Analogue - the traditional means of communicating over a distance, via broadcast transmission or telephone wires. Now being replaced by digital broadcast and telephony, which can pack in much more information. Business analysis - a review of the sales, costs, and profit projections for a new product to find out whether these factors satisfy the company's objectives. Needs analysis - the process of determining a buyer's or prospect's needs before presenting or demonstrating a product or service. Portfolio analysis - a tool management uses to identify and evaluate the businesses that comprise the company. Value analysis - an approach to cost reduction in which components are studied carefully to determine whether they can be redesigned, standardized, or made by less costly methods of production. Answer – the formal written statement by a defendant in a civil case that responds to a complaint, articulating the grounds for defense. Antidumping - as a reference to the system of laws to remedy dumping, is defined as a converse of dumping. APO - (abbreviation for Administrative Protective Order) used to protect proprietary data that is obtained during an administrative proceeding. Within Commerce, APO is most frequently used in connection with Antidumping and Countervailing Duty investigations to prohibit opposing counsel from releasing data. The term is also applied in connection with civil enforcement of export control laws to protect against the disclosure of sensitive national security information and information provided by companies being investigated for violations. Appeal – a request made after a trial by a party that has lost on one or more issues that a higher court review the decision to determine if it was correct. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal". One who appeals is called the "appellant"; the other party is the "appellee". Appellant – the party who appeals a district court's decision, usually seeking reversal of that decision. Appellate – about appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgment of a lower court (trial court) or tribunal. For example, the U.S. circuit courts of appeals review the decisions of the U.S. district courts. Appellee – the party who opposes an appellant's appeal, and who seeks to persuade the appeals court to affirm the district court's decision. Application – computer program or system. Approach - the step in the selling process in which the salesperson meets the customer for the first time. Arbitrage - the process of buying foreign exchange, stocks, bonds, and other commodities in one market and immediately selling them in another market at higher prices. Arbitration - the submitting of matters of controversy to judgment by persons selected by all parties to the dispute. Architecture – the outline design of a system, identifying the major components and their functionalities – can be applied to applications, systems and networks. Arraignment – a proceeding in which a criminal defendant is brought into court, told of the charges in an indictment or information, and asked to plead guilty or not guilty. Arrest - the detention of a vessel until the purpose of the arrest has been fulfilled. And Arrival - a term relating to return of premiums on a hull policy. The ship must be safe at expiry of the policy: otherwise no return of premium will be paid. Restricted Articles - articles which are handled only under certain conditions. Ship's articles - the agreement between the master and his crew, giving details of conditions and terms. ASCII - (abbreviation for American Standard Code for Informantion Interchange) a standard for electronic characters. These are considered very basic, non-font characters. ASEAN - (abbreviation for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) agreed in January 1992 to create a free trade area (ASEAN Free Trade Area, or AFTA) with use of a common effective preferential tariff. Under the agreement ASEAN members will cut tariff rates within 15 years of its start date of January 1994. Manufactured goods from 15 sectors designated as "fast track" are subject to tariff reduction to 0-5 percent within 10 years, and seven years if the starting rates were already below 20 percent. "Fast track" sectors include vegetable oils, cement, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, fertilizer, plastics, rubber products, leather products, pulp, textiles, ceramic and glass products, gems and jewelry, copper cathodes, electronics, and wooden and tartan furniture. Assessment - the imposition of antidumping duties on imported merchandise. Assets - (1) everything a company or individual owns or is owed; (2) property of all kinds, including real and personal, tangible and intangible. Current Assets - cash or anything that can be readily converted into cash. Fixed Assets - assets essential to continuance of undertaking and proper operation of the college. Land, buildings, machinery, furniture, and other equipment which the local college intends to hold or continue in use over a long period of time. Assessor - a person who officially estimates the value of goods for the purpose of apportioning the sum payable in the settlement of claims. Assignee - one who receives rights from an assignor. Assignment - the passing of beneficial rights from one party to another. A policy or certificate of insurance cannot be assigned after interest has passed, unless an agreement to assign was made, or implied, prior to the passing of interest. An assignee acquires no greater rights than were held by the assignor, and a breach of good faith by the assignor is deemed to be a breach on the part of the assignee. The Institute Time Clauses (Hulls) incorporate a clause which terminates the policy automatically if, amongst other things, the ship changes ownership or management unless the underwriters agree in writing to continue the insurance. This effectively restricts free assignment of a hull time policy. If underwriters do agree to the assignment an endorsement signed by the assignor, showing the date of assignment must be attached to the policy. The assignment is still subject to the restrictions above. Assignor - one who assigns his rights to another. Associate - one associated with another in an undertaking; closely or usually connected with another party or organization with common interests, as if a partner. Articles and Memorandum of Association - in common law jurisdictions these two documents comprise the constitution of a company and govern the powers of the company to trade, issue shares, and borrow money as well as defining the relationships between the shareholders, directors and the officers of the company. Salvage Association - an association, closely connected with the London insurance market, whose functions is to take instructions from interested parties (e.g. underwriters) to investigate casualties and to make recommendations for the preservation and protection of property; also to determine the extent and proximate cause of loss when required. Assume – an agreement to continue performing duties under a contract or lease. Quality Assurance - activities involving a review of quality of services and the taking of any corrective actions to remove any deficiencies. ASWP – in international trade and business practice is abbreviation for Any Safe World Port. ATI - (abbreviation for American Traders Index) the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service headquarters compilation of individual US & FCS domestic client files, for use by overseas posts to generate mailing lists. ATLAS - (abbreviation for Automated Trade Locator Assistance Network) a Small Business Administration-sponsored, contractor-operated, automated system that provides market research information and statistics on world markets by SIC code (and possibly harmonized system). Indirect access is available for businesses, with arrangements through the local SBA district office. ATLAS, which became operational in Spring 1993, replaced SBA's export information system (XIS). ATM - (abbreviation for Asynchronous Transfer Mode) a broadband cell relay networking technology enabling a network to provide appropriate services for data, voice and video streams through a number of complimentary sub-services. Originally ATM was expected to be installed widely in LANs and WANs, but the emergence of fast ethernet and gigabit ethernet has pushed ATM away from desktop connections. Commercial attache - the commerce expert on the diplomatic staff of his or her country's embassy or large consulate. Attachment - a file that is sent along with an e-mail message, rather than as a part of the message itself. This could be a large text file that you don't want to retype in the e-mail message, or a graphic or picture. Attitude - a person's consistently favourable or unfavourable evaluations, feelings, and tendencies toward an object or idea. AUD - the ISO currency code for the Australian Dollar. Audit - (1) an examination and verification of a company's financial and accounting records and supporting documents by a professional, such as a Certified Public Accountant; (2) an IRS examination of an individual or corporation's tax return, to verify its accuracy. An audit is an IRS examination of an individual or corporation's tax return, to verify its accuracy. There are three types of audits: correspondence audits (the IRS mails a request for additional information), office audits (an interview is conducted at a local IRS office), and field audits (an interview is conducted at a taxpayer's place of business, for a corporate tax return). Since there is always the chance of an audit, experts recommend keeping good records to support all the information in a return. The reason detailed and accurate bookkeeping is so important is that the burden of proof is on the filer, not the IRS. Marketing audit - a comprehensive, systematic, independent, and periodic examination of a company's environment, objectives, strategies, and activities to determine problem areas and opportunities and to recommend a plan of action to improve the company's marketing performance. Auditor - an individual qualified (at the state level) to conduct audits. Authority to Pay - a document comparable to a revocable letter of credit but under whose terms the authority to pay the seller stems from the buyer rather than from a bank. AVE - (abbreviation for Ad Valorem Equivalent) the rate of duty which would have been required on dutiable imports under that item, if the United States customs value of such imports were based on the United States port of entry value. Average - any loss or damage due to insured a peril that is less than a total loss. Two types of average occur: Particular Average and General Average. General Average - an internationally accepted rule of the sea. When a ship is in danger of total loss the master has the right to sacrifice property and/or incur reasonable expenditure to prevent the total loss. Measures taken for the sole benefit of any particular interest are not general average. On successful completion of the adventure or if it is abandoned in a place of safety on successful attainment of such place the ship is declared as entering "under average". Security in the shape of deposits or guarantees is taken from each cargo interest and an average adjuster is appointed the adjuster calculates the value of the saved interest and each interest is required to contribute a rateable proportion to make good the general average loss. Underwriters are liable only if the peril leading to the general average act was an insured peril and their liability is limited to the insured value of sacrificed insured property and to their proportion of the general average contribution payable by the assured. Particular Average - a fortuitous partial loss to the subject matter insured proximately caused by an insured peril but which is not a general average loss. Weighted Average - an average that reflects the underlying quantities of its components. For example, whereas the average per capita GDP of European countries would treat Greece and Germany equally, the weighted-average per capita GDP would reflect Germany's greater population. 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. Avoidance - the right of an underwriter to avoid a contract of marine insurance. This can occur in the event of a breach of good faith by the assured or by his broker or, in the case of a voyage policy, where the voyage does not commence within a reasonable time after acceptance of the risk by the underwriter. Award - a decision given by a court of law or by an arbitrator to conclude a dispute. The term can be used also to define the amount of damages allowed, if any, in the award. A judge in court will often state the reasoning for the decision, whereas this is rarely the case, with an arbitrator’s award. Salvage Award - an amount awarded to a salvor for services rendered in the salvage of property in peril at sea. The award may be made by a court or by arbitration, depending on the terms of the salvage contract. Underwriters contribute towards a salvage award insofar as the award is in respect of insured property in peril from an insured risk, subject to any restrictions imposed by the policy (e.g. a policy deductible) and, except where the policy provides otherwise, subject to reduction to reflect under-insurance, if any. AWB - (abbreviation for Air Waybill) a Bill of Lading that covers both domestic and international flights transporting goods to a specified destination. This is a nonnegotiable instrument of air transport that serves as a receipt for the shipper, indicating that the carrier has accepted the goods listed and obligates itself to carry the consignment to the airport of destination according to specified conditions. AZC - (abbreviation for Australian Zone Charge) a portion of the Through Service that applies to the Land leg delivery in Australia. Either in the collection of goods for export, or the delivery of goods that has been imported. Partial loss of the whole adventure deliberately made to prevent total loss of the whole adventure. It may be sacrifice of property or expenditure incurred to save the adventure. Parties who benefit from a general average loss are required to make good that loss by contributing in the proportion that the saved value of the party’s property bears to the saved value of all interest involved in the adventure.