ffiliated with trusts retain their legal identity and are not
considered to be branches of the trusts they serve. Relations between
foreign trade organizations and the trusts whose products they handle
are governed by contracts, the framework of which is provided by
official regulations. As a rule, foreign trade organizations carry on
their activities for the account of the trust. There are a few
organizations, however, that trade for their own account, and there are
also a few economic trusts that have the right to engage in foreign
trade activity directly.

Export plans are approved by the Council of Ministers for each economic
trust in physical and value terms and by major trading areas, that is,
member countries of COMECON, other communist countries, Western
industrialized nations, and developing countries. Trusts pass their
trade plans to foreign trade organizations. The plan of a single trust
may be apportioned among several foreign trade organizations, and many
foreign trade organizations receive plan assignments from several trusts
so that their own foreign trade plan is a composite.

Under the regulations of 1971, as amplified in 1972, and unlike earlier
conditions, the financial results of export operations are directly
reflected in the producer's profit position. This circumstance is
counted upon by the leadership to motivate trusts toward attaining
optimum efficiency in export production and toward adjusting output to
foreign market requirements. Financial incentives to surpass official
foreign trade targets are provided by allocating the producers and
foreign trade organizations a portion of the receipts from excess
exports and a portion of savings made on imports through import
substitution. Excess exports may not be made by diverting output
scheduled for the domestic market, and savings on imports may not be
made at the cost of quantitative or qualitative deterioration of the
domestic supply.

Producers for export are obligated both to produce the items called for
by the export plan in accordance with specifications and to meet
contractual delivery dates; with few exceptions, they have no direct
contact with foreign buyers. It is the responsibility of the foreign
trade organizations to seek out the most profitable markets and to
handle all physical and financial details of the trade transactions. It
is also their duty to keep producers currently informed about changing
conditions in world markets and t