NARROW SEAS To the Top Open seas between two coasts not widely separated, e.g., the English Channel, Persian Gulf. NATIONAL CARGO BUREAU A nonprofit, membership corporation concerned with the safe loading, stowage, transport, and unloading of cargoes aboard vessels. NATIONAL EXPORTS Exports consisting of goods domestically produced or goods produced within customs-bonded facilities. NATIONAL FLAG CARRIER A common carrier, usually a steamship line or an airline, that bears its country’s flag and is viewed in the trading community as representing the commercial interests of the home country. NATIONALIZED EXPORTS Goods previously imported and cleared through customs that are exported without having been changed in form or substance. NAVICERT Government certificate issued in war time granting permission for vessel and cargo to proceed to destination. NAVIGABLE WATERS Bodies of water, including the sea, rivers, and some lakes, over which the public has a right to sail and anchor. This right of passage conveys no claim upon the lands underlying the water; title to such land remains with the owner or the state (except in the case of open seas), although the title holder may not impede innocent passage over the waterway. NAVIGATION CERTIFICATE A document issued by a belligerent, in time of war, certifying that a ship and its cargo have been searched and permission has been given for the vessel to proceed on to a neutral port. NEGOTIABLE Something that can be sold or transferred to another party in exchange for money or as settlement of a obligation. NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENT A written order or promise to pay that may be transferred from one person to another by endorsement and delivery of the instrument or by mere delivery. Each country has its own body of law governing negotiable instruments. In the U.S. under Article 3 of the Uniform Commercial Code, a negotiable instrument must (1) be in writing, (2) be signed by the maker or drawer, (3) contain an unconditional promise or order to pay a certain sum in money, (4) be payable on demand or at a definite time, and (5) be payable to order or to bearer. NEGOTIATED MARKET PRICE Price that is set by negotiation between producers and government, usually due to wartime restriction, unexpected shortages, or natural monopoly situations. NEGOTIATING BANK A bank which negotiates a draft drawn under a letter of credit, provided the credit permits negotiation of drafts. Usually the negotiating bank is an unnamed bank that under the terms and conditions of the letter of credit is permitted, at its discretion, to advance funds to the beneficiary against the required documents. NEGOTIATION The act whereby title to, and rights in, a negotiable instrument are transferred from one party to another. Instruments payable to “bearer” or endorsed in blank are negotiated by mere delivery; instruments payable “to order” of a specific party are negotiated by endorsement. NEGOTIATION CREDIT A credit instrument under which the beneficiary may take the documents and draft to his bank and request that the bank negotiates, that is purchase the draft and documents. The bank gives the beneficiary the face amount less a discount. The bank then forwards the draft and documents to the overseas issuing bank for payment. NEOFACTOR A revisionist definition of the means of production to include factors other than land, labor, and capital, or to expand the meaning of a given factor substantially beyond its conventional usage. NESI Means, Not Elsewhere Specified or Included. NESTED Packed one within another. NESTED SOLID Three or more different sizes of an article are placed within each other so that each article will not project above the next lower article by more than 1/4 inch. NET AVAILS The proceeds of an acceptance, note, or like obligation after discount charges are deducted. NET CHARTER A peculiarly American usage, under which all charges beyond delivery of a vessel to the first port of call are for the account of the charterer. NET EARNINGS The excess of gross operating income over gross operating expenses is referred to as operating earning before taxes. Income taxes applicable to operating earnings are deducted to arrive at net earnings or net operating earnings. NET LINE The face value of all insurance policies that a insurer has in force, less any amounts reinsured. NET NATIONAL PRODUCT The sum total, expressed in monetary terms, of all goods and services produced in a country during a given period (usually one year), less the value of capital consumed (depreciation). NET PROFIT Denotes the excess of all revenue over all costs and expenses incurred to obtain that income in a given enterprise during a given period of time. In the event the total costs and expenses exceed the income, such amount is known as the “Net Loss”. NET TERMS Free of charters’ commission. NET TON To the Top 2,000 pounds. NET TONNAGE (VESSEL) A vessel’s gross tonnage minus deduction for space occupied by accommodations for crew, machinery for navigation, the engine room, and fuel. A vessel’s net tonnage represents the space available for the accommodation of passengers and the stowage of cargo. A ton of cargo, in most instances, occupies less than 100 cubic feet. The tonnage of cargo carried is usually greater than the gross tonnage. NET WEIGHT Weight of the goods alone without any immediate wrapping, e.g. the weight of the contents of a tin can without the weight of the can. See legal weight. NET WORTH The owner’s equity in a given business represented by the excess of the total assets over the total amounts owing to outside creditors at a given moment of time. NEW ECONOMIC MECHANISM A technique applied in certain socialist economies in which the management of productive facilities is entrusted to professional managers, rather than the bureaucracy or state planning apparatus. The concept is viewed as a movement toward the use of incentive-oriented stimulus to increase productivity. NEW INTERNATIONAL DIVISION OF LABOR The name given to the process whereby different stages of production, certain products are relocated to different countries to take advantage of differences between countries in factoring costs and to exploit the economies of scale obtainable from greater plant specialization. NEW INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORDER A scheme for the restructuring of the world’s economy to permit greater participation by and benefit to developing nations. The “new order” is not a specific program, per se, but a declaration of principles and an agenda of topics for discussion between industrialized and developing nations. These discussions are known as the North-South Dialogue. NEW JASON CLAUSE A stipulation in ocean bills of lading subject to the U.S Carriage of Goods by Sea Act. NEWLY INDUSTRIALIZING COUNTRIES (NIC’s) Relatively advanced developing countries whose industrial production and exports have grown rapidly in recent years. Included are Brazil, Hong Kong, Korea, Mexico, Singapore, and Taiwan. NEUTRAL BODY Operates within the framework of a rate conference. Established by the member carriers to act as a self-policing force to drive out malpractices and other tariff violations. The neutral body has authority to scrutinize all documents kept by the carriers and the carriers’ personnel with right of entry to all areas of the carrier’s facilities including desks, brief cases, etc. Violations found are reported to the membership with significant penalties being assessed. Repeated offenses are subject to escalating penalty amounts. Revenue from penalties are used to support the cost of the neutral body activity. NEW YORK DOLLARS Funds payable in New York. A Baltimore bank opening a letter of credit on London, for example, may instruct the London bank to reimburse itself by drawing on deposits maintained by the Baltimore bank in New York. NIMEXE The statistical classification system employed in the Common Customs Tariff (CCT) of the European Economic Community. The CCT is based upon the four-digit Customs Cooperation Council Nomenclature; under Nimexe, two suffix digits are provided to permit further subdivision of statistical classifications. Each member of the EEC is permitted to have further statistical subdivision beyond those provided in Nimexe. The Harmonized Coal and Steel Nomenclature for Foreign Trade, in force since 1964, is fully in force into Nimexe. The Nimexe system was devised in 1966 in order to meet the need of the EEC members for more refined capture of foreign trade date; the system was modified in 1969. NOMENCLATURE A term used to describe the systematic naming of things as in a tariff nomenclature, e.g., Brussels Tariff Nomenclature, CCC Nomenclature, Harmonized System. NOMENCLATURE OF THE CUSTOMS COOPERATION COUNCIL This was known as the “Brussels Classification Nomenclature” prior to January 1, 1975. It is the customs tariff adhered to by most European countries and many other countries throughout the world, and only recently by the United States. NOMINALISM An economic viewpoint that asserts that MONEY consist only of legal tender issued by governmental authority, as contrasted with more widely held views that would include demand deposits, certain securities, et cetera, within the definition of money. NON-AGENCY STATION A station at which a transportation line has no agent. NON-COMPETITIVE TRAFFIC Traffic in the movement of which there is no competition between transportation lines. NONCONFERENCE CARRIER A steamship line that is not a member of conference over a given trade route. NONCONTIGUOUS TERRITORY Noncontiguous territory of U.S.- includes all island territories and possessions of the U.S. except the canal zone. NONCONTRACT RATE The freight rate applicable to commodities shipped by a firm that has not executed an Exclusive Patronage Contract. NONCONTRACT SHIPPER A firm that has not executed an Exclusive Patronage Contract or service agreement. NONDUMPING CERTIFICATE A seller’s certification, either in the form of a separate document or as a notation upon the invoice, that the merchandise described is being sold at a price no lower than that applicable to like sales in the country of origin. The purpose of the certification is to allay concerns of customs authorities that imported merchandise is being dumped. See DUMPING. NONDURABLE GOODS Products, usually consumer items, that have a short useful life. In the United States the criterion is a life of three years or less. Such items are usually purchased as needed. NONINTERVENTIONISM A view that central banks and other governmental agencies should refrain from attempting to set or stabilize rates of exchange through purchases or sales, leaving exchange rates to market forces. NONMARKET ECONOMY An economy that is centrally planned, i.e. allocation of resources is directed by governmental authority, rather than by market forces. NONPRIVILEGED DOMESTIC STATUS To the Top The condition of merchandise of U.S. origin entered into a foreign trade zone, other than goods that have been granted Privileged Domestic Status. Nonprivileged merchandise is subject to classification, appraisal, and taxation at the time the goods leave the foreign trade zone and enter the customs territory of the United States. Imported merchandise upon which duties have already been paid prior to entry into the zone may be subject to additional levies unless the privileged status is obtained at time of entry into the zone. NONPRIVILEGED FOREIGN STATUS The condition of imported merchandise entered into a foreign trade zone, other than goods that have been granted privileged foreign status. Nonprivileged merchandise will be assessed the rates of duties and taxes applicable at the time of entry into the customs territory of the United States for consumption or bonded storage. NONRESIDENTS Persons arriving from foreign countries shall be divided into two classes for Customs purposes. 1. Residents of the U.S. returning from abroad. 2. All other persons, referred to as nonresi dents. Residents of the U.S. shall include Ameri can citizens who are residents of American Samoa, Guam, or the Virgin Island. NONTARIFF BARRIERS (NTB’s) Government measurers other than tariffs that restrict imports. Such measures have become relatively more conspicuous impediments to trade as tariffs have been reduced during the period since World War II. NONVESSEL OPERATING COMMON CARRIER (NVOCC) A cargo consolidator in ocean trade, generally soliciting business and arranging for or performing containerization functions. NORAZI AGENT An export/import middleman who trades in illicit merchandise, such as arms, untaxed liquor, or other contraband; the norazi agent also engages in trade of otherwise legitimate cargoes to countries ordinarily closed to normal commercial channels. NORMAL PRICE Price that one would expect to prevail in a market over the long term. Unexpected shortages or gluts can cause prices to deviate from the normal price. NORMAL TRADE LOSS The amount of product in a bulk shipment that is routinely lost during the routine course of transit, for example, the amount of grain that remains in the hold of a ship after normal discharge and cannot economically be retrieved. Such losses, within defined parameters, are not usually covered by insurance. NORTH-SOUTH DIALOGUE Various discussions and negotiating sessions between the industrialized (North) and developing (South) countries directed toward a restructuring of the global economy. NOTARY PUBLIC Public officer authorized to administer oaths, to attest to and certify certain types of documents, to take depositions, and to perform certain acts in commercial matters. The seal of a notary public authenticates a document. NOTICE OF READINESS Written notification provided by a vessel owner to a charterer, shipper, or consignee that the vessel has arrived at port and is prepared to commence loading or discharging of cargo. Failure by the charterer, shipper, or consignee to commence loading/discharging is apt to start laytime running. NOT OTHER WISE SPECIFIED (N.O.S) Indicating an article within a general class in the consolidated freight classification but not completely identified. NOTE An instrument such as a promissory note, which is the recognized legal evidence of a debt. It is an instrument signed by the maker, called the borrower, promising to pay a certain sum of money on a specified date at a certain place of business, to a certain business, individual, or bank, called the lender. It should meet all requirements of the Uniform Negotiable Instruments Law. NOTICE OF DISHONOR When a “holder of due course” presents an instrument for payment, or acceptance by a drawee, and the maker or drawee dishonors the instrument for payment, the holder in due course gives it to a Notary public. The Notary Public also presents the instrument to the maker or drawee as a legal formality. If the maker or drawee again dishonors the instrument by refusing to pay for, or to accept it, the Notary Public prepares a “Notice Dishonor” or a “Notarial Protest Certificate.” This notice is made out in a copy for each endorser and maker or drawee of the instrument under protest. This document is legal evidence in courts of law that the instrument was duly presented for payment or acceptance; that the instrument was dishonored by the maker or drawee; and that the notice serves to notify all parties interested in the instrument of the dishonor. They are then legally placed on notice that the holder in due course can look to these parties to meet their obligation to pay the instrument. NOTIFYING BANK A bank which has advised a letter of credit to the beneficiary. NOSTRO ACCOUNTS Funds that a domestic bank holds abroad, denominated in local currencies, on deposit with its own branches or correspondents. NUMERAIRE SYSTEM A multinational currency stabilization arrangement wherein participating national currencies are assigned a central rate, or value, in terms of a given unit of account; this rate is based upon a basket of all the participating currencies, weighted according to defined criteria. A margin would be fixed within which each currency might fluctuate. Fluctuations beyond the assigned margins would require intervention by the country issuing the unstable currency so as to restore equilibrium. | 
