The Safely Sourcing China Blog

What Can You Expect To Pay For CIETAC To Arbitrate For You, Should You Lose On A Deal In China?.

So, you lost out, and were skinned and scammed by a company in China, and now you want to go to arbitration to get back what you’ve lost, as well as getting some justice from the “evil doers“, as Mr. Bush might say. So, what’s it going to cost you?

Well, the following is the CIETAC fee schedule for their arbitration services, which I’ve converted, as near as possible, to the corresponding USD values.

Now, remember, when you choose to go into arbitration you agree to abide by the arbitral outcome. That is to say, that should the judgement go against you then all of the following monies tabulated below, will be lost to you on-top of your actual current losses. And don’t go confusing Western Jurisprudence with that of China; it may very well go against you. Remember, this is another risk.

As clearly stated beyond the main table, there may be further “…arbitration fee(s) according to this Arbitration Fee Schedule, the CIETAC or its Sub-commission may collect other extra, reasonable and actual expenses pursuant to the relevant provisions of the Arbitration Rules.” Meaning, that whatever you’re charged in the initial schedule may also include further fees levied to your account to the value of 1,500 USD per additional charge, per additional “…reasonable and actual expenses pursuant to the relevant provisions of the Arbitration Rules.”

Of course, even should you win, the defendant may still hold you up by delaying payment for a variety of reasons, and causing you to resort to CIETAC again, at further expense, which you will then have to get CIETAC to levy back against the defendant. Or, of course, they may just shut up shop and disappear. This kind of tactic wouldn’t necessarily be unusual.

Now, let’s just take a look at a bare-bones example, without the extra fees, and see what we’re talking about here.

We’ll take the lowest level in the schedule as an example, and this is just waving the stick a little, to get an idea of how things could go.

So, you lost $150,000 to a company somewhere in some province, in China.

You go to CIETAC, and before anything happens (and at this point I think it only fitting to mention that there is about a 9 month backlog with CIETAC) you are charged a fee of $5,250, plus the $1,500 registration fee, which is charged at all levels. Therefore, you’re current total is now $6,750, and you’ve just finished the registration process alone.

Then there will be charges for phone calls, letters, and transport costs for an examiner to visit the defendant or their place of business, hotel costs, living cost etc.

So, let’s just consider transport, living, interview, and visitation costs.

Let’s just call that another $3,000, and remain in the conservative area of things. That would bring you up to around the $9,750 mark. Then there’ll be the weeks and months of back and forth, hither and thither, as nothing in this vein happens either quickly or directly in China.

In the meantime, you may see your charges rise by another $3,000, before you even get close to an arbitral decision; and by which time you will have shelled out, on top of your $150,000 loss, another $12,750, and you’ll be sweating and hoping it all goes your way, or else you’ve lost your initial loss of $150,000 plus another $12,750.

So, are you shaking in your boots? Quivering with anger and frustration?

You should be!

Before I present you with the CIETAC arbitration fee schedule, allow me to tell you that there’s another way around this, and that is – PREVENTION.

Very simply, you can contact us at Your China Trading Partner, and we’ll make a factory visit, do your Due Diligence, and arrange for your goods to be checked before leaving port.

For us to go visit the factory, and to have your goods checked at port before shipping, will cost you approximately another $850 to $1,000 on top of your costs; whilst of course, on our factory visit we’ll get your supplier to agree to the insertion of the CIETAC Arbitration Clause in your joint contract, and which states:

“Any dispute arising from or in connection with this Contract shall be submitted to China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission for arbitration which shall be conducted in accordance with the Commission’s arbitration rules in effect at the time of applying for arbitration. The arbitral award is final and binding upon both parties.”

And thereby, offer you a little extra protection; additionally, of course, you can include in the terms of your L/C, that monies will not be released until goods have passed random quality checking, at their exit port prior to shipping.

Now, here’s a final question for you, before I introduce you to that fee schedule.

Doesn’t it make a lot more sense to spend another $850 to $1,000 on top of your costs, as insurance against the nightmare of losing your investment, and then having to go to arbitration with CIETAC?

I’m a little tired of hearing about all these losses, when I know that even if they can’t be completely dissolved, they can, at the very least, be seriously mitigated.

But, we live in a cost-cutting global mentality, and have done since the Thatcher and Reagan years; and people are silly enough to even cut costs on their insurance and investment security.

This is precisely the kind of mentality that makes dollars for the scammers, and no cents to me? Does it make cents to you?

Get the pun?

Now Here’s That Fee Schedule for you.

China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission

ARBITRATION FEE SCHEDULE

(This fee schedule applies to the arbitration cases accepted under Item 1 and 2 of Article 3 of the Arbitration Rules, and becomes effective on May 1, 2005)

Amount of Claim (USD).	Amount of Fee (USD).
150,000 USD or less.	3.5% of the Claimed Amount, minimum 1,500 USD.
150,000 USD to 750,000 USD.	5,000 USD plus 2.5% of the amount above 150,000 USD.
750,000 USD to 1,500,000 USD.	19,750 USD plus 1.5% of the amount above 750,000 USD.
1,500,00 USD to 7,500,000 USD.	30,700 USD plus 1% of the amount above 1,500,000 USD.
7,500,000 USD or more.	90,000 USD plus 0.5% of the amount above 7,500,000 USD.

Each case, when being accepted, shall be charged an additional amount of $1,500 as a Registration Fee which includes the expenses for examining the application for arbitration, initiating the arbitration proceedings, computerizing management and filing the documents.

Where the amount of the claim is not ascertained at the time when application for arbitration is handed in, or there exists special circumstances, the amount of arbitration fee shall be determined by the secretariat of the CIETAC or its Sub-Commission.

Apart from charging arbitration fee according to this Arbitration Fee Schedule, the CIETAC or its Sub-commission may collect other extra, reasonable and actual expenses pursuant to the relevant provisions of the Arbitration Rules.

Safe Trading!

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Originally posted 2009-08-13 05:48:30. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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