WO2008130179A1

WO2008130179A1 - System and method for providing information about trade simulation

Info

Publication number: WO2008130179A1
Application number: PCT/KR2008/002266
Authority: WO
Inventors: Seog-Log Lim
Original assignee: Hangyeol Customs Agency; Seog-Log Lim
Priority date: 2007-04-23
Filing date: 2008-04-22
Publication date: 2008-10-30
Also published as: KR100775863B1

Abstract

Disclosed is a system and method for providing information required for trade business practice in advance so as to synthetically provide a shipper who wants to carry on a trade business with information about simulation required for the trade business in advance on line within a short time in a simple manner. To this end, the system including a Web server, a database server, and an arithmetic server which are accessed through a computer communication network is used, and basic data information required to create information about trade post-simulation is stored and managed using information about conditions of a trade event input by a user who wants to get service. When the trade event condition information is input by the user, the trade post-simulation information including information about total expenses occurring when the trade event is actually carried out is created using basic data stored in the database server.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING INFORMATION

ABOUT TRADE SIMULATION

Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to a system and method for providing information about trade simulation, which enables a shipper to previously check integrated information such as expenses, export and import requirements and restrictions, tariffs, etc. associated with the process of a desired trade business in an easy and rapid manner when the cargo owner wants to carry on the trade business. Background Art

[2] Typically, a person (e.g. shipper) who wants to export and import goods or materials, that is carry on a trade business requires to previously check various expenses (freight, tax, etc.), periods of time, processes and restrictions of related laws and institutions, etc. which are required in the process of carrying on the trade business. To this end, the shipper commits the trade business to a customs attorney or a forwarder (carrier agent) who specially executes the trade business in behalf of the shipper, thereby obtaining necessary information. It takes two or three days on average to obtain the necessary information. Further, the obtained information shows considerable difference according to a professional, so that the reliability thereof becomes low.

[3] This is attributed to a main factor that, since a subject who provides the information is divided into a customs attorney, a forwarder, a carrier, and the like, and furthermore the shipper has to separately inquire the expenses associated with overseas affairs of a partner customs attorney, a partner forwarder, etc. so as to receive information about the expenses, the time difference and error take place in the process of integrating all pieces of information provided by the respective professionals. Further, there is a great difference between the received information according to the levels of knowledge and experience of the professional. In order to obtain the objective information from the viewpoint of a client, the shipper has no alternative but to endure the inconvenience that he/she makes a request to various professionals and takes an average.

[4] Furthermore, from the standpoint of the shipper, the expenses must be estimated in advance as exact as possible, and a supply contract must be made with a customer on the basis of the estimated results. However, the shipper frequently makes the supply contact with the customer on the basis of the expenses estimated roughly by unreliable information, and then carries on the import and export. As a result, the shipper suffers great damage. Moreover, since the export and import requirements are not exactly checked in advance, the goods are detained in a bonded warehouse at the port of entry until they are met, so that enormous over-storage charge and surcharge caused by long- term detention must be paid.

[5] Consequently, most types of providing the information concerning the shipper's request for the information about trade simulation are dependent on one-to-one consultation with the professional off line up to now, so that the request of the shipper who wants to rapidly provide information about systemized, integrated trade simulation is not satisfied.

[6] Thus, there is a demand for service that provide to the shipper with synthetic information such as the total expenses, the total time, legal institutional requirements, etc. required to carry on the trade business before the trade business is really carried on within a short time in a synthetically and objectively systemized fashion. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem

[7] Embodiments of the present invention are directed to providing a system and method for providing information about trade simulation, which synthetically provides a shipper who wants to carry on a trade business with the trade simulation information required for the trade business on line within a short time in a simple manner. Technical Solution

[8] In one embodiment, a system for providing information about trade simulation comprises: a user interface means, which provides an environment in which at least one service user who wants to obtain information gain access through a computer communication network; a database server means, which stores basic data information required when at least one user who wants to get service creates information about trade post- simulation using information about conditions of a trade event; and an arithmetic server means, which automatically creates and provides both information about expenses occurring when the trade event is actually carried out and the trade post-simulation information including information about legal institutional requirements applied when the user imports or exports products to be traded, using basic data stored in the database server means when the trade event condition information is input from the user through the user interface means.

[9] In another embodiment, a method for providing information about trade simulation using a system having a user interface means, a database server means, and an arithmetic server means comprises: a first step of storing basic data information, which is required when information about trade post- simulation is created, in the database server means; a second step of requesting a user who wants to use service to gain access to input information about conditions of a trade event which the user intends to carry out; a third step of an arithmetic server means creating and providing both in- formation about expenses occurring when the trade event is actually carried out and the trade post- simulation information including information about legal institutional requirements applied when the user imports or exports products to be traded, using basic data stored in the database server means when the trade event condition information is input from the user through the user interface means.

Advantageous Effects

[10] According to the present invention, the user who wants to carry on the predetermined trade business can easily comprehensively check the expenses, taxes, legal restrictions or requirements, etc. required for the trade business within a short time in advance, so that the trial and error can be minimized in the real trade business. Brief Description of the Drawings

[11] FIG. 1 illustrates the overall configuration of a system for providing information about trade simulation according to the present inventiond

[12] FIG. 2 is an entire flow chart illustrating a method for providing information about trade simulation according to the present invention. Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[13] The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[14] Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompany drawings. These embodiments are for illustrative purpose only and the present invention is not limited thereto.

[15] FIG. 1 illustrates the overall configuration of a system for providing information about trade simulation according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, among the reference numbers, 1 indicates a database (DB) server, 2 indicates an arithmetic server,

3 indicates a Web server, 4 indicates an operator terminal, 5 indicates a user terminal, 6 indicates a communication unit, 7 indicates a local area network (LAN), 11 indicates a database management system (DBMS), 12 indicates a user information DB, and 13 indicates a basic data DB.

[16] When a user 5, who wants to get the service according to the present invention, inputs information associated with trade events (information about trade conditions to be simulated), the arithmetic server 2 functions to provide post- simulation information desired by a user through arithmetic processing, etc. using basic data which an operator

4 periodically updates and inputs.

[17] The DB server 1 comprises the DBMS 11, the basic data DB 13, and the user information DB 12. [18] The basic data DB 13 receives and stores various pieces of information about: commodity classification of traded products, freight rates, deduction of tariffs, districts (continent, country, port, airport, city, etc.), judicial precedents, simplified fixed refund tax rates (tariffs, internal taxes), pre-examination of tax amounts, certification of origin, import and export requirements (import and export announcement, integrated announcement, certification of head of customs office, extra freight rates, and so on, all of which are input from the operator terminal 4. These pieces of information are provided by the request of the arithmetic server 2. The arithmetic server 2 creates and outputs such information as the trade post- simulation information, which the user terminal 5 requests. The trade post-simulation information, which is created and provided by the arithmetic server 2, include various pieces of information about: expenses, products, import and export requirements, tax rates, recommendation, etc., the detailed description of which will be made below.

[19] The user information DB 12 functions to store personal information about the user who is registered for the service of the present invention, identification (ID) and password for authentication in the event of system access. However, the user information DB 13 may act as an alternative component according to circumstances, and thus allow an arbitrary user to freely use the service without the authentication. The following description will be made in consideration of a system environment having the user information DB 13 and the case in which the user information is used after previously input and stored in the user information DB 13.

[20] The DBMS 11 functions to input, output, update, and manage the information in conjunction with the user information DB 13 and the user information DB 12.

[21] The Web server 13 provides a user interface environment in which each user using the service accesses the service system of the present invention over the Internet using his/her terminal 5. The LAN 7 is an internal communication network that connects the DB server 1, the arithmetic server 2, the Web server 3, and the system operator terminal 4. The communication unit 6 is a gateway through which the external user terminal 5 accesses the Internet, and includes a router, a switching hub or the like as usual.

[22] It is apparent that the DB server 1, the arithmetic server 2, and the Web server 3, all of which are described above, can be distributed among separate server computers connected to the communication network as shown in FIG. 1, but all of them can be mounted on one high-capacity host computer.

[23] Now, in conjunction with the request of the user terminal 5 that wants the trade simulation, how the system of the present invention creates and provides the trade post-simulation information will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 2.

[24] FIG. 2 is an entire flow chart illustrating a method for providing information about trade simulation according to the present invention. [25] First, when the system for providing information about trade simulation according to the present invention is operated, system parameters of the respective servers 1, 2 and 3 are initialized (S31), and an environment in which the user terminal 5 can gain online access through the Web server 3 is provided (S32).

[26] When a system operator gains access in the on-line access environment (S33), a basic data management environment is provided to the basic data DB 13 for creating the information about the trade simulation so as to enable either new input or existing data update (S34). As described above, the basic data include various pieces of information about: commodity classification of traded products, freight rates, deduction of tariffs, districts (continent, country, port, airport, city, etc.), judicial precedents, simplified fixed refund tax rates (tariffs, internal taxes), pre-examination of tax amounts, certification of origin, import and export requirements (import and export announcement, integrated announcement, certification of head of customs office, extra freight rates, and so on.

[27] When a user, who has been registered with or intends to subscribe to the service in the on-line access environment, gains access (S33), it is determined whether or not the user is one who intends to subscribe to the service for the first time (S35). If so, the user is requested to input his/her own personal information, personal ID and password which are to be used for the service, and so on (S36), and these pieces of information are registered with the user information DB 12 (S37).

[28] In contrast, when requesting the access, a pre-registered user is requested to input his/her ID and password, and user authentication is conducted (S38). The pre-registered user is allowed to input information about the conditions of a trade event which he/her wants to simulate. The information about the trade event conditions which the user is requested to input includes whether the trade is an export type or an import type, whether the transportation path is an ocean type or an air type, lists and prices of products, unit of transportation, districts, and so on.

[29] When the user inputs the information about the trade event conditions, the information is temporarily stored in the arithmetic server 2 (S40). The arithmetic server 2 gets access to the data of the basic data DB 13 with reference to the condition information, and conducts a predetermined arithmetic process, thereby creating and providing various pieces of post- simulation information about: expenses, products, import and export requirements, tax rates, recommendation, and so on.

[30] Each piece of post- simulation information created and provided by the arithmetic server 2 will be described below in detail.

[31] 1. Information about expenses

[32] The expense information is information about the results of calculating total expenses occurring when the trade is carried on according to the trade event conditions input by the user, and is created including prices of products input by the user, freight rates (sea, air, inland), additional charges, taxes, and other expenses.

[33] Here, as for the reason the prices of products input by the user are included in the result information, the prices of products are not included in an expense item in the case of the export, but they are included in an expense item in the case of the import. Thus, the prices of products are to be included in the total expenses.

[34] The freight rates are calculated by classification of three types: sea, air and inland, and are based on values calculated by a transportation expense rate table (transportation tariff), which an operator has previously input using a transporting means and a transportation district, which are selected and input by the user in common with respect to the exports and imports, as parameters.

[35] The additional charges are created including terminal handling charge (THC), bunker adjustment factor (BAF), currency adjustment factor (CAF), container freight station (CFS) charge occurring when products are consolidated or classified at shipment and destination CFSs, document fees imposed when a bill of lading (B/L) is issued to a carrier or a forwarder in the event of the export and when a delivery order (D/O) is issued, wharfage, freight physical distribution cost, and so on, and are determined by classification of export and import, and sea and air.

[36] The taxes include a custom duty and an internal tax, and are created and provided only in the case of the import.

[37] The other expenses are created by adding up various data of insurance premiums, customs attorney fees, and forwarder charges, which are stored in the basic data DB 13.

[38] Thus, the expense information is created by adding up the products prices, freight rates, additional expenses, taxes, and other expenses. However, in the case of the export, the expense information is created by adding up the freight rates, additional expenses, and other expenses excluding the products prices and the taxes.

[39] 2. Information about products

[40] The product information is created and provided to inform the user which of the products listed in the harmonized system of Korea (HSK) code table is the product input by the user, because the product information input by the user is not exact in the light of the commodity classification standard classified by the customs. The product information is created in a manner such that, when a commodity list is provided to the user so as to select and input one of the traded products, and then the user select and input one of the traded products, HSK ten digit value, exact name, English description, HS number, number/unit, tariff interpretation, and commodity classification case, all of which belong to the input product, are extracted from the basic data DB 13. The reason this product information is created and provided is to enable the user to ascertain as which product the selected commodity is exactly treated in the process of a real export or import clearance, and make use when the information about the tax rates, the import and export requirements, etc., which will be described below, in consideration of the system of the present invention.

[41] 3. Information about tax rates

[42] Both basic tax rate data and district tax rate data among the data stored in the basic data DB 13 are referred to using the product information, and a tax rate criterion of a customs law when the tax rate is different according to a country is applied. Thereby, the resultant value of the tax rate is settled, and then the tax type, tax rate, and tax amount applied using the product information, the district value input by the user, and the product price are calculated. Thereby, the tax rate information is created. The tax amount data of the tax rate information is used as one element value in the process of creating the expense information.

[43] 4. Information about import and export requirements

[44] The import and export requirement information is created and provided so as to inform the user of legal institutional requirements applied when the user exports and imports the products to be traded, and includes import and export skill, information about laws, and so on. As described above, when the user inputs the names of the products to be traded, the product information is created. At this time, related information is extracted through search for the information about import and export announcement, integrated announcement, certification of head of customs office, pre- examination objects of tax amounts, origin marking objects, issue objects of certificate of origin, laws, judicial precedents, all of which are stored in the basic data DB 13, using the obtained HSK ten digit value as a key. Thereby, the import and export requirement information is created.

[45] 5. Recommendation information

[46] The recommendation information is knowledge information that is provided in a recommended fashion so as to enable the user to carry on the real trade business without trial and error or mistake. For example, assuming that the input value of the user be the import of personal digital assistant (PDA) products from Singapore, the number of cases is provided concerning country from which they can be imported at a lowest price, a shortest sea route, freight rate, and so on. This recommendation information is created by combination of the data stored according to the personal criterion the operator of the system of the present invention.

[47] Although the exemplary embodiment of the present invention has been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims. Industrial Applicability

[48] The present invention provides a system and method for providing information about trade simulation on line within a short time in a simple manner.

Claims

[1] A system for providing information about trade simulation based on a computer communication network, the system comprising: a user interface means, which provides an environment in which at least one service user who wants to obtain information gain access through the computer communication network; a database server means, which stores basic data information required when at least one user who wants to get service creates information about trade post- simulation using information about conditions of a trade event; and an arithmetic server means, which automatically creates and provides both information about expenses occurring when the trade event is actually carried out and the trade post- simulation information including information about legal institutional requirements applied when the user imports or exports products to be traded, using basic data stored in the database server means when the trade event condition information is input from the user through the user interface means.

[2] The system of claim 1, wherein the arithmetic server means creates knowledge information, which is provided in a recommended fashion so as to enable the user to carry on the real trade business without trial and error or mistake, in addition to the trade post- simulation information.

[3] A method for providing information about trade simulation using a system having a user interface means accessed through a computer communication network, a database server means, and an arithmetic server means, the method comprising: a first step of storing basic data information, which is required when information about trade post-simulation is created, in the database server means; a second step of requesting a user who wants to use service to gain access to input information about conditions of a trade event which the user intends to carry out; a third step of an arithmetic server means creating and providing both information about expenses occurring when the trade event is actually carried out and the trade post- simulation information including information about legal institutional requirements applied when the user imports or exports products to be traded, using basic data stored in the database server means when the trade event condition information is input from the user through the user interface means.

[4] The method of claim 3, wherein the expense information of the third step is created: by adding up product prices input by the user, freight rates based on trans- portation service, additional charges including terminal handling charge, bunker adjustment factor, and currency adjustment factor, taxes, and other expenses including insurance premiums, customs attorney fees, and forwarder charges; and by adding up the products prices, the freight rates, the additional expenses, the taxes, and the other expenses when the trade event conditions input by the user is an import, and the freight rates, the additional expenses, and the other expenses excluding the products prices and the taxes when the trade event conditions input by the user is an export.

[5] The method of claim 3 or 4, further comprising a step of creating knowledge information, which is provided in a recommended fashion so as to enable the user to carry on the real trade business without trial and error or mistake, as the trade post-simulation information.