The following documents are connected with transportation of the goods:
Airway Bill/Air Consignment Note
The receipt issued by an airlines company or its agent for carriage of goods is called airway bill or air consignment note. It is not a document of title and it is not issued in a negotiable form. The goods are delivered to the consignee mentioned in the AWB after identifying himself as the party named in the airway bill as consignee/receiver against payment of charges, if any. It is therefore, desirable to consign the goods in the name of a foreign correspondent bank as it will enable you to retain the control over goods until the payment is made/ documents are accepted for payment.
The airway bill consists of three originals and six to eleven copies. It is a non-negotiable document. Original 1 (Green) is retained by the carrier issuing the AWB for accounting purposes. Original 2 (Pink) accompanies the consignment to final destination. Original 3 (Blue) is given to shipper as proof of receipt of the goods for shipment.
Bill of lading
The bill of lading is a document issued by the shipping company or in agent acknowledging the receipt of goods mentioned in the bill for shipment on board the vessel and undertaking to deliver the goods in the like order and condition as received to the consignee or his order provided the freight and other charges specified in the bill of lading have been duly paid. Bill of lading is issued in the standardised aligned document format.
For preparation of bill of lading the exporter should submit the complete sets of bill of lading together with mate receipt in the standardised aligned form to the shipping company which will calculate the freight amount on the basis of measurement or weight as certified by the recognised Chamber of Commerce. On payment of the freight, the shipping company returns the Bill of Lading duly signed and supported by requisite adhesive stamps.
A bill of lading is generally made out in the sets of two or three originals. All originals are duly signed by the master of the ship or the agent of the steamship company and all the originals are equally valid for taking the delivery of the goods and once one original is utilised the other originals become null and void. Utmost care is, therefore, required to be exercised to ensure that full set of original B/L is obtained by the exporter from the Shipping Company and no original copy goes in the wrong hand. Few extra copies of B/L are also issued generally marked as ‘Non Negotiable Copy’ which cannot be utilised for taking the delivery of the goods.
The type of bill of lading required will depend upon the terms of Letter of Credit (L/C). The following are the various types of Bills of Lading, some of which are not acceptable under L/C unless specifically permitted:
(a) Received for Shipment B/L certifying only receipt of goods – not
acceptable under L/C unless specifically permitted.
(b) On deck B/L containing a remark that goods are shipped on deck-not
acceptable unless specifically permitted.
(c) On board B/L certifying goods received on board the ship.
(d) Combined B/L covering several modes of transport.
(e) Custody B/L issued by American warehouses pending arrival of carrying vessel in port – acceptable.
(f) Forwarding agent B/L issued by forwarding agents not accepted unless specifically authorised – a single B/L covering a group of several consignments meant for different consignees – delivery achieved by issuing delivery orders relating to specified portions of the whole consignment.
(g) House B/L unacceptable as either evidence of title or contract of carriage.
(h) B/L – one on which the detailed conditions of transportation are not printed – not acceptable unless specifically permitted.
(i) Through B/L covering goods being transhipped en route. It covers the whole voyage and is acceptable if transhipment is permitted.
(j) Charter Party B/L covering shipment on chartered ship – issued subject to charter party agreements which supersede the usual memorandum of conditions of carriage appearing on the reverse of B/L not acceptable unless specifically authorised.
(k) Ocean/Liner B/L covering shipment by sea from port of shipment to – usually covering shipment made under letter of credit.
(l) Third Party B/L acceptable if third party shipper endorses it in favour of the beneficiary (seller) who in turn either endorses it in blank or as stipulated in letter of credit.
A clause B/L is a B/L containing additional clauses limiting the responsibility of the shipping company and indicating defective conditions of the goods. Such a B/L is not acceptable under L/C unless specifically authorised. A clean B/L is one which does not bear any superimposed clause or annotation which expressly declares a defective condition of the goods and/or the packaging. A state B/L is one which is tendered to the paying bank at so late a date, that though within validity of letter of credit it is impossible for it to be despatched to the consignee in time to reach him before the goods themselves arrive at destination port.
Mate Receipt
It is issued by the Chief of Vessel after cargo is loaded and it contains the name of shipper, place of receipt and voyage No., port of loading, port of discharge, place of delivery, marks and Nos., container No., description of goods, gross weight and other details as per the standardised aligned document format. The receipt is of transferable nature and must be presented at the shipping company’s office to be exchanged into Bill of Lading.
Combined Transport Document
Inland Container Depots have been set up at various centres in the country. These dry ports have made it possible to cover the entire movement of goods from ICD to destination under the transport document called Combined Transport Document.
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