Barter or countertrade is the oldest form of trade--dating back to man's earliest history. During the past ten years, countertrade has become an increasingly important part of international trade. At the same time, interest in countertrade has been growing rapidly. This work, the product of an international conference held in the Spring of 1985, focuses on the managerial aspects of international countertrade. The heart of the book focuses upon such technical aspects of countertrade as financing, law, operations and strategy, and proposes the development of a marketable security for countertrade credits. Also considered are the facilitators of countertrade--countertrade traders, switch traders, and merchants, and accounting and tax aspects of countertrade.