"The bill of lading BILL OF LADING (B/L) stands for the goods, be sure to know enough about the bill of lading.
Basic knowledge and points to note
1. B/L is usually in 3 sides, or 2 sides and 3 sides. If the letter of credit has the requirement, we should make a special explanation with the forwarder.
T/T payment method, in theory, only one original can be (after the withdrawal of the other original automatically invalid, the copy can not be withdrawn), T/T received all the money, the original to the customer to send the original can be considered to stay in their own original, the other all sent to the customer (so as to avoid losing the bill of lading in the mail road).
2. The front of the bill of lading to show the carrier (full name). This is to know the content of the understanding, the actual letter of credit, the bank told me that the bill of lading does not show the carrier is still safe to hand over the bill of collection (so theoretically it should be shown).
If the carrier is shown on the front, the lower right corner of the carrier's stamp and signature.
If the carrier is not shown on the front and the bill of lading is signed by the transport company, the identity of the signatory will be indicated when signing the bill of lading.
The full name of the carrier is shown on the front but the bill of lading signed by the transport company, the identity of the transport company should be indicated when signing.
3. Shipmented bill of lading and ready-to-ship bill of lading:
Ship-ready bill of lading: the bill of lading issued after the goods are loaded on the ship.
Shipping bill of lading: the goods are not loaded when issued only on behalf of the carrier to take over the shipper's delivery of the goods, so the bill of lading can not prove that the goods are loaded on board the ship (shipping bill of lading date is not loading period).
When the shipping bill of lading stamped "has been loaded" at the same time indicate the time of loading can be transformed into a bill of lading has been loaded.
4 The bill of lading can not have unclean endorsement. 5.
5. The consignee and notifier of the bill of lading must be filled out in strict accordance with the letter of credit.
6 bill of lading issued, date and number of copies: bill of lading must be issued by the carrier or captain or their agents, and should clearly indicate the identity of the issuer. General method of expression: CARRIER, CAPTAIN, or "AS AGENT FOR THE CARRIER: XXX" and so on.
7. for the bill of lading printed on the name of the shipping company (carrier), generally on the side of the freight forwarder will play on the as agent for the carrier. if the bill of lading is not printed on the name of the shipping company, there should be a shipping company's seal signature (your ticket should be signed by the carrier bill of lading of the shipping company, right?)
8. Letter of credit and bill of lading related inconsistencies: bill of lading does not show the carrier. Checked, the official explanation is this: in accordance with the provisions of Article 23, paragraph 1 of the Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits, the bill of lading must indicate on the surface of the carrier's name, and signed by the carrier, or as the carrier's named agent or representative, or otherwise confirmed, or by the captain, or as the captain's named agent or representative, signed or otherwise confirmed.
9. bill of lading issuer can be divided into: FREIGHT FORWARDER B / L refers to the international carriage of goods, but does not own the ship so that the bill of lading issued by the transport company.ORIGINAL BILL OF LADING, commonly known as the sea bill.
L/C payment conditions of each document production time order
Contract ---> L/C issuance ---> invoice (invoice date should be noted earlier than the date of delivery and the validity of the letter of credit, commercial invoices on the date can not be earlier than the letter of credit on the opening date) (The date of invoice should be earlier than the delivery date and the validity period of the letter of credit, and the date of commercial invoice should not be earlier than the date of the letter of credit, and the date of invoice should be at the top of the documents) --> certificate of origin (the date of certificate of origin should be the same as the date of invoice. Application for certificate of origin can be made on the day of invoice or after the application, the date of issue will be equal to or later than the invoice date), insurance policy, packing list, export licence, commodity inspection, other inspection certificates ---> shipping company certificate (if needed) ---> bill of lading date ---> bill of exchange (the date of the bill of exchange should be earlier than the date of delivery and validity of the letter of credit), the beneficiary certificate (some letters of credit do not have a beneficiary certificate, the documents required to be involved in the requirements), notice of loading (equal to or later than three days after the date of the bill of lading), the shipping notice (equal to) (or later than three days after the bill of lading date) anyway, those documents that need to pay the single date of information must be earlier than the date of delivery.
The above time order is basically consistent with the entire foreign trade process, complete a single after the details of the entire process is clear.
Bill of lading classification
Bill of lading is divided into the following three bills of lading:
First, the bill of lading (straight B/L), that is, the consignee's name bill of lading. China's "Maritime Law" provides that the bill of lading shall not be transferable, the carrier must deliver the goods to the consignee stated in the bill of lading.
Nominal bill of lading in the international maritime trade is not widely used, generally only in the delivery of personal effects, exhibits. (The first TT consignee is directly in the customer's name, not realising the potential danger: never make a named bill of lading without security of collection.)
In many countries, the consignee of a named bill of lading can take delivery of the goods without a bill of lading, so the bill of lading has effectively lost control of the goods. Just like the air waybill, the consignee can take delivery of the goods with proof of identity. Even if the letter of credit settlement, the issuing bank are not willing to accept the bill of lading, so the general letter of credit are stipulated as: TO ORDER such a blank head of the bill of lading, and thus to control and master the right of goods.
Therefore, not only one-sided remember the non-transferable nature of the bill of lading, but also remember that "the consignee of the bill of lading can not bill of lading can take delivery, so the bill of lading has actually lost the role of the right of goods." This is a crucial point! The concept must be remembered comprehensively, so as not to bring errors and losses to the work. Therefore, if only 30% of the payment, and is after the T / T 70% of the collection method, made into a designated consignee bill of lading, that is, the bill of lading, once the customer's bad reputation does not pay, it will be possible to meet the payment, the goods of two empty situation. Of course, if the customer has confidence and certainty of collection, it is another story.
Second, bearer bill of lading (Open B/L (Blank B/L, Bearer B/L)), that is, the bill of lading consignee column does not list the name. Such bills of lading can be transferred without endorsement, the carrier releases the goods on the basis of the bill.
Bearer bill of lading does not list the name of the consignee of the bill of lading, who holds the bill of lading, who can be bill of lading to the carrier to withdraw the goods, the carrier delivery is based on the single does not rely on people.
The bill of lading in the consignee column is indicated: To the order
Third, the bill of lading, that is, according to the bill of lading instructions set out in the instructions of the delivery of goods bill of lading. Is the current international trade is usually used in the bill of lading.
1, with the bank instructions. That is, the bill of lading consignee column filled out as "to the order of xx Bank".
2, with the consignee instructions. That is, the bill of lading consignee column filled out as "to the order of A.B.C. Co. Ltd".
3、With the consignor's instruction. That is, the bill of lading consignee column fill in "to the order of shipper", and by the shipper in the back of the bill of lading blank endorsement. This bill of lading can also be made under the provisions of the letter of credit into a registered endorsement. The consignee may not make endorsement, in this case only the shipper can pick up the goods, that is, the seller retains ownership of the goods.
And the so-called release of goods without a bill of lading, refers to the carrier does not deliver the goods with the original bill of lading behaviour.
At present, for the instructions of the bill of lading and bearer bill of lading, the carrier must release the goods with the original bill of lading, the carrier did not release the goods with the original bill of lading, regardless of which party the goods are released to the legitimate holder of the original bill of lading can be pursued by the carrier for the release of goods without a single breach of contract. This point in our maritime judicial practice are unified. But in the case of the bill of lading, if the carrier did not deliver the goods to the original bill of lading, the legal holder of the bill of lading to the carrier to claim breach of contract? At present, both theory and practice have a negative tendency.
To sum up, the domestic cargo owner unit should fully understand the danger of the bearer bill of lading, the trade buyer requesting the issuance of the bearer bill of lading as the consignee can not be arbitrarily agreed to ensure that in the case of the letter of credit and other means of settlement of foreign exchange is blocked, the carrier without a bill of lading to pursue the breach of contract liability.
The form of bill of lading issuance
1. Electric release: it is necessary to provide the original "letter of guarantee for electric release". Letter of Guarantee is to issue an affirmation that this batch of goods what things to put to which of your customers, and then below the official seal, passed to the freight forwarder, the rest do not have to worry about. (Of course, the premise of electric release is safe collection! Generally, the former TT received money before electric discharge), bill of lading confirmation, shipment, waiting for the forwarder to copy the bill of lading back, and then passed to the customer can be. 2. bill of lading: 3-4 days after the shipment (when the customer in us and other factories booked the same cabinet, for convenience and safety, can be divided into bills of lading, each to the customer to send over.) 3. Combined bill of lading: same as above
4. off-site release: subject to the consent of the shipping company.
Container loading
1. door-to-door: that is, book the cabin to the freight forwarder, make an appointment, then the freight forwarder will send a fleet to your factory, or a designated place to load the goods, and then return to the port.
2. Inside loading: It means that the factory will send the goods to the warehouse of the forwarder directly, and then they will help you to pull the goods into the harbour area, and the cargo owner has no right to send the goods into the harbour area directly.
The Notifier of the Bill of Lading
In the ocean bill of lading, there is a role often overlooked by us, but its importance can not be underestimated, it is the notifier. Usually there are two companies or even three companies to fill in the destination port information part of the bill of lading, usually Consignee and Notify party, some shipping companies will also list the First Notify Party and the Second Notify Party on the bill of lading.
Difference between Consignee and Notify Party
Consignee refers to the consignee, generally is the destination port customers, that is, the real buyers, under the conditions of letter of credit payment, generally will be the bank.
Notify party refers to the notification party, refers to the destination port customer's contact party, if it is the customer himself can be filled in as Same as consignee, otherwise it will generally be marked as the customer's agent or trader in the destination port.
The significance of the existence of the notifying party
After the cargo arrives at the port of destination, the shipping company will notify the notifying party of the arrival of the cargo information at the first time, so as to facilitate the notifying party to notify the consignee to pick up the cargo, or to do other processing. To prevent the cargo from being picked up in time, resulting in demurrage or even huge penalties. Therefore, in order to prevent notification, sometimes, there will be two notifiers. Because in the letter of credit payment conditions, the bill of lading on the Consignee is often the issuing bank, rather than the real consignee; when all the documents to the issuing bank, the issuing bank will notify the real consignee for negotiation and other processes.
Fill out not arbitrary
In many cases, the notifier is taken as the notifier does not know or did not communicate in advance, resulting in the arrival of the notice can not reach the consignee in a timely manner, resulting in delays in picking up the goods and additional costs incurred. This requires that when confirming the bill of lading, the notifying party should pay extra attention to the column, and should not be arbitrary.
About To order
Sometimes we will come across To order bill of lading, To order bill of lading refers to the instruction bill of lading. The general format is 'To order of xxx', which needs to be endorsed by 'xxx' in order to transfer or pick up the goods. If the bill of lading consignee column only 'To order', then the meaning is 'To order of shipper', need 'shipper' endorsement. The endorsement of 'shipper' is required. The notifier only serves to notify the consignee, and has nothing to do with the endorsement.
Questions about the notifier
1) If the consignee of the bill of lading and the notifier are not the same, to whom is the general notice of arrival sent?
Generally, it is to notify the consignee. Most bills of lading use the information of the notifying party as the main information for the shipping agent to contact the consignee at the port of destination. Because the consignee of most bills of lading is To order, not directly named. Sometimes, the notified person can not be contacted, will look for the consignee, or if necessary, contact the consignor.
(2) do bill of lading electric release, who should give?
Consignee. Whether it is the original or electric release, is the transfer of property rights, the fundamental is to be transferred to the hands of the property rights. Really have the right to goods is the consignee.
(3) bill of lading consignee and notify the party for To order can?
On the surface, this operation is convenient, can be transferred to any consignee. However, in practice, general shipping company regulations, the bill of lading consignee and notify the person can not be To order at the same time, there can only be one, which is also to prevent the risk of freight.
4）Customer's L/C requires two companies to be written in the column of notifier on the bill of lading, is it OK?
Some shipping companies will have the first notifier and the second notifier in the bill of lading, if not, you can fill in two companies under one notifier.
5) In case of consignee To order, can the notifier on the sea waybill take delivery of the goods?
No, when the consignee of the original bill of lading of the shipping company is To order, the consignor does not endorse the bill of lading and send it to the customer, the consignee can't pick up the goods, not to mention the notifier.
6）Customer requirements, the bill of lading of the notifier column shows To order, can it?
It is better not to To order, after all, the role of the notifier is to understand the arrival of goods in a timely manner, notify the consignee to receive goods in a timely manner. General notification of the person if not, you can write Same as consignee.
(7) bill of lading consignee To order, notify the person is Same as consignee
If the consignee is To order, must provide a Notify party with specific contact information, otherwise, after the ship arrives at the port, it will not be able to notify the importer or the relevant responsible party and lead to the goods can not be lifted and collected, and may even lead to confiscation by the Customs and other serious consequences. If it is to declare AMS/ACI, it may also lead to a huge fine imposed by the other customs.
8) Does To order bill of lading need to be endorsed by the notifier? If the consignee of the bill of lading is To order, and there is no other content after that, such as: not To order of the XXX, then it is called a blank instruction bill of lading, and need to be endorsed by the Shipper (consignor), the Notify party is the notifier of the port of destination, which has nothing to do with the endorsement.
9) The goods have arrived at the port, the customer said that the notifier's letterhead is not written in full, and requested to change the bill of lading, otherwise it can't be cleared. Does it really affect?
As long as the consignee on the bill of lading is correct and the notify party's information does not affect the authenticity of the notification, it will not affect the customs clearance of the customer at the port of destination.
Frequently Asked Questions
1、Why is it that sometimes foreigners can take delivery of goods without the bill of lading?
We know that the bill of lading is theoretically a "property right certificate", i.e., whoever "legally obtains" the bill of lading is equivalent to getting the goods.
Bill of lading on the consignor (exporter) Shipper, carrier (freight forwarder / shipowner) Carrier, Consignee Consignee, Notify Party Notify Party four parties. The "Consignee Consignee" determines the ownership of the goods.
"Consignee Consignee" usually have two ways to fill in: First, "with instructions (TO ORDER or TO ORDER OF ...)". That is, the consignee is who has not been determined, this bill of lading can be endorsed (the original holder of the bill of lading on the back of the signature, that the transfer) free transfer, more valuable ----- because who "legally" get the bill of lading, the goods are who. Such a bill of lading is "bearer bill of lading". Bearer bill of lading operation, foreigners can not get the original bill of lading will not have the right to pick up the goods (unless the freight forwarder and the shipping company mess, illegal release of goods without a bill of lading), it is very insurance, we recommend that you use. Under the letter of credit, the bank will usually require the issuance of such a bill of lading. Another is the bill of lading, that is, "Consignee Consignee" column specifies the consignee's company name and address (usually foreign), only the company can pick up the goods. Because of the specific provisions of the consignee, so even if others get the bill of lading is useless, this bill of lading can not be transferred. On the other hand, just because the provisions of the dead consignee, only he can pick up the goods, so some countries recognise this consignee even if there is no original, as long as the proof of their identity, you can pick up the goods. This is why we will encounter in the business foreigners do not have the original bill of lading can also be the reason for the goods. In this case, the goods to the freight forwarder to open the bill of lading, almost the same as direct delivery to the foreigner. If there is no recovery of payment at this time, there is a certain risk, payment or not on the foreigner's own. Nominal bill of lading also lost the "proof of property" effect.
2, which countries can be without the original bill of lading can pick up the goods?
Not all countries can be no (bearer bill of lading) original lading.
At present the world's mainstream legal system has two kinds, common law and civil law system. Only the common law system, in the past that the bill of lading is not a certificate of title. So the common law system of countries prone to the phenomenon of private lifting under the bill of lading.
Common law system countries are:
The United States, Canada, Britain, Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore, the Bahamas, Botswana, Brunei, Cameroon, Cyprus, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nigeria, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, and more.
When in doubt, one can check online whether this foreigner belongs to a common law country.
However, even in common law countries (including the United Kingdom), some jurisprudence has emerged in recent years, which holds that a bearer bill of lading is also a document of title. The fact that it is jurisprudence that is law in the common law system can be seen as a turnaround. In spite of this, it is still necessary to be cautious, after all, prevention is the mainstay, in case of accidents, even if the lawsuit won, for the vast majority of small and medium-sized export enterprises are not worth the loss. What's more, it is not necessarily win, some veteran foreign investors are very easy to turn the lawsuit into a commercial dispute, pulling the rug out from under them for a few years.
Therefore, for foreigners who are not familiar with, especially D/P, it is best to use the bill of lading in the name of caution. In fact, the bearer of the name, in the serious business operations will not bring too much inconvenience to foreigners.
3, forwarder bill of lading and the shipowner bill of lading is the same thing?
We are in the actual operation, will encounter two types of bills of lading: shipowner bills of lading and freight forwarding bills of lading. Shipowner, that is, they have their own ocean-going freighter freight company. The cost of an ocean freighter is not expensive, have their own ocean-going fleet of companies is naturally strong. In a sense, such a company is also more *, because they do long-term business is more concerned about the reputation, will not be a small profit and self-destruction, relatively speaking, the operation is more formal. Another freight forwarding company is a freight forwarder, referred to as freight forwarder. Freight forwarders do not have their own ship, in a sense, the nature of the ordinary trading company is almost the same. After they solicit goods, and then get together with the shipowner to booking. We might as well see the difference and relationship between shipowners and freight forwarders as wholesalers and retailers, commodities are ocean freighter "slots". The shipowner wholesales the space to the freight forwarder, and the freight forwarder retails the space to us.
It is not difficult to imagine, although the shipowner is secure, but after all, it is inevitable that "the shop is big and presses the customer" some, in the flexibility of service and the degree of attentiveness is often not as good as the freight forwarder. Freight forwarders are numerous and widely distributed, and we do foreign trade communication is very convenient, but also more willing to co-operate with our operations, especially the above mentioned similar to the "inverted bill of lading" such a special operation. Therefore, in practice, we deal with the freight forwarder more common.
On the surface, the shipowner's bill of lading and forwarder's bill of lading is similar to the effectiveness of the original bill of lading we sold to the foreign businessmen, foreign businessmen with the bill of lading to take the goods. In fact, there are differences. First of all, the bill of lading itself is a "transport contract", the freight forwarder bill of lading to us, is equal to sign a contract of carriage. The bill of lading of the shipowner, is a contract between us and the shipowner, and the bill of lading of the freight forwarder is not. We give the goods to the freight forwarder, the freight forwarder to the shipowner, the freight forwarder and the shipowner have a carriage agreement, the shipowner is only responsible for the freight forwarder and will not be responsible for our owner, because in the operation of the bill of lading, for the shipowner, the freight forwarder is the "owner of the goods"....
Therefore, with the bill of lading of the shipowner, you can directly pick up the goods at the port of destination; while the bill of lading of the freight forwarder can not, you need to take the bill of lading of the freight forwarder to the port agent to "change the bill", that is, according to the bill of lading of the freight forwarder to issue a notice of pickup, and then go to pick up the goods. Of course, for us to pick up the consignor, this is ostensibly just one more procedure, does not affect the pick up of goods, not a risk. On the contrary, we can use this point to better control property rights. For example, we give the forwarder bill of lading to the customer, suddenly found that the customer has fraudulent behaviour, may not pay, then we can ask the forwarder to help, notify the destination agent to "withhold" the goods, so that even if the foreigners with the forwarder bill of lading can not be picked up the goods temporarily, to give us valuable time (no official reason, the destination port is not convenient) (Without formal reasons, the port of destination is not able to forcibly detain the goods, can only be delayed for a few days, but for foreign trade disputes, this delay is very favourable to the exporter).
In short, if something happens to the cargo transport itself, we pursue the responsibility of the freight forwarding company, it is clear that the strong shipowners are more capable of being responsible than ordinary freight forwarders. Usually the freight forwarder than the shipowner can cooperate with our work, in the flexible handling of bills of lading and prevention of commercial fraud, the freight forwarder's help is crucial. In addition, the freight forwarder's transport price is also very advantageous, often with discounts.
The operation difference between MBL and HBL: MBL is the bill of lading of the shipping company; HBL is the bill of lading of the freight forwarder.
1. SHIPPER passes the consignment note to FORWARDER, stating whether it is full container or LCL. 2.
2. FORWARDER to the shipping company booking, ship ON BOARD. The shipping company will issue MBL to FORWARDER, the SHIPPER of MBL is the FORWARDER in the port of origin, and the CNEE is usually the branch or agent of FORWARDER in the port of destination. 3.
3. FOWARDER signs HBL to SHIPPER, the SHIPPER of HBL is the real cargo owner, and CNEE is generally the TO ORDER for L/C. 4.
4. CARRIER delivers the goods to the destination port after the ship sails. 5.
5. FORWARDER sends the MBL to the branch office of the destination port by DHL/UPS/TNT, etc. (INCLUDING: CUSTOMER). (INCLUDING: CUSTOM CLEARANCE DOCS)
6. SHIPPER gets the bill of lading and then delivers it to the domestic negotiating bank within the delivery period and settles the foreign exchange. If you do T/TSHPPER directly send documents to foreign customers. 7.
7. the negotiating bank to the full set of documents to the issuing bank to settle the foreign exchange.
8. CNEE to the issuing bank to pay the bill of exchange.
9. FORWARDER takes MBL to the shipping company to exchange the bill of lading and clear the customs. 10.
10. CNEE takes HBL to FORWARDER to pick up the goods.
