Information for importers and exporters
If you sell to, or buy from, any of the EBRD's countries of operations, the Trade Facilitation Programme can help you secure payment or performance from your clients or suppliers.
The EBRD guarantees payment under trade finance instruments issued or guaranteed by local issuing banks to international confirming banks. Trade finance instruments include letters of credit, payment and other types of guarantees, bills of exchange or promissory notes, performance bonds and bid bonds.
The EBRD takes the commercial and political risk of non-payment by issuing banks. Issuing banks take the risk of local companies. The final beneficiaries of the programme are importers and exporters. There are no fees levied on importers or exporters. Fees for guarantees are payable by the bank requesting the EBRD guarantee.
How to use the Trade Facilitation Programme
Many importers and exporters have already benefited from the Trade Facilitation Programme. In most cases, they may not have realised that their business was financed by an EBRD guarantee. This is because only the
issuing banks and
confirming banks are direct partners with the Bank.
If you want to benefit from the EBRD’s Trade Facilitation programme, please:
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Confirm your issuing bank is one of the TFP participants.
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Determine whether your issuing bank would be willing to issue or guarantee the required trade finance instrument and use TFP to cover the transaction.
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Check the level of confirmation fees required by your buyer or client, issuing and confirming banks and agree who will bear them.
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Constraints
Our programme cannot support all trade transactions for the following reasons:
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the selected issuing bank may not wish to take the risk of a local company;
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the selected issuing bank may not wish to finance the transaction;
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the selected issuing bank may wish to reserve our guarantee facility for other transactions;
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the EBRD may not wish to, or cannot guarantee the transaction (e.g. because our guarantee limits for an issuing bank are already fully utilised);
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you or your client or supplier cannot agree on the cost of financing; or
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your export/import product is on the EBRD’s Exclusion Lists.
