Chapter 3 Quantity Clause

Learning Objectives

After studying this chapter, the students should be able to：

（1）Understand the frequently-used basic systems of weights and measures within international trade；

（2）Know definitions of basic measurement units and their applications including weight, number length, area, volume, capacity and package；

（3）Describe the contents and the methods of calculating weight；

（4）Explain the more or less clause, also named as plus or minus clause；

（5）Identify the conditions under which the more or less clause are needed to be applied to；

（6）Master the ways to apply particular measurement units to certain circumstances.

Case Study

A Chinese Foodstuff Import ＆ Export Corporation exported some goods to an importer in another country. On January 10,2018, the overseas importer opened a letter of credit which was received by the export side on January 14 transferred from the notified bank of receipt of the letter of credit. The letter of credit stipulates:“... Amount:US$1,232,000.00... 800 M/T（quantity 5% more or less allowed）of..., Price:at US$1,540.00 per net M/T, CIF Port A. Shipments to Port A immediately. Partial shipments are not allowed.”

The export company immediately accommodated accordingly to the L/C the arrangements for the shipment and contacted the ship agency company after receiving the L/C. The ship agency company said, there were no other earlier scheduled shipments to Port A than the one on February 16. The export company on February 17 loaded the goods for export and got the bill of lading on February 17 issued by the authorities, and all of other documents required to get the payment from the negotiating bank. The negotiating bank discovered that the total amount of the L/C was US$123,200,000 whereas the amount of the invoice and bill was US$126,896,000,（i.e., the amount of the invoice and bill exceeded the total amount of L/C by US$3,696,000.）Therefore, the negotiating bank refused to negotiate.

The export company believed that the discrepancy was not valid, claiming to the negotiating bank that:the quantity of cargo stipulated in the letter of credit was 800 metric tons with the provision that the quantity of shipment might be allowed to increase or decrease by 5%, that is a maximum of 840 metric tons and a minimum of 760 metric tons could be loaded. As a matter of fact, we only loaded 824 tons, increasing the quantity by 3%, not exceeding 5%, the scope of the letter of credit requirement. The letter of credit stipulated the unit rate at US$1,540.00 per metric ton, with 824 metric tons, the total amount was US$126,896,000, which was allowed by the letter of credit. So, the discrepancy was not valid.

The negotiating bank believed that the L/C allowed the volume of shipment to increase or decrease by 5%, but that didn't mean the total amount of whole goods was allowed to increase or decrease. Therefore, even if the quantity was in line with that of the letter of credit, the total amount of negotiation that went beyond the limits of the total amount of L/C was definitely not allowed. According to UCP600 Article 18, “when nominated bank acting on it nomination, a confirming bank, if any, or the issuing bank may accept a commercial invoice issued for an amount in excess of the amount permitted by the credit, and its decision will be binding upon all parties, provided the bank in question has not honored or negotiated for an amount in excess of that permitted by the credit.”The negotiating bank proposed to avail of the method which is called（part L/C and part collection）since the goods had already been shipped and that was a dice out on the table. In other words, two sets of draft were needed, letter of credit under the total amount of US$123,200,000 was in the normal processing under license negotiation;whilst the excess part of US$3,696,000 was handled by the collection on clean bill and finally the exporter did on February 19.

The buyer called on February 20:“We received your notification of shipping by fax on February 18. As for the 800 metric tons' commodity under the Contract No. ××, we opened a letter of credit on January 10 in which stated ‘prompt shipment', whilst you actually had delayed because you effected shipment on February 17. You should inform us in advance, or propose to amend the letter of credit if your side was unable to implement the terms of‘immediate shipment'. Otherwise it shall be deemed to have accepted‘immediate shipment'. In accordance with international conventions, the definition of‘immediate shipment'should be understood as the shipment effected within 30 days after the opening of the letter of credit. Our end-users were in urgent need of the goods and because your side did not raise any objection to, we guaranteed our end-users delivery within February. Because of your delayed shipment we could not immediately arrange delivery to the end-users, resulting in failure to fulfill the appointment with them. You should pay the damages for our losses.”

The export company, on February 22 replied and objected：

“We got our fax on February 20. As for the Contract No. ×× and your so-called‘failure to fulfill the appointment', we believed that was the matter of the dispute between you and the Port A. We had not signed the contract with the ‘immediate shipment', and the goods had been shipped on February 17 which was not beyond the delivery time deadline. The so-called‘immediate shipment' was just in your side's letter of credit requirements. UCP600 provides that:terms such as‘fast'‘immediate'‘as soon as possible'and so on, should not be used, if you use these words, the bank will not handle it. Your side's explanation of the so-called‘the opening of letters of credit within 30 days from the date of shipment' was according with the UCP 400 old practice which was already expired, and was replaced by the UCP600 since July 1,2017. According to UCP600 regulations, the terms like ‘immediate shipment' used in the letter of credit are not valid, which is equivalent to no existing of such a requirement.”

After that, the export corporation on February 28 received a notice of refusal of documents transferred by the negotiating bank from the issuing bank：

“We found the unconformity as follows with the documents under the Letter of Credit No. 2222：

First of all, the total amount of our L/C was US$123,200,000 while the total amount of your invoice was US$126,896,000. Secondly, in the column of the invoice read, the total amount of the invoice was US$126,896,000. Our letter of credit does not allow the letter of credit with additional collection, which is inconsistent with the documents. According to the above-mentioned situations, the documents were unacceptable and were therefore still retained by us. Please let us know how to cope with them.”

The export company believed that it was buyer's accountability. The above-mentioned documents put forward by the applicant of the issuing bank didn't match. So, they decided to negotiate with the buyer. But as the market price of the goods was skyrocketing unexpectedly and the buyer was eager to pick up the goods, they paid promptly the bill of US$123,200,000 while repudiated the payment of the excess part with the collection. The case ended with the export company's losses of US$3,696,000. What can the Chinese company learn from this case？

3.1 The Systems of Weights and Measures

Any business deal consists of a certain quantity of goods supplied by the seller and a certain sum of money paid by the buyer. Without a certain quantity of goods, any business deal would be groundless. Thus, quantity clause is also one of the essential terms and conditions in a contract. It is required that the seller's delivery quantity must be identical to that stipulated in the contract; otherwise, the buyer reserves the right to claim for compensation and even reject the goods.

British Sale of Goods Act 1893（1993 Revision）provides, “if the quantity delivered by the seller is greater than the amount stipulated in the contract, the buyer is entitled to reject the goods excessive in quantity, or he may reject the whole lot.”

United Nations Convention on Contracts of International Sale of Goods also states, “the quantity of goods delivered should be identical to that called for in the contract, otherwise the buyer is entitled to reject the portion of goods excessive in quantity, and to claim against the seller if the quantity is found to be less than that called for in the contract. If the seller delivers a quantity of goods greater than that provided for in the contract, the buyer may take delivery or refuse to take delivery of the excess quantity. If the buyer takes delivery of all or part of the excess quantity, he must pay for it at the contract rate.”

Since the quantity agreed by both parties is the basis of delivery, it is of great significance to command quantity and conclude quantity clause in the transaction correctly. The main content of quantity clause includes measurement units, systems of calculating units, methods of calculating weight, etc. If the delivery is less than the agreed quantity, the seller should make up for the shortage within the time limit, but even so, the buyer reserves the right to lodge a claim.

Because different countries have different systems of calculating units, such as length, capacity and weight, the units of measurement vary from a country to another. Furthermore, the same unit of measurement may represent different quantities. Take example of“ton”. There are various“tons”weighing differently in different systems such as long ton/English ton（2,240 lbs）, short ton/American ton（2,000 lbs）and metric ton/French ton（about 2,204 lbs）. Therefore, it is greatly important for the traders to know the units of measurement in different systems and the way how they are converted in to another. The commonly used systems in the world are the metric system, International System of Units, British system and US system. What unit of measurement should be chosen in the contract should be in accordance with the nature of the goods.

In addition, each country also has its own customary measurement method. For example, cotton per pack is 480 pounds in the United States,398.8 pounds in Brazil,730 pounds in Egypt; sugar per bag is 133 kilograms in Cuba,60 kilograms in Brazil. As the above countries are the world's traditional distribution centers of commodities in international trade, the above measurement standards are considered as appropriate when signing a contract.

3.1.1 Metric System

There are two categories of metric units, which are used to show the quantity of commodity in international trade. One is the metric unit, including weight, length, area, volume and capacity, the other is numbers, including some customary units such as dozen, gross, great gross, ream, and some packing units like barrel, bale（cotton）, etc.

The main units are kilogram（kg）, meter（m）, square meter（sq m）and liter（l）Some other units are metric ton（M/T）, kilometer（km）and so on. This system is widely used in European continent and many other countries.

3.1.2 International System of Units

The system is published by the International Standard Metrical Organization, and is based on metric system. Its primary units include kilogram, meter, second, etc. This is China's legal metrical system. The following table shows different measurement in practical use（See Table 3－1）.

3.1.3 British System

Under this system, primary units are pound and yard. It is adopted by the British Commonwealth. However, announcement of abandoning this system has been made by British since it has been a member of European Union. It presently uses the metric system.

3.1.4 The US System

The primary units are the same as British system, this is, pound and yard. But there are differences in some units. For instance, while the long ton（L/T）in British system equals to 2,200 pounds, the short ton（S/T）equals to 2,000 pounds. Besides, some capacity units like gallon and barrel are of the same names under British system and the US system, but the actual capacities are different.

3.2 Quantity Units

Generally, the following measuring units are adopted in China：

3.2.1 Number

It is constantly used for measurement of industrial manufactured products and general product such as ready-made clothes, stationery, paper, toys and so on, such as piece（pc）, package（pkg）, pair, set, dozen（doz）, gross（gr）, ream（rm）, roll, coil, etc.

3.2.2 Weight

This is the most frequently used method in international trade at present. It is usually used for mineral products, agricultural and by-products such as wool, cotton, grains and ore products. When it is used in the contract, there are metric ton or kilo ton, long ton or gross ton, short ton or net ton, gram（g）, kilogram（kg）, ounce（oz）, pound（lb）, quintal, hundred weight（or cwt）, etc.

3.2.3 Length

It is mostly used for textile products metal cords, electric wires, ropes and so on, such as meter（m）, foot（ft）, yard（yd）, etc.

3.2.4 Area

It is often used in trade of glass, textile products such as carpets, etc., like square meter（sqm）, square foot（sq ft）, square yard（sq yd）and the like. Often, we add thickness in the contract.

3.2.5 Volume

It is generally used for timber, wood, chemical gases, etc. It includes cubic meter（cu m）, cubic centimeter（cu cm）, cubic foot（cu ft）, cubic yard（cu yd）, etc.

3.2.6 Capacity

It is mostly used for grain, petroleum/gas, liquid cargoes, etc. The commonly used ca pacity units are Liter（l）, gallon（gal）, pint（pt）, bushel（bu）and so on.

3.2.7 Package

It is often used in the packing of cement, cotton, food stored in tins and so on, such as bag, carton, case, bale, etc.

3.3 Methods for Calculating Weight

Within the international trade, goods are most often measured in the units of weight. The methods to measure the weight of goods are stated as follows.

3.3.1 Gross Weight:Gross for Net

Gross weight is the sum of total weight of the commodity itself and the tare（the package weight）. That is to say it refers to the net weight plus the tare weight of the goods. Some products, for example sack-packed rice or horse bean, are measured in gross weight as net weight, since their unit value is not very high and the weight of it packaging can be negligible. Under this situation, the method is called Gross for Net.

3.3.2 Net Weight

Net weight is the actual weight of commodity itself without the addition of the tare. In international trade, if the goods are sold by weight, the net weight is often used.

Net weight＝gross weight-tare weight

There are four ways to calculate tare weight.

（1）By actual tare:the actual weight of packages of the whole commodities.

（2）By average tare:in this way, the weight of packages is calculated on the basis of the average tare of a part of the packages.

（3）By customary tare:the weight of standardized package has a generally recognized weight which can be used to represent the weight of such packages.

（4）By computed tare:the weight of package is calculated according to the tare previously agreed upon by the seller and the buyer instead of actual weight.

It is customary to calculate the weight by net weight if the contract does not stipulate definitely by gross weight or by net weight. Occasionally, the weights of some commodities are usually calculated by conditioned weight and theoretical weight. Conditioned weight is obtained with the moisture content of the commodity removed by scientific methods and the standardized moisture added. It is often applicable to such commodities as raw silk and wool, which are of high economic value and with unsteady moisture content. Commodities with regular specifications and regular sizes, such as galvanized iron and steel plate, are suitable to be weighed by theoretical weight which is computed by the total number of the sheets.

3.3.3 Conditioned Weight

This refers to the kind of weight derived from the process, with which the moisture content of the commodity is removed and standardized moisture added both by scientific methods. This kind of calculating method is suitable to those cargoes, which are of high economic value and with unsteady moisture content（whose water contents are not stable）, such as wool, raw silk, etc.

The formula of calculating the conditioned weight is：

3.3.4 Theoretical Weight

Commodities that have regular specifications and fixed regular size, such as galvanized iron, tin plate and armor plate are often subject to the use of theoretical weight. So long as the specifications and the size of such commodities are the same, their theoretical weight is constructed by the number of the sheets put together. Some fixed cargoes, such as tin plate and steel plate, have unified shapes and measurement, as long as the specification is identical, the size is conformable, the weight will be about the same, and we can calculate the weight according to the number of pieces.

Theoretical Weight ＝ Unit Weight × Quantity

3.3.5 Legal Weight

Legal weight is the weight of the goods and the immediate package of the goods. Such kinds of goods include cans, small paper boxes, small bottles, etc.

Legal Weight ＝ Net Weight + Tare（Immediate Package）

3.3.6 Net Net Weight

Subtracting outer packaging weight from the gross weight is net weight, and then subtracting inner packaging in direct contact with the commodity is“net net weight”

Within the international trade, it is customary to calculate the weight by net weight if a contract does not stipulate definitely by gross weight or by net weight.

3.4 Quantity Clause in the Contract

The quantity clause of a sales contract is the foundation for effecting delivery of the goods. The basic contents of the quantity clause consist of two parts—the quantity to be delivered and the measurement to be used. If the quantity is calculated by weight, the clause should also indicate the way of calculating weight such as gross weight, net weight, conditioned weight, etc.The contents of the quantity clause can be various depending on the characteristics of goods.

3.4.1 More or Less Clause

At the time of the conclusion of a contract, the quantity clause should be clearly and definitely stipulated so as not to give rise to disputes thereafter, and expressions like“about or approximate 10,000 metric tons”would not be allowed because“about or approximate”may be given several ambiguous interpretations:some refer to 2% more or less, and some 5%, and some 10%. However, it is very difficult to measure accurately those bulk goods of agricultural and mineral products like corn, soybean, wheat, coal, etc. In some cases, because of the change of the limitation of processing of the goods resources, the quantity of the goods last delivered may be not in accordance with the stipulations in the contract. What's more, influenced by natural conditions, packing patterns, loading and unloading methods, the quantity of goods delivered by the seller usually doesn't conform to the quantity definitely stipulated in the contract. In order to facilitate the processing of the contract, the seller and the buyer, generally, will stipulate quantity difference when stipulating the quantity clause and agree to use“more or less clause”, or“plus or minus clause”. It means over-load and under-load are permitted but should not surpass a certain percentage of the stipulated quantity. That's to say both the seller and the buyer agree to allow some more or less of the goods delivered, but not beyond the fixed percentage range agreed upon before, for instance, “20,000 metric tons,5% more or less at seller' option”, or“Zinc ingot:10,000 metric tons, with 7% more or less”. “Plus, or minus”or the sign“+or－”might also be used to take the place of“more or less”. Under the more or less clause, the payment for the over-load or under-load will be made according to the contract price or at the market price at the time of shipment.

According to the convention, when the numbers or items of some commodities（such as automobiles, color televisions and other manufactured goods）can be accurately calculated, it is suitable to adopt more or less clause. Also, as stated in the CISG, “the words ‘about',‘approximately', ‘circa'or similar expressions used in connection with the amount of the credit or the quantity or the unit price stated in the credit are to be construed as allowing a difference not to exceed 10% more or 10% less than the amount or the quantity or the unit price to which they refer.”Sometimes, we can put words such as“about”, “circa”, “approximately”in front of the quantity in the contract to indicate the quantity allowance. But, up to now there are no uniform interpretations of these words, that is, they represent a different amount of quantity allowance in different nations. It is advisable to employ the method in practice.

A complete more or less term should include the following three parts：

（1）Firstly, there is a certain proportion. The range of quantity difference is usually expressed by percentage such as range from 3% to 5%. Different commodities decide how much the range of quantity difference should be. For some commodities with lower value such as sandstone or coal, it is allowed to stipulate a wider range, usually 10% more or less. For some products like metals and minerals, quantity difference should be set within a smaller margin. The trader can also make a variety of provisions in the more or less clause accordingly, one of which is stipulating quantity difference of the contracted quantity by percentage, without specific range for each batch. As long as the quantity delivered by the seller is within the range, it is regarded as delivery in accordance with the contract. Another method is stipulating specific range for each batch besides the overall quantity difference of the contracted quantity.

（2）Secondly, who should determine how much more or less would be allowed? Generally, the seller is to decide the quantity difference in practice. As stipulated in a contract, it is also practical to allow the shipper or the party in charge of shipment to decide the quantity according to the capacity of cabin. For example, under the FOB terms, it is the buyer to charter a liner to carry the goods, so in the contract we can stipulate that the shipper or the buyer determines the quantity difference.

（3）Thirdly, pay attention to the calculation of more or less clause. Under the more or less clause, the payment for the over-load or under-load portion will be made either according to contract price or at the international market price at the time of shipment or arrival so that when international market price fluctuates, the seller cannot take advantage of the more or less clause to load more or less on purpose and harm the interests of the buyer.

3.4.2 Attentions when Making Quantity Clauses

Important points that should be taken into notice when making quantity terms：

（1）Understanding very clearly the whole quantity to be delivered both for import and export；

（2）The supply conditions at home market；

（3）The supply conditions at abroad market；

（4）The financial standing and management capability of the foreign customers；

（5）The price fluctuation both at the world's market and at the domestic market.

As for the quantity terms in the contract, we should make the terms very specific and clear. In order to avoid unnecessary disputes, the quantity terms in the contract should be made very specific and clear. It is better not to use the words like“about”, “approximate”, “or so”, etc. This is because there is different understanding for these words, which will cause ambiguity. It should be also very clear for quantity units. For example, if it is calculated by tons, there will be M/T, or L/T, or S/T. For the goods calculated by weight, the specific calculating method should be stipulated, such as“gross for net”

3.4.3 Sample Quantity Clauses

The quantity clauses have varied forms and contents depending on different industries and situations, and the following are some typical examples：

（1）Bleached cotton clothing 25,000 yds, with 5% more or less at seller's option.

（2）Chinese northeast soybean:6,000 M/T, gross for net,3% more or less at carrier's option.

（3）500 metric tons,5% more or less at buyer's option.

（4）The seller is allowed to load 3% more or less, the price shall be calculated according to the unit price in the contract.

（5）To be packed in double gunny bags containing about 100 kgs and each bag shall weigh 1.15 kgs with allowance of 0.1 kg more or less.

（6）It is agreed that a margin of 10% shall be allowed for over or short count.

（7）For printed, dyed and yarn-dyed goods, a maximum of 10% of two-part pieces with the short part not less than 10 yds.is permissible if necessary and for each two part pieces an additional length of 1/2 yd（half yard）will be supplied free. Also a tolerance of plus or minus 10% in quantity for each color way（for each shade in case of dyed goods）shall be permitted.

（8）A usual trade margin of 5% plus or minus of the quantities confirmed shall be allowed. When shipment is spread over two or more periods, the above-mentioned trade margin of plus or minus 5% shall, when necessary, be applicable to the quantity designated by the buyer to be shipped each period.

Exercises

1. Answer the following questions.

（1）What is the quantity of goods？

（2）How many kinds of calculating units of the goods quantity are there? What are they？

（3）Under what situation should we use gross weight? Under what situation should we use net net weight？

（4）What are the frequently-used units of measurement for capacity？

（5）Can you tell the difference of metric ton, long ton and short ton? What are they？

（6）In China, what system of weights and measures is widely recognized and utilized?Please list the reasons.

（7）How many ways are there to calculate tare weight? What are they？

（8）What points should we pay attention to when we are stipulating quantity clause in import and export contracts？

（9）What is quantity difference or quantity tolerance？

（10）When it comes to more or less clause, it is of great significance to be aware of the circumstances where the clause is applied to. Under what conditions is the clause applied to?And under what situations is the clause not appropriate to be used？

（11）Who determines how much more or less would be allowed in a more or less clause？

（12）What is the pricing approach of a more or less clause？

2. True or false.

（1）（　）The quantity term of goods is one of the conditions of an effective sales contract.

（2）（　）In the international trade, only the metric system is allowed to indicate the quantity of goods.

（3）（　）If the parties to a sales contract do not in advance agree upon whether the quantity of goods is determined by gross weight or net weight, it will be determined by gross weight.

（4）（　）Net weight refers to the actual tare of all the packing materials.

（5）（　）Conditioned weight is, in fact, the actual weight of the moisture of a certain commodity.

（6）（　）According to the CISG, if the quantity delivered by the seller is greater than that of the contract, the buyer can refuse all the goods.

（7）（　）If a buyer has taken delivery of the excess quantity, he holds the right of not paying for it.

（8）（　）In terms of systems of weights and measurements, China adopts US system due to its being widely applied in the international trade.

（9）（　）Gross for net is often stipulated in the contract to indicate that the weight of the less valued products is calculated by gross weight.

（10）（　）The more or less clause is mainly applicable to industrial finished goods.

（11）（　）The more or less clause is a clause that stipulates that the quantity delivered can be more or less within certain extent.

（12）（　）The more or less clause in a sales contract allows the seller to deliver as more or as fewer goods as possible.

（13）（　）The only weakness of delivering fewer goods than stipulated is that the seller gets less paid.

（14）（　）Different ways of measurement such as by weight, by length, by area, by volume, by capacity and by package may be used for different products.

（15）（　）In reality, the quantity of goods shipped must be exactly the same with that stipulated in the contract.

3. Case analysis.

（1）In 1990, a certain export company of China sent a group of businessmen to the United States for selling equipment. In New York, both parties reached an oral agreement on such items as specifications, unit price, quantity, etc. Upon leaving, the group indicated to the other party that, when they got back to Beijing, they would draw a contract which would become effective after being signed by both parties. After going back to Beijing, the group found that the clients withdrew their import of the equipment, and thus the contract was not signed and the L/C was not opened, either. The US side urged the Chinese side to perform the contract;otherwise they would lodge a claim with the Chinese side in the US. Please analyze the case and give an opinion on how the Chinese export company was to deal with this case and why.

（2）A certain trade company of China exported 1,000 fans to America. Partial shipments are not allowed according to the credit. However, when the seller made the shipment, he found 40 fans with broken package, some of the fan covers deformed and some switched off. The replacement was already too late. To ensure the quality of the goods, the shipper regarded that, according to UCP 400, even if partial shipments are not allowed, there is a tolerance of 5% of the quantity. He thought 40 fans were within the range of 5% of the whole quantity, so he shipped 960 fans actually. When the seller went to the bank with the documents for negotiating, the bank refused to negotiate. What is the reason？

（3）A company purchased four kinds of steel plate:420 M/T, and the types are 6 inch, 8 inch,10 inch and 12 inch. The quantity is 100 M/T each size and the contract marked that:“5% more or less for each size, at seller's option”. When the seller delivered the goods, the quantity is:6 inch—70 M/T;8 inch—80 M/T;10 inch—60 M/T;12 inch—210 M/T. The total quantity is 420 M/T. When the exporter submits the full set of documents, the importer refuses to receive the goods owing to quantity problems. Do you think the importer's action is reasonable? Please list your reasons.

（4）A Chinese export company and a Hungarian merchandiser entered into a fruit transaction contract with the payment payable after the inspection of the goods on arrival. However, the buyer found the goods were 10% less than the total weight, and each fruit weighed lower than what was stipulated in the contract. The Hungarian merchandiser refused to pay and take delivery of the goods. Later, all the fruit got rotten and Hungarian customs charged the Chinese company of 50,000 dollars for warehousing fee and handling costs. The export company was caught in a passive position.What can we learn from the case？

（5）An export company at a trade fair made a deal with a foreign exporter about the export of 10,000 tons of rice, and stipulated in the quantity terms in the contract that:“10,000 TONS”. After delivery, the foreign exporter insisted on calculating by long tons, which was in fact to deliver 101,605 metric tons of rice. What can be learned from this case？

（6）A Chinese export company exported a batch of donkey meat to Japan. The provision of the contract was:net weight 16.6 kilograms per carton, a total of 1,500 boxes with total amount of 24.9 metric tons. When inspected by the Japanese customs, they found that the net weight was 20 kilograms per carton, a total of 1,500 boxes with total amount of 30 metric tons. That is to say each carton has overloaded 3.4 kilograms. But in the document the weight was 24.9 metric tons. When negotiating, the bank only made the settlement according to the documents, paying only for 24.9 metric tons. The export company gave away 5.1 metric tons donkey meat to the customer. In addition, the Japanese customs considered that the weight delivered did not agree with the voucher, because of which the Chinese exporter was suspended by the Japanese customs to help the importer take tax evasion through doing so. Therefore, the Japanese customs forgave the Chinese exporter. But the over-delivery of 5.1 metric tons of donkey meat was no longer returned to the Chinese exporter and no more payment for it, either. What can be illustrated from the case？