International Reciprocal Trade Association
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. (April 2008) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
 |
This article or section needs to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please help improve this article with relevant internal links. (April 2008) |
The IRTA (International Reciprocical Trade Organisation) is the global branch organization that promotes proper accountability rules, equitable standards, standards development and governmental relations, for the industry of Trade Exchanges (or Barters). Its members are situated Japan, China, Australia, Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Chili, Colombia, Turkey, Malaysia, Singapore, the U.S., Germany and the Netherlands. It is based in Rochester (New York US). The current president is David Wallach.
Around 500.000 businesses are involved in a Trade Exchange. There are approximately 600 commercial and corporate barter companies serving all parts of the world. Around 100 of the more professional Trade Exchanges organised themselves in the IRTA.
A trade exchange or barter is a commercial organization running a bookkeeping system for its members or clients. These buy and sell products and services to each other using an internal currency. For centuries, barter has been an effective way for businesses to work together. It used to be “direct trade” when people swapped one thing for another. However modern day barter has evolved considerably to become a method of increasing sales, conserving cash, moving inventory, and making use of excess production capacity for businesses around the world.
Most Trade Exchanges are members of international trading networks that provide them with opportunities to access larger, global marketplaces to buy and sell within using trade credits. The Universal Currency or UC is the network of IRTA.
The main acheevement of IRTA in the US is the recognition in 1982 of Trade Exchanges by the IRS as third party record keepers, signed into law by President Reagan in The [TEFRA] Act.
