Import payments, irrespective of currency and amount, especially in cases where the goods have already been or are to be received by the importer-customer without the intermediation of a bank, are fully assimilated, in terms of procedure and invoicing, to other payments relating to the movement of capital.
The following categories of import payments are excluded from the above rule, which are serviced on the basis of the procedures provided for foreign trade:
- When the payment is linked to a Value for Money on the basis of commercial and/or financial documents, the assignor of which is a bank.
- When the transaction involves a letter of credit.
- When the payment concerns the repayment of a forward commitment for which an import file is kept.