A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

M

Manifest
A document signed by the Master of a ship specifying the ship and describing the goods loaded therein.  This document must be delivered to the appropriate officer of Customs within six days after the final clearance of the ship.

Margin Of Preference
The difference between the duty payable under a given system of tariff preferences and the duty that would be assessed in the absence of preferences.

Market Disruption
A situation that occurs when a surge of imports of a particular product causes a precipitous decline in sales of similar domestically produced goods.

Mate’s Receipt
A Mate’s Receipt provides evidence of delivery of goods to a ship. It has no legal value but it serves a useful purpose and is usually surrendered against Bills of Lading.

Medium Of Exchange
Documentary instrument used in commercial transactions between buyers and sellers to measure the value of the goods exchanged. The value of such instruments is usually expressed in terms of a national currency.

Mercantilism
An economic philosophy prominent in the 16th and 17th centuries that equated the accumulation and possession of gold and other international monetary assets, such as foreign currency reserves, with national wealth. Although this point of view is generally discredited among 20th century economists and trade policy experts, some contemporary politicians still favour policies designed to create trade surpluses, such as import substitution and tariff protection for domestic industries, as essential to national economic strength.

MFN (Most Favored Nation Status)
Which indicates that a specific nation will receive preferential imports duties, quotas etc.

Min
Minimum, frequently used to state the minimum freight rate which applies to a small amount of cargo.

Minimum Valuation
Customs valuation of certain low-cost items at a higher-than-actual value.

Mixed Credits
A financing package that involves official government credit to supplement normal commercial credit, thus enabling an exporter to deliver goods to a buyer in another country on credit terms comparable to those of his competitors.

Movement Certificate
A document used within the European Union (EU) which shows the origin of the goods.  Similar to a Certificate of Origin.

MRA (Mutual Recognition Agreement)
Agreements that generally allow conformity assessment — for example, testing, inspecting, certifying — of manufactured goods to be performed in the United States to another country's standards and regulations, and vice versa. An MRA can save manufacturers time and expense by avoiding excessive assessments. It also conserves U.S. regulatory agencies' resources. The United States maintains its current high health and safety standards and can adopt even higher standards without in any way violating an MRA.

MV (Motor Vessel)

Multilateral Aid
Development assistance given by donors to recipient countries through international institutions

Mutatis Mutandis
Latin phrase signifying "the necessary changes having been made"; "substituting new terms."