Bill of lading

A bill of lading (/ˈleɪdɪŋ/) (sometimes abbreviated as B/L or BOL) is a document issued by a carrier (or their agent) to acknowledge receipt of cargo for shipment.

In international trade outside the United States, bills of lading are distinct from waybills in that the latter are not transferable and do not confer title.

A bill of lading must be transferable,[4][b] and serves three main functions: Typical export transactions use Incoterms terms such as CIF, FOB or FAS, requiring the exporter/shipper to deliver the goods to the ship, whether onboard or alongside.

In the United Kingdom, in the case of Coventry v Gladstone (1867), Lord Justice Blackburn defined a bill of lading as "A writing signed on behalf of the owner of ship in which goods are embarked, acknowledging the receipt of the Goods, and undertaking to deliver them at the end of the voyage, subject to such conditions as may be mentioned in the bill of lading.

In Glyn Mills & Co. v. East and West India Dock Co (1882), which concerned the presentation of a series of bills of lading, the decision also encompassed any document which "by mercantile law and usage ... is a symbol of the right of property in the goods".

[12] While there is evidence of the existence of receipts for goods loaded aboard merchant vessels stretching back as far as Roman times.

A "combined bill of lading" may be issued by a carrier who, say, collects goods from a factory for subsequent delivery to a ship via multi-modal transport.

[citation needed] The principal use of the bill of lading is as a receipt issued by the carrier once the goods have been loaded onto the vessel.

Carrier becomes responsible before the law if they issue cargo to a party who is not the authorised person to claim the goods under this function.

Simply, the bill of lading confers prima facie title over the goods to the named consignee or lawful holder.

If the exporter (the shipper) is shipping a small amount of cargo, he will arrange for a carrier to carry the goods for him, using a bill of lading.

When the master (captain) issues a B/L to a shipper, he will be acting as an agent for the carrier, who will be either the shipowner (time or voyage) or the charterer (demise).

In a time-charterparty or voyage-charterparty, if the charterer is shipping his own cargo (rather than the cargo of a third party) he will receive a bill of lading from the master, acting as agent of the shipowner; but that B/L will serve solely as a receipt and document of title, and its terms will (subject to contrary intent) be secondary to the terms of the charterparty, which remains the dominant contract.

The main difference between these two documents is that the waybill gives the bearer the right to possession of the cargo, but does not confer title in the goods.

[citation needed] For many years, the industry has sought a solution to the difficulties, costs and inefficiencies associated with paper bills of lading.

[citation needed] Besides that, German law allows the usage of electronic Bills of Lading and other documents of title, see sec.