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P

Packaging, Labelling, and Marking Regulations
The requirement or regulation, usually by an importing country, that imported goods be packaged, labelled, or marked according to particular guidelines. Although ostensibly required to protect consumers, non-standard packaging, labelling, and marking requirements frequently pose problems for exporters and may function as non-tariff barriers.

Packing List
A Packing List gives details of the contents of all the packages making up the consignments and is required by Custom’s authorities if the packing information is not shown on the invoice.  The Packaging List is usually attached to the invoice.
 
Par Value
The official fixed exchange rate between two currencies or between a currency and a specific weight of gold or a basket of currencies.

Parcel Post
A valuable method of moving small units by air or sea.

Parcel Ticket
A variation on the Bill of Lading covering small consignments of limited value.  Usually such goods are shipped at the liability of the seller.

Particular Average
A term used in insurance more clearly defined as a Particular Average Loss, ie a partial loss of the insured interest caused by a peril insured against and which is not a General Average Loss.  The loss falls entirely on the party who has an interest in the particular goods so damaged.

Port Mark
An identity of the port of destination stenciled onto packaging cases. This will often include an indicator of the total number of packing cases in a consignment e.g. 1/12.

Port Of Entry
Point at which individuals and imported goods enter a country and clear its national customs.

Preferences
Special advantages extended by importing countries to exports from particular trading partners, usually by admitting their goods at tariff rates below those imposed on imports from other supplying countries.

Premium
A regular payment paid for an insurance policy that provides protection against a risk.

Price Elasticity Of Demand
The percentage change in demand for a given product likely to result if its price changes by 1 percent. A slight lowering or raising of a tariff will have a larger effect on the volume of imports of a product with a high price elasticity of demand than on a product with a low price elasticity of demand.

Price Elasticity Of Supply
The percentage change in supply for a given product likely to result if its price changes by 1 percent.

Primary Commodity
A commodity in its raw or unprocessed state, such as iron ore. In contrast, pig iron is considered a semi-processed product, and a steel girder is a manufactured item.

Principal Supplier
The country that is the most important source of a particular product imported by another country. In trade negotiations, a country offering to reduce its tariff or other barriers to imports of a particular item generally expects the country that is the principal supplier of that item to reduce restrictions on its imports of a product for which the first country is the principal supplier. Depending on the trade negotiations, both countries then may grant the same concessions to all other countries to which they accord most-favoured-nation treatment.

Prior Deposits
A deposit required by a government of a specified sum, in domestic or foreign currency, usually corresponding to a certain percentage of the value of the imported product. Such deposits are characteristically held without interest, sometimes for many months — from the time an order is placed until after the import transaction is completed — and hence represent a real cost to the importer. The purpose of prior deposits is usually to discourage imports, particularly for balance-of-payments reasons, and they generally are recognized as non-tariff barriers that impede trade. Prior deposits must usually be made at the time an import license is granted.

Process Patent
A process or method that consists of an act, operation, or step or series thereof performed upon a specified subject matter to produce a physical result.

Proforma Invoice
An invoice which purports to represent what a final invoice with all attendant details will look like.

PSI (Preshipment Inspection)
To ensure that the quantity and quality of goods to be traded conform to the specifications of the sales contract.

Purchasing Power
The ability of consumers to acquire goods and services based on their possession of money and/or their recourse to credit. Aggregate purchasing power within a market or a national economy reflects total disposable income after taxes, and hence the level of employment.