Miller Magazine Issue: 115 July 2019

74 ARTICLE MILLER / JULY 2019 2. Follow-up telephone conversations with emails; 3. Store all correspondence with counterparty in chronological order and in appropriate place. If mes- sengers (WhatsApp, Viber, Telegram etc.) are used, make sure that this correspondence is not automati- cally deleted after some time and is properly copied/ backup. If the problem situation occurs, the above steps may be crucial in proving your case and leaving no doubt of what was actually agreed and promised by the parties. 3. KNOW YOUR CONTRACT Particular attention should be drawn to the terms of your draft contract. Make sure that: (1) you include all necessary terms without incon- sistencies; (2) you understand all your rights and obligations and that of the counterparty; (3) you can and want to perform obligations you intend to undertake. To avoid omissions, traders are also encouraged to go through the checklist of some crucial terms of the contract whilst negotiating it. Make sure that you include the correct standard Gaf- ta or Fosfa contract for the commodity you are selling or buying and for the delivery terms, you intend to use. Traders frequently do not take seriously stand- ard contract forms their contracts incorporate, and how wrong they are! When your contract does not include certain term, the first place the parties will look into for answer will be the standard contract form you incorporated. Thus, to know what to ex- pect from your contract, ensure that you know and understand the conditions of the Gafta or Fosfa form that you are incorporating.