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To: John Soileau who wrote (82387)	2/21/2002 1:00:15 AM
From: E. Charters	Respond to of 116814

In fact congress was lobbied for an absolution for foreign gratuities being tax deductible. When I was at Haileybury our teaching staff, who included former Inco execs, hinted at companies needing slush funds to take care of etra cash requests from government facilitators in far off lands. These cash contributions, sometimes in the form of company housing, cars and keys therefrom, that never gets used by the company can be bled off various receipts for equipment kept in foreign records. A former partner of mine who promoted a Phillipine venture spoke hopefully of perhaps 10% being the bribe factor he would have to pay to get things going there. Ten per cent was the standard bribe in Indonesia to the ruling class there. At only ten it ain't bad. I suspect it more common than not domestically too, where red tape seems to clog the gears of commerce. Sometimes you can find a compliant civil servant who dislikes red tape as much as you do, but in turn wants to be recognized for his loathing of the unfairness of the delays and downright inconvenience of the approval process. Finding such a happy and sympathetic soul can be a boon for a project, as their fatherly eye, shepherding makes the success of its progress through the labyrinth of confusing regulations and their many attendant potentially sticky spots assured. It is good to have a friend in government keeping an eye on things, and cultivating their warmth and gratitude can be a fine art. The trouble is that ten% is the nice guys. If a complete stranger draws up to the Mexican border he can be asked for 100% duty to bring a drill into the country. Try as you might it is hard to find in NAFTA the reg that requires 100% duty for a drill. But at the border your drill will sit, all the while losing vital parts as you argue about the fine points of Mexican law and required permits. When you pay the 150K cash you are waved through. Regular commercial shipments from large companies require papers of manifest. These papers are paid for by the truck. This system operates at the CDN/US border as well. Any sort of good can be got a paper for, Marijuana, phony aircraft parts, people, anything you want. If you want to do honest business in the world, be sure you have a copy of Peter Pan or Pollyanna to refer to when you negotiate with border guards and government officials. Whenever you have an argument with them, lay the book down on the table and exuse yourself to go to the washroom. Appropriate negotiation notes can be fit between the pages for reference in the form of likenesses of former US presidents. Close examination of the book will convince your antagonists of your soulful honesty and they will no longer bother you. They may ask to read the book again or to retain a copy for futures reference. In that case you may wish to re-illustrate the notations. EC<:-}