Since the beginning of this year, due to the continuous development and spread of the debt crisis in Europe and the United States market demand has declined, foreign trade orders have decreased significantly, seriously affecting China's foreign trade exports. In the market risk increases at the same time, the international trade legal risks faced by foreign trade enterprises also began to gradually highlight. Affected by the downturn in the economic situation, some foreign buyers to take the abuse of the right to judicial remedies to delay or refuse to pay the goods, to the relevant export enterprises caused significant losses. Recently, CCPIT Commercial Legal Advisory and Complaints Center has received several complaints against Italian buyers for maliciously applying for court stop payment orders on letters of credit, which should be taken seriously and prevented by enterprises.

　　A Guangzhou company engaged in the export business of bags signed a sales contract of 120,000 USD with an Italian importer at the beginning of the year, and agreed to pay the goods with a 60-day deferred payment letter of credit as the payment condition. After the shipment of goods, Guangzhou company will submit a full set of documents through the Bank of China to the Italian issuing bank for payment. However, it received a notice from the bank that the issuing bank could not make the payment as scheduled because the Italian importer applied for a stop-payment order to the local court on the ground that the quality of the goods was unqualified. At the same time, Guangzhou company also needs to go to Italy to participate in the relevant litigation, otherwise the Italian importer will "legally" refuse to pay the goods.

　　As a kind of trade settlement guaranteed by bank credit, letter of credit is conducive to reducing the risk of international trade transactions, the reason why buyers and sellers far away from each other can establish mutual trust through the letter of credit, the fundamental reason is that the bank guarantees payment. According to the letter of credit of the relevant international practice, the seller after shipment, as long as the documents provided with the issuing bank consistent with the requirements of the issuing bank, the issuing bank will have no reason to refuse to pay the goods. Only in the case of intentional fraud seller, the court can start the letter of credit stop payment procedures. However, Italy's letter of credit stop payment judicial process is more special, even if the seller does not exist fraud, the court may also be based on the application of the domestic importer to issue a stop payment order. Once the stop payment order, the seller will face an extremely unfavorable situation: if ignored, the payment will not be able to recover; with the other side of the negotiation, the other party is mostly unwilling to cooperate or put forward extremely harsh conditions; if the legal process to revoke the stop payment order, it means that to participate in the foreign litigation for a period of 3 to 4 years, to pay a greater cost. Some unscrupulous businessmen take advantage of this and deliberately apply for a stop payment order to achieve the purpose of refusing to pay the goods and effectively fight against the principle of independence of the letter of credit.

　　After receiving the complaint, we analyzed the case and realized that the Italian importer had resold most of the goods after receiving them, and the so-called quality defects were just an excuse for not willing to pay for the goods, and other exporters with whom they have had a cooperative relationship have also suffered from a similar situation. Therefore, we actively responded to the case on behalf of the Guangzhou company in the Italian court through the cooperating lawyers of the Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) in Italy. After arguing for the case, the Italian importer indicated that it was willing to settle the case and pay for the goods.

Under the background of the European debt crisis, it is inevitable that a large number of stop payment order cases are generated. In addition to Italy, the CCPIT Commercial Law Consultation and Complaint Center has also received complaints against importers from Spain, India, Cambodia and other countries. Exporters should be extra careful when trading with enterprises from the above countries, even if the other party uses L/C for payment. When cooperating for the first time, it is better to fully understand the creditworthiness and solvency of the other party, even if they have cooperated before, they have to pay close attention to the impact of the current market conditions on the changes in their creditworthiness, and choose the mode of payment prudently, so as to prevent the other party from evading the responsibility of payment by means of stop-payment orders and other means, and transferring the market risk. If encountered due to the foreign court issued a stop payment order and lead to the letter of credit can not be accepted, the export enterprise should be in the guidance of professional legal personnel to actively deal with, especially need to be familiar with the laws of the importer's country and the judicial practice of the guidance of professional lawyers. Lawyers can play an important role in settlement negotiations with the other party, exerting pressure on the other party, drafting legal documents, and it is even more important to hire local lawyers when entering the judicial process. In addition, the CCPIT and other chambers of commerce can also provide relevant services for enterprises to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests through exchanges and cooperation with foreign chambers of commerce and relevant institutions.