In freight transport, Bill of Lading is one of the important certifications, affects the exchange of goods between parties: delivery party, shipping party, receiving party,…What is Bill of Lading?? What is their role?? Let's learn from the following sharing:

Concept of Bill of Lading

Sea bill of lading (Abbreviated as B/L – Bill of Lading) is a document for transporting goods by sea prepared by the carrier, signed and issued to the shipper in which the carrier confirms receipt of certain goods for carriage by ship and undertakes to deliver those goods to the person entitled to receive them at the port of destination in good quality and in sufficient quantity as the receipt.

Bill of Lading is one of the important documents between parties. Specifically: between the shipper and the carrier, between the consignor and the consignee. B/L serves as evidence of the transaction process of receiving goods between the parties, have a contract of carriage.

Main content on B/L

Information on the Bill of Lading includes::

• Title of bill of lading: Bill of Lading, or no need to write title
• Name of carrier (Shipping Company, Carrier): Company or shipping company name
• Name and address of the Shipper (Shipper, Consignee, Sender): Usually the seller
• Consignee (Consignee): If it is a specific bill of lading, This box will record the name and address of the consignee, If it is an anonymous bill of lading, it will be recorded “to (the) order”, “to (the) order of…”
• Party to be notified (Notify Party): Write the name and address of the consignee or the bank opening the L/C, to notify about goods information, ship's journey.
• Dispatch box (Place of Receive)
• Port of loading goods onto the ship (Port of Loading)
• Port of discharge (Port of Discharge)
• Place of delivery (Place of Delivery)
• Ship name and ship number (Vessel and Voyage No.)
• Number of original B/L issued (Number of Original)
• Commodity code and quantity (Marks and Numbers)
• Number and type of packages (Number and kind of Packages)
• Description of goods (Description of Goods)
• Total weight (Gross Weight) Weight includes tare
• Net weight (Net Weight)
• Date and place of issuance of bill of lading

>>> See more: Top 13 famous Chinese seaports

Function of B/L

Normally, Bill of Lading will have 3 main functions as follows:

• B/L is a bill of lading that is considered a receipt from the carrier (ship owner, captain, agent or employee for the shipowner) returned to the consignor, Confirm quantity, generic, the condition of the goods received by the carrier on board the ship.
• B/L is evidence of the terms of a sea transportation contract, has legal value. If there is a dispute between the shipping parties, B/L will be effective evidence to resolve disputes.
• B/L is documentary evidence of ownership of goods for the goods mentioned in the bill of lading.. Whichever party owns the original bill of lading, the ownership of the goods mentioned in the classification of the original bill of lading belongs to that party. This type of original bill of lading can carry out sales transactions.

>>> See more: Instructions on procedures for importing forklifts

B/L classification

Bill of Lading is classified based on the following criteria:

Based on the nature of ownership

Based on the nature of ownership, B/L is divided into 2 types: named bill of lading and ordered bill of lading.

• Specific bill of lading (Straight B/L): is a bill of lading that clearly states the name, consignee address, and the carrier only delivers the goods to the person named on that bill of lading.
• Bill of lading according to order (To order B/L): is the bill of lading endorsed on the back of the bill of lading.
• Divided by who endorses the bill of lading, there are three types of bill of lading to order::

+ To order of a named person (The order of a certain person): With this bill of lading, the goods will be delivered according to your order, certain company or organization is listed in the column “Consignee” or “To order of ” of the bill of lading by that person will endorse the back of the bill of lading and write the consignee's name on it.

+ To order of an issuing bank (By order of the issuing bank): Same with “To order off a named person” B/L but instead the bank listed on the bill of lading will endorse the back of the bill of lading.

+ To order of shipper (By order of the consignor): With this bill of lading, the goods will be delivered to the person designated by the endorser who is sending the goods (shipper). Sometimes, according to custom, the bill of lading only needs to be written “To order” Of course, it is understood that it is according to the order of the consignor.

• Bill of lading delivers goods to the bearer (To bearer B/L): is a bill of lading that does not state the consignee's name, Therefore, whoever holds this bill of lading becomes the owner of the bill of lading and the goods listed on the bill of lading.

Based on comments

Notes are notes marked on the bill of lading. If there are no comments on the goods or packaging, This means that the goods are delivered in good condition. Based on comments, B/L is divided into 2 types of bills of lading: Perfect bill of lading (Clean B/L) and Bill of Lading is not perfect (Unclean B/L hay Dirty B/L):

• Perfect bill of lading (Clean B/L): The bill of lading has no record uncle obvious deterioration in the goods or their packaging.
• Bill of lading is not perfect (Unclean B/L hay Dirty B/L): This type of bill of lading shows that the external goods are not suitable for sea travel or the goods are not of good quality..

Based on law

• Original bill of lading (Original Bill of Lading): is a bill of lading signed by hand, may or may not have accents “Original” and can be traded, transferable.
• Copy of bill of lading (Copy Bill of Lading): is a supplementary bill of lading of the original bill of lading, no hand signature, usually marked “Copy” and is not transferable (non-negotiable).

Based on the itinerary, shipping method

Based on itinerary and method of transportation, Can be divided into B/L types such as:

• Bill of lading goes straight (Direct Bill of Lading): Goods will be transferred directly from the loading port to the unloading port without having to use the transportation process.
• Bill of lading throughout (Through Bill of Lading): Goods will pass through another intermediate ship before arriving at the destination for loading and unloading.
• Multimodal bill of lading (Multimodal Bill of Lading): Goods are transported by many different means. Specifically: waterway, road, airway, railway,…

Based on the publisher

• Issuing carrier unit: Master Bill of Lading is issued by the shipping company.
• House bill of lading: House Bill of Lading is issued by the Forwarder to the shipping unit,

Notes when using B/L in import and export

When using Bill of Lading, You need to note the following points:

• Check out the Bill of Lading sample form
• Verify specific address information
• Verify the goods clearly
• Does not contain commercial terms
• Original invoice must be issued with correct number, appropriately marked

Besides, Some necessary information that businesses must pay attention to such as::

Legality of bill of lading

Bill of lading is mainly used to transport goods from the shipper to the consignee. Therefore, Bill of lading must ensure legal certainty.

When goods loss phenomena occur, damaged, will be resolved based on the information recorded on the bill of lading.

Therefore, During the process of making a bill of lading, it is necessary to ensure correct legality, exactly as a basis for the parties.

Information of bill of lading

The bill of lading has all the necessary information. Your task is to check the information recorded on it, Limit shortcomings that can cause future disputes. Information to pay attention to on the bill of lading includes information related to the type of goods, quantity of goods, transaction date, Sign to confirm the goods,…

>>> See more: What is international transportation?? Tax rates apply to international transportation

Conclude

Above is some information about Bill of Lading. The information on the B/L is important information between shipping parties.

Follow Cuong Quoc Logistics to update other useful information.

——-

Cuong Quoc Freight Forwarding Company Limited

Office: 7th floor, Parami Building, 140 Bach Dang, Tan Son Hoa Ward, Ho Chi Minh City

Hotline: 0972 66 71 66

Email: info@cql.com.vn

Website: https://cql.com.vn/