ABSTRACT
The foreign sales representatives may be employees or independent contractors, such as commercial agents and foreign distributors. This chapter reviews the important role played by independent commercial agents and distributors. Sales representatives or commercial agents are considered to be independent intermediaries that broker deals between exporters and foreign customers. The foreign distributor is a business that purchases goods from an exporter (at a discount) and resells them for a profit. The foreign distributor generally provides support and service for the product. The most common use of the agency vehicle for transacting business is the hiring of a foreign sales representative or commercial agent. This relationship has been defined as the hiring of an agent "to prospect for and visit customers with a view to negotiating and when appropriate concluding sales agreements in the name and for account of the principal.
