Frequently asked questions

Our previous online ‘Ask the Experts’ forum is no longer open for public submissions. You may, however, ask the Institute of Export & International Trade’s ‘Exporter Helpline’ any queries you may have in relation to selling your goods or services overseas. Details on how to access the helpline can be found below.

You can still look through our library of questions previously asked on the old forum by our community of experts. These questions cover all sorts of technical details and aspects of international trade, including understanding duties and tariffs, filling forms like a W-8BEN-E, finding your EORI or Customs Authorisation numbers, working with agents and distributors, or general questions about entering markets around the world.

We will continue to post responses to frequently asked questions on Open to Export, some of which you can find below.

Featured questions

The Export Helpline

The Institute of Export & International Trade’s ‘Exporters Helpline’ provides help and solutions for documentation, export controls, the Bribery Act, customs & VAT procedures, regulatory and compliance issues, insurance issues, payment terms, and transport & logistics.

You can either access the Institute of Export & International Trade’s ‘Exporter Helpline’ by becoming a member or by paying a one-off fee.

If you are a non-member and would like to ask a one-off question to one of our industry experts, you can buy 20 minutes of our experts’ time for just £50+VAT.

Once you have paid you will be sent an email with details of how to submit your query. You will receive a response from one of our experts within 48 hours. If your query will take over 20 minutes of our expert’s time to answer we will advise you and you will be given the option to purchase ‘top up’ time.

Please Note: Use of the helpline is subject to terms and conditions.

Please Note: Retired and Overseas memberships do not include free access to the technical help for exporters helpline

Export Action Plan