W.A.
- With Average
W.B. - Water ballast,
Warehouse Book, Way Bill
W.B./E.I. - West Britain/East
Ireland
w.b.s. - Without benefit of
salvage
W.C. - West Coast
W.C.I. - World Confederation
of Labor
W.C.S.A. - West coast of
South America
W.E.C.M. - Warranted existing
class maintained
W.E.U. - Western European
Union
W.F.T.U. - World Federation
of Trade Unions
w.g. - Weight guaranteed
W.H.O. - World Health
Organization
W.M.O. - World Meteorological
Organization
W.N.A. - Winter North
Atlantic
w.o.b. - Washed overboard
W.O.L. - Wharfowners'
liability
w.p. - Without prejudice,
Weather permitting
W.P.A. - With particular
average
w.p.p. - Waterproof paper
packing
W.R. - Warehouse receipts
w.r.o. - War risk only
W.R.T.D. - Without reference
to date
W.T.B.A. - Wording to be
agreed
w.w.d. - Weather working days
W/d - Warranted
W/M - Weight and /or
Measurement
W/W - Warehouse warrant
WACH - West African Clearing
House
WADB - West African
Development Bank
WAEC - West African Economic
Community
WAMU - West African Monetary
Union
WAOB - World Agricultural
Outlook Board
WARDA - West Africa Rice
Development Association
waybill - Document used as a
receipt for goods. Unlike a bill of lading it is not a document of
title. This document is also synonymous with liner waybill, ocean
waybill, or sea waybill.
WCL - World Confederation of
Labor
Wdg. - Wording
Webb-Pomerene Association -
Associations engaged in exporting that combine the products of similar
producers for overseas sales. These associations have partial exemption
from U.S. anti-trust laws but may not engage in import, domestic or
third country trade or combine to export services.
West Africa Economic Community
- CEAO (French: Communaute Economique de l'Afrique de l'Ouest), created
in 1974, includes: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Mauritania,
Niger, and Senegal. (Togo has observer status). The CEAO operates as a
free trade area for agricultural products and raw materials and as a
preferential trading area for approved industrial products, with a
regional cooperation tax (TCR) replacing import duties and encouraging
trade among members. A Community fund (FOSIDEC) promotes private lender
Community participation in advancement of the Community's least
developed nations (Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger). CEAO
envisions eventual creation of a customs union and coordination of
fiscal policies. Community headquarters are in Ouagadougou, Burkina
Faso.
West Africa Rice Development
Association - WARDA conducts research on rice improvement in
mangrove swamps, inland swamps, upland conditions, and irrigated
conditions. The Association is one of several centers associated with
the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research. WARDA was
established in 1970; headquarters are in Bouake, C“te d'Ivoire.
Members include 16 West African countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad,
C“te d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali,
Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. See:
Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research.
West African Clearing House -
WACH (French: Chambre de Cooperation de l'Afrique de l'Ouest, CCAO)
provides settlement of payments services among central bank and other
monetary authorities in West Africa. WACH was established in 1975 (began
operations in 1976); headquarters are in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Membership includes the Central Bank of West African States
(representing Benin, Burkina Faso, C“te d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger,
Senegal, and Togo) as well as The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau,
Liberia, Mauritania, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.
West African Development Bank
- The West African Development Bank, WADB, (French: Banque Quest-Africaine
de Developpement, BOAD) promotes regional economic development and
integration in West Africa. The Bank was established in 1973 (began
operations in 1976); headquarters are in Lome, Togo. WADB members
include: Benin, Burkina Faso, C“te d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and
Togo.
West African Monetary Union -
WAMU (French: Union Monetaire Quest Africaine, UMOA) began operation in
1963 and was revised in 1973. The Union comprises seven French-speaking
African countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger,
Senegal, and Togo which share a: (a) central bank (Banque Centrale des
Etats de l'Afrique de l'Ouest) which coordinates the Union's monetary
and credit policies; (b) common currency (CFA Franc) which is freely
convertible into the French Franc at a fixed parity; and (c) a common
regional development bank, the West African Development Bank. WAMU
headquarters are in Daka, Senegal.
Western European Union - The
WEU was created in October 1954 (began operations in May 1955) to
promote mutual defense and progressive political unification of its
members. The Union, which serves interests between those furthered by
the European Economic Community and the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization, has faced the need to change and has become focused on
three missions: humanitarian aid, peacekeeping, and crisis management
and some peace enforcement considerations. Membership, which included
Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal,
Spain, the United Kingdom, has been increasing toward approximately 40
nations as a result of negotiations on membership or associate status
with Greece, Turkey, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, and Ireland. WEU
headquarters moved from London, England to Brussels, Belgium in December
1992.
WEU - Western European Union
Wf. - Wharf
WFC - World Food Council
WFDFI - World Federation of
Development Financing Institutions
WFP - World Food Program
WH - World Health
Organization
wharf - Structure built
alongside the water where ships berth for loading or unloading goods.
Wharfage - A charge assessed
by a pier or dock owner for handling incoming or outgoing cargo.
white products - Refined
products.
WIP - World Intellectual
Property Organization
With Average - A marine
insurance term meaning that a shipment is protected from partial damage
whenever the damage exceeds 3 percent (or some other percentage). If the
ship is involved in a major catastrophe, such as a collision, fire or
stranding, the minimum percentage requirement is waived and the
insurance company pays for all of the damage. See: Marine Cargo
Insurance.
Without Reserve - A term
indicating that a shipper's agent or representative is empowered to make
definitive decisions and adjustments abroad without approval of the
group or individual represented.
WM - World Meteorological
Organization
World Agricultural Outlook Board
- The WAOB acts as the focal point for U.S. economic intelligence
related to domestic and international food and agriculture. The Board
coordinates and clears all commodity and aggregate agricultural and
food-related data used to develop outlook and situation material within
the Department of Agriculture. WAOB was established in 1977.
World Bank - The World Bank
is an integrated group of international institutions which provides
financial and technical assistance to developing countries. The World
Bank includes the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
and the International Development Association. World Bank affiliates,
legally and financially separate, include the International Center for
Settlement of Investment Disputes, the International Finance
Corporation, and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency. World
Bank headquarters are in Washington, D.C.
World Confederation of Labor
- The WCL represents the cultural, economic, political, and social
interests of millions of workers in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe,
and the Middle East. The Confederation was founded in 1920 as th
International Federation of Christian Trade Unions (IFCTU .. not to be
confused with ICFTU, the International Confederation of Free Trade
Unions); headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium.
World Federation of Development
Financing Institutions - WFDFI (Spanish: Federacion Mundial de
Instituciones Financieras de Desarollo, WFDFI) promotes improved
technical operations of, and coordination among, worldwide development
banking activities. Federation members include development financing
institutions. The Federation was established in 1979; headquarters are
in Madrid, Spain.
World Food Council - The WFC
is a UN body which was created in December 1974 to help eliminate hunger
and malnutrition. The Council monitors world food production,
consumption, and trade patterns. The Council provides a forum for
international discussion and assistance on ways of improving food
production in developing countries and in increasing world food
security. WFC headquarters are in Rome, Italy.
World Food Program - The WFP,
created in 1963, is a United Nations program with headquarters in Rome,
Italy. WFP administers the International Emergency Food Reserve and
supports projects which incease agricultural production, nutrition, and
social and economic development in developing countries.
World Health Organization -
The WHO (French: Organisation Mondiale de la Sante, OMS) is a
specialized agency of the United Nations which sets standards for the
quality control of drugs, vaccines, and other substances affecting
health. WHO was established in July 1946; headquarters are in Geneva,
Switzerland. See: Codex Alimentarius Commission.
World Intellectual Property
Organization - WIPO (French: Organisation Mondiale de la Propriete
Intellectuelle, OMPI) promotes protection of intellectual property
around the world through cooperation among states, and administers
various "Unions," each founded on a multilateral treaty and
dealing with the legal and administrative aspects of intellectual
property. The Organization was established in 1967 (came into force in
1970), and became a specialized agency of the United Nations in December
1974; headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland.
World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO) - One of the 15 'specialized agencies' of the
United Nations system of organizations. WIPO, located in Geneva, is
responsible for the promotion of the protection of intellectual property
(copyrights, trademarks, patents) throughout the world through
cooperation among states, and for the administration of various
'Unions,' each founded on a multilateral treaty and dealing with the
legal and administrative aspects of intellectual property.
World Meteorological Organization
- Originally established under another name in 1875, the WMO was
reconstituted and renamed in 1951. The WMO facilitates worldwide
cooperation in establishing a network for meteorological, hydrological,
and geophysical observations, for exchanging meteorological and related
information, and for promoting standardization in meteorological
measurements. Organization headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland.
World Trade Organization -
Provisions to establish the WTO were reached in the Uruguay Round of the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The WTO is scheduled to
be established no later than 1997 as an international organization of
comparable stature to the World Bank and the International Monetary
Fund. The Organization is expected to facilitate implementation of trade
agreements reached in the Uruguay Round by bringing them under one
institutional umbrella, requiring full participation of all countries in
one new trading system, and providing a permanent forum to discuss new
issues facing the international trading system. The WTO system will be
available only to countries which: (a) are contracting parties to the
GATT, (b) agree to adhere to all of the Uruguay Round agreements, and
(c) submit schedules of market access commitments for industrial goods,
agricultural goods, and services.
World Traders Data Reports -
WTDR is an International Trade Administration fee-based service which
provides a confidential background report on a specific foreign firm,
prepared by commercial officers overseas. WTDRs provide information
about the type of organization, year established, relative size, number
of employees, general reputation, territory covered, language preferred,
product lines handled, principal owners, financial references, and trade
references. WTDRs include narrative information about the reliability of
the foreign firm.
WT - World Tourism
Organization, World Trade Organization
wt. - Weight
Wtd. - Warranted
WTDR - World Trade Data
Report
Wties - Warranties
WTM - World Tourism Market
Wty - Warranty
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