In international trade, we may encounter the buyer requesting the exporter to provide a marine bill of lading or a credit bill of lading. What is the difference between the two?
MARINE/OCEAN B/L
It has three functions:
One is a kind of goods receipt issued by the carrier or its agent to the shipper after receiving the goods.
The second is the evidence of the establishment of the transport contract between the two parties.
The third is the document of title for the consignee to take delivery of the goods at the place of arrival.
Corresponding to ocean bill of lading are charter party B/L and multimodal transport document
House B/L, corresponding to Master B/L
There is little difference between the two kinds of bills of lading, but the issuer's qualifications are different. H B/L will have more replacement fees at the port of destination (sometimes there is more than one replacement fee)
If there is no special requirement in L/C, the two documents have the same effect. They are both valuable documents and can be transferred by endorsement.
Differences between the two bills of lading:
1. The bill of lading is a bill of lading issued by the shipping company. As long as there is a marine bill of lading, anyone can directly pick up the goods from the shipping company at the port of destination. A credit bill of lading is a bill of lading issued by a freight forwarder based on a marine bill of lading, which needs to be exchanged by a designated agent or branch at the port of destination.
2. If you want to prepay the freight and pick up the goods quickly, you can issue a shipping order, and you can also save more than ten dollars in exchange fees. If you want to control the cargo right and freight collect, you need to issue the bill of lading. The freight forwarder can help you do this, of course, not for free.
3. If your goods are not whole containers, but scattered goods, you must be able to ship on behalf of the bill of lading, because the shipping company will not help you with consolidation, and will not help you distribute the goods at the port of destination.
4. If you are working in L/C, but you can't produce on the specified delivery date and get on the ship, you can choose to issue a loan agent bill of lading and ask the freight agent to reverse sign the bill of lading for you. Of course, this is also an informal practice, so you are generally required to issue a letter of guarantee.
5. The marine bill of lading is the most basic document of title, and you can't control many of its terms.
6. The general freight forwarder number does not enter the customs manifest management system, which is different from the bill of lading number on the import declaration form;
7. The freight forwarder bill of lading has the name and contact method of the exchange company, and the contact company is not a foreign agent or a port shipping agency.
8. The freight bill of lading generally displays the words "agent of carrier" on the page, while the marine bill of lading displays "carrier"
Note: If the payment is not made in advance, you should be careful whether the bill of lading is a bill of lading or a bill of lading. Usually, the bill of lading is required, otherwise the goods may be taken away by the freight forwarder