Companies, some more often than others, may be faced with the need to sign a contract or some other cooperation document internationally - with a company or a person located abroad. It’s a bit easier to sign a contract with a counterparty located in the same country as you - it can be done using local e-signing tools or, in some cases do it even relatively reasonably on paper. But internationally it is more complicated. Signing on paper takes a lot of time because it requires sending documents back and forth by courier or traveling to meet the other party to get the documents signed.

The following instances highlight some common examples of when you might need to sign a cross-border contract:

• when buying or selling goods;
• when engaging a manufacturer to manufacture products;
• when an employee is signing an employment contract with a company located abroad;
• when a company is hiring employees from abroad;
• when licensing intellectual property to a company located abroad;
• when purchasing an intellectual property license from a foreign company.

Agrello comes to the rescue when signing cross-border documents. Namely, Agrello has created a signing format that is suitable to use in cases where the parties have different signing methods but need the signatures to come together in one file. Agrello is easy to use for both parties.

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What is Agrello signature and how does it work?

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Agrello signatures are simple electronic signatures suitable for the majority of business contracts. As already mentioned earlier, Agrello is especially useful for signing cross-border contracts, as the contracting parties generally use different signing methods. Agrello makes it possible to combine the signatures of both parties into a single file and is simple for everyone to use.

Agrello signatures are based on cryptography and mutually trusted identities of signers. By technical nature, Agrello signatures are electronic signatures that are added to a PDF file according to the PAdES standard. When signing with Agrello, we add our own e-stamp to the PDF document and also the name of the signer. It is one of the most common e-signature methods in the world.

Now this is a bit technical, but let us go further. The PDF file has a unique internal structure, allowing to add digital signature information without directly changing texts and images. In most cases, however, a visual display of the signature is also added to the PDF file. Since the signature part is separated from the rest of the file content in PDF, it is possible to create a cryptographic hash from the rest of the file, which ensures that the file cannot be modified after signing so that the signatures are still valid.

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Agrello is more than just a tool for cross-border signing

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Agrello is not just a tool for signing cross-border documents. It also provides an easy way for all parties to take part in the document preparation, for example, filling in the data needed for the execution of the contract, using dynamic fields. This eliminates the need to exchange multiple emails to specify the necessary details, significantly speeding up the contract preparation time. For parties residing in different time zones, it can take days to exchange correspondence to collect the necessary data.

When the document with the foreign partner is signed, Agrello also offers a convenient way for both parties to store their contracts. Both the creator of the document and the counterparty can conveniently access their documents at any time on the Agrello platform.

Let’s bring an example

Imagine that there is a need to sign a contract for the purchase and sale of goods with a company located in China or Australia. Negotiations and contract terms discussions are already conveniently conducted via video call. Now the transaction has to be confirmed by signing a contract. Organizing an in-person meeting for this and flying to China would be very expensive and extremely time-consuming. Not to mention how exhausting it is to travel to a country in another time zone. It would be possible to send documents to each other by mail or courier, but this also consumes an unreasonable amount of time.

In this case, it would be smart to sign documents digitally. This can be done conveniently on the Agrello platform - everything starting from preparing the document and reviewing the document to finally signing it. One party prepares a document and adds dynamic fields to acquire data from the counterparty, those fields can be later assigned to the other party to fill in. If the company has the need for signing cross-border contracts more often, it is recommended to create a reusable contract template.

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Agrello is easy and convenient to use for everyone. Your counterparty will receive an e-mail inviting him to sign the document and thus gains access to the document.

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With Agrello you can get your documents signed quickly. Even signing cross-border contracts only take a few minutes. The signed contracts can be safely stored on the Agrello platform or, if desired, downloaded to your computer.

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Keep in mind

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In the case of international agreements, it is definitely worth paying attention to which country's law applies to the contract. It is also recommended to look into the e-signature regulations in force and consult a local lawyer to avoid any surprises later on.

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