to more advanced courses.

The book concentrates far more on finance than on the contract of sale in international trade, and, after some introductory chapters, looks basically at the methods of payment, the insuring of the risks involved in payment and forward credits. By way of introduction, Mr Whiting seeks to sketch briefly the background to international trade, dealing with the basic economic factors, the balance of payments and the international monetary system. There follows an all too brief discussion on the most popular forms of international sales contracts. As this seeks mainly to explain their significance in relation to the price of the goods little legal analysis is provided. Consequently it is not surprising to find some misleading statements as to the legal effect of certain aspects of such contracts. There follows a practical discussion of the problems of overseas selling, including that of credit control. This sets the scene for a useful examination of the documents used in international sales and their relevance to payments. The remainder of the book is largely devoted to a discussion of specific means of finance and the protection of finance. Thus, documentary credits and bills of exchange are dealt with in some detail, as are other arrangements for finance of exports, and there is a useful section on the ECGD.

The text is illustrated by diagrams and, of far greater importance, by examples of various documents actually used in international trade, such as letters for opening documentary credits, bills of lading, marine insurance certificates, invoices and various bills of exchange. There are also some useful statistical tables in the introductory chapters.

Although this clearly is not a work primarily intended for the law student or practising lawyer it does provide a very useful and concise background to the study of international trade law. For the reader embarking on a career in exporting or importing, whether he contemplates the taking of a formal examination or not, the book will make very valuable reading.