Documentation

The International Chamber of Commerce has estimated that digitalizing trade documents could generate £25 billion in new economic growth by 2024, and free up...

The paper bill of lading, one of the oldest documents in global trade dating back to the 17th century may be a thing of...

Surecomp, a digital trade finance solutions provider for banks and corporations has announced that it is partnering with WaveBL, a blockchain-based digital platform, to...

The Framework Agreement on Facilitation of Cross-border Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific, a UN treaty deposited with the Secretary General of the...

World merchandise trade was valued at USD28.5 trillion in 2021 and as per the latest figures from the Department of International Trade, international trade...

Electronic trade documentation has been around since the 1990s but gained serious momentum in the last few years and especially during/after the pandemic. However,...

An industry survey by CargoX points to a lack of knowledge on electronic trade document transfer as a major barrier to its adoption...

The concept of electronic documentation in global trade has been around for decades, but despite millions of dollars invested in the latest technology and...

The Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR) by UNCITRAL aims to enable the legal use of electronic transferable records that are functionally equivalent...

As we know, a Bill of Lading (B/L) is one of the most commonly used commercial documents in the history of global trade and shipping.....

How many original bills of lading must I surrender to get release of cargo..?? This question popped up on my comments and emails quite a few times since the beginning of this year and therefore I decided to write this short note to answer it..

There have been several questions about the “liability of a shipper on a bill of lading”.. As we have discussed, any one can be a shipper on the bill of lading and may not necessarily be the actual exporter or seller of the goods that are covered in the bill of lading..

It is not uncommon for a Seller to be pursued by the Carrier for unpaid charges incurred in relation to the cargo, say, due to the Consignee failing to come forth and take delivery.

More often, this comes as a shock to the Seller given that they may have received payment under their contract for sale of goods and subsequently transferred the negotiable Bill of Lading by endorsement (either to a named party or in blank).

The Seller generally presumes that they do not bear any liability and instead believe that the Carrier only has a right to pursue the Consignee.

The below article by Muthu Jagannath explains the liability of the entity who is listed as a Shipper in the Bill of Lading (“BL”)..

A case study on the obligations of a shipping line in terms of clauses/notations to be mentioned in a bill of lading.. Based on a real life question from a reader..

Why does a shipping line or agent check or have to check a Bill of Lading against customs documents.. What are they checking for and what should they be checking for..??

A Bill of Lading (B/L) is one of the most commonly used commercial documents in the history of shipping and freight.. This document is issued in one form or the other for all shipments whether container, bulk, break bulk, RoRo or in other forms of carriage..

A Bill of Lading has 3 basic functions.. But which is the most important function of the bill of lading..??

In one my previous articles, I explained the Difference between Demurrage and Detention..

After reading this, a few of my readers have asked me to explain the causes of demurrage and detention..

There are several reasons a container(s) can incur demurrage and/or detention or combined demurrage and detention.. Here are some of the major reasons..

The Electronic Cargo Tracking Note (ECTN), also known as Bordereau de Suivi Cargaison (BSC) and other names depending on the country, is an official marine document that contains information relating to the cargo and its movement between ports.

This document is required to be submitted to the shippers’ councils in most countries of Africa. Every cargo exported to these countries, whether it is commercial, personal or charity, must have this ECTN certificate.

If you are in the shipping and freight industry, you would have no doubt heard about a Delivery Order.. This article explains in detail all about a Delivery Order - what is it, who issues it, who should it be issued to and its importance..

In cases where an original bill of lading is lost, there are several steps that need to be taken to carry on business and secure release without an original.. I previously wrote about What to do when an Original Bill of lading is lost so I am not discussing it again here..

One of the solutions for release without original bill of lading is a Bank Guarantee..

By definition, "A Delivery Order is a release document issued by the carrier releasing the cargo to the consignee mentioned in the bill of...