Key points
- The Maritime Code of the People’s Republic of China defines a bill of lading as a document evidencing a contract of carriage of goods by sea and the taking over or loading of the goods by the carrier, against which the carrier undertakes to deliver the goods.
- By consignee: straight, order and bearer bills; by loading status: shipped on board and received for shipment bills; by notation: clean and claused (foul) bills.
- Letters of credit usually call for a full set of clean, shipped on board original bills, with the bill of lading date treated as the shipment date.
In practice
The bill of lading is the key document for controlling goods in international trade. Until it has been paid or the bank has honoured the credit, an exporter usually keeps control of the goods by holding the originals; an importer needs the originals promptly to avoid port charges when goods arrive and cannot be collected.
Problems fall into three groups: bill of lading data that does not match the invoice, packing list or credit, causing discrepancies; bills issued late or dated after the latest shipment date; and originals that pass through many hands and get lost or delayed in the post. Entrepôt trade often also involves switching bills, which must be handled compliantly within what the carrier allows. Companies should track each bill’s number, number of originals, issue date, holder and circulation status per shipment.
How Tranexio supports it
Tranexio manages bookings, bill of lading details and document sets across the full shipping chain. Bill of lading data shares a single source with the packing list, invoice, customs declaration and L/C presentation, and is checked against them. See Logistics and documents.