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THE BILL OF LADING (B/L) REPRESENTS THE GOODS, AND YOU MUST HAVE SUFFICIENT KNOWLEDGE OF THE BILL OF LADING。
1. Bills of lading are usually 3 pairs and 3 pairs, and there are also 2 and 3 pairs。If the letter of credit has requirements, it should be specially explained to the forwarder。
When T/T payment method, in theory, only one original is needed (other originals automatically expire after pick-up, and copies cannot be picked up), after T/T receives all the payment, you can consider leaving an original for yourself when sending the original to the customer, and send all the others to the customer (so as not to lose the bill of lading on the way to send)。
2. The carrier (full name) should be shown on the front of the bill of lading。This is what I know and know, and when I actually made the letter of credit, the bank told me that the carrier was still safe to pay and receive the bill of lading (so it should theoretically be shown)。
If the carrier is shown on the front, the lower right corner is directly stamped and signed by the carrier。
If the carrier is not shown on the front and the bill of lading is signed by the transport line, the signatory is indicated when signing the bill of lading。
A bill of lading signed by the transport line showing the full name of the carrier on the obverse shall indicate the identity of the transport line at the time of signature。
3. Loaded Bill of Lading and Standby Loading Bill of Lading：
Loaded Bill of Lading: A bill of lading issued after the goods have been loaded on board。
Preparation of the loading bill of lading: The goods issued when they are not loaded only represent the carrier's takeover of the goods handed over by the shipper, so the bill of lading cannot prove the time of loading of the goods (the date of the preparation loading bill of lading is not the loading date)。
When the bill of lading is stamped with "loaded" and the time of loading is indicated, it can be converted to a loaded bill of lading。
4 The bill of lading cannot have an unclean annotation。
5. The consignee and the notifier of the bill of lading must fill in strictly accordance with the letter of credit。
6. Issuance, date and number of copies of the bill of lading：The bill of lading must be issued by the carrier or the master of the ship or their agent and should clearly identify the issuer. GENERAL REPRESENTATIONS ARE: CARRIER, CAPTAIN, OR "AS AGENT FOR THE CARRIER:XXX"。
7.For the name of the shipping company (carrier) printed on the bill of lading, generally the freight forwarder will mark as as agent for the carrier。If the name of the shipping company is not printed on the bill of lading, it must be signed by the seal of the shipping company (your ticket should be a shipping company bill of lading signed by the carrier)
8.Discrepancies between the letter of credit and the bill of lading：The carrier is not shown on the bill of lading. Upon examination, the official explanation is as follows: in accordance with article 23, paragraph 1, of the Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits, the sea bill of lading must superficially state the name of the carrier and be signed or otherwise substantiated by the carrier or its named agent or representative of the carrier, or signed or otherwise certified by the master or named agent or representative of the master。
9.The issuer of the bill of lading can be divided into different categories：FREIGHT FORWARDER B/L REFERS TO A BILL OF LADING ISSUED BY A TRANSPORT COMPANY THAT IS ENGAGED IN THE INTERNATIONAL CARRIAGE OF GOODS BUT DOES NOT OWN A SHIP. ORIGINAL BILL OF LADING, COMMONLY KNOWN AS SEA LISTING。 
The chronology of the production of each document under L/C payment conditions
contract－－－>Letter of credit issuance－－－>Invoice (the invoice date should be noted to be earlier than the date of submission and the validity period of the letter of credit, the date on the commercial invoice cannot be earlier than the date of issuance on the letter of credit, and the invoice date is at the beginning of each document)－－－>Certificate of origin（The date of the certificate of origin should be consistent with the date on the invoice you made. Applications for a Certificate of Origin can be made on or after the day the invoice is made, and the date of issuance is equal to or later than the invoice date）、Insurance policies, packing lists, export licenses, commodity inspections, other inspection certificates－－－> Shipping company certificate（If needed）－－－>Bill of Lading Day－－－>draft（The date of the bill of exchange should be earlier than the date of the letter of credit and the expiry date）、Proof of beneficiary（Some letters of credit do not have proof of beneficiary, and the documents are required to be involved）、Shipping Notification（Equal to or later than three days after the bill of lading date）In any case, the date of the documents that need to be submitted must be earlier than the date of submission。
The above chronological order is basically consistent with the entire foreign trade process, and the details of the entire process are clear after a complete order。
There are three types of bills of lading：
The first is a named bill of lading (straight B/L), that is, a bill of lading that lists the name of the consignee。China's Maritime Law stipulates that a named bill of lading is not transferable and the carrier must deliver the goods to the consignee named in the bill of lading。
Named bills of lading are not widely used in international maritime trade, and are generally only used when transporting personal belongings and exhibits. (The first TT consignee is directly the customer's name, unaware of the potential danger: without payment protection, you must not make a named bill of lading.)。）
In many countries, the consignee of a named bill of lading can take delivery of the goods without a bill of lading, so that the bill of lading has effectively lost control of the right to the goods. Just like an air waybill, the consignee can pick up the goods with proof of identity. Even if the letter of credit is settled, the issuing bank is unwilling to accept the registered bill of lading, so the general letter of credit is stipulated as: a blank letterhead bill of lading such as TO ORDER, thereby controlling and mastering the right to the goods。
Therefore, the non-negotiable nature of the bill of lading must be remembered not only partially, but also remembered“The consignee of a named bill of lading may take delivery of the goods without a bill of lading, so that the bill of lading has effectively lost its role as a right in the goods。”This is a crucial point! The concept must be remembered comprehensively so as not to bring errors and losses to the work. Therefore, if only 30% of the payment is collected, and it is the collection method of 70% of the latter T/T, and the bill of lading of the designated consignee, that is, the bill of lading, once the customer is not creditworthy and does not pay, it may encounter a situation of empty payment and goods. Of course, if you have confidence in your customers and are sure of receiving payments, that's a different story。
The second is a bearer bill of lading（Open B/L (Blank B/L, Bearer B/L) ），That is, the name is not listed in the column of the consignee of the bill of lading。Such bills of lading are negotiable without endorsement and the carrier releases the goods against the document。
In a bill of lading that does not contain the name of the consignee on the bearer bill of lading, whoever is in possession of the bill of lading may take delivery of the goods from the carrier with the bill of lading, and the carrier delivers the goods without a voucher。
The bill of lading is indicated in the consignee column：To the order
The third is the bill of lading of instructions, that is, the bill of lading for the delivery of goods according to the instructions of the instructor stated in the bill of lading。It is a bill of lading commonly used in current international trade。
1、On bank instructions。That is, the bill of lading consignee column is filled in as "to the order of xx Bank"。
2、On the instructions of the consignee。That is, the bill of lading consignee column is filled in as "to the order of A.B.C. Co. Ltd"。
3、Upon instructions of the consignor。That is, the bill of lading consignee column is filled in as "To the order of shipper", and the shipper is endorsed by the blank on the back of the bill of lading. Such bills of lading may also be endorsed in a nominable manner in accordance with the provisions of the letter of credit. The consignee may also not endorse it, in which case only the shipper may take delivery of the goods, i.e. the seller retains title to the goods。
The so-called release without a bill of lading refers to the carrier's failure to deliver the goods with the original bill of lading。
Currently, for indicative bills of lading and bearer bills of lading, the carrier must release the goods with the original bill of lading, and if the carrier does not release the goods with the original bill of lading, the rightful holder of the original bill of lading can pursue against the carrier for breach of contract for release without a bill of lading, regardless of the party to which the goods were placed. This point is unified in China's maritime judicial practice. However, in the case of a named bill of lading, if the carrier fails to deliver the goods to a named person with the original bill of lading, can the rightful holder of the registered bill of lading claim liability for breach of contract against the carrier? At present, there is a tendency to deny both theory and practice。
To sum up, cargo owners in various countries should fully understand the dangers of registered bills of lading, and cannot arbitrarily agree to trade buyers' requests for the issuance of a named bill of lading for which it is the consignee, so as to ensure that the carrier is held liable for breach of contract if the settlement of foreign exchange is blocked by means such as letters of credit。
1. Electric discharge: The original "Electric Discharge Guarantee" is required 。
The letter of guarantee is to issue a statement saying which customer you put in this batch of goods, and then stamp the following and pass it to the forwarder, and the rest do not have to worry. (Of course, the premise of electric discharge is safe collection!) Generally, the former TT receives the money before it is released), the bill of lading is confirmed, shipped, and waits for the forwarder to send back the copy of the bill of lading, and then pass it to the customer。
2. Split orders：3-4 days after the ship is set off (when the customer has booked the same cabinet in us and other factories, for convenience and safety, you can divide the bill of lading and send it to the customer separately.)。）
3. Consolidated list: Ibid
4.Off-site orders：Subject to the consent of the shipping company。
1. Door to door：It is to book a space with the freight forwarder, make an appointment, and then the freight forwarder will send a fleet to your factory, or a designated place to load the goods, and then return to the port。
2. Interior：It means that the factory directly sends the goods to the forwarder's warehouse, and then they help you pull into the port area, and the cargo owner does not have the right to send them directly into the port area。 
In the sea bill of lading, there is a role that is often overlooked, but its importance cannot be underestimated, and it is the notifier. Usually, the sea bill of lading has two companies or even three companies to fill in in the port of destination information section，Generally Consignee and Notify party. Some shipping company bills of lading also list the First Notify Party and the Second Notify Party。 Distinguish between Consignee and Notify Party
Consignee refers to the consignee, usually the customer at the port of destination, that is, the real buyer, and the bank will generally be the bank under the payment conditions of the letter of credit. Notify party refers to the notifying party, which refers to the contact party of the customer at the port of destination, if the customer himself can fill in the Same as consignee, otherwise it will generally be marked as the agent or trader of the customer in the port of destination。 The meaning of the notifying party's existence
After the goods arrive at the port of destination, the shipping company will notify the notifying party of the arrival information as soon as possible, so as to facilitate the notifier to notify the consignee to pick up the goods, or do other processing. Prevent untimely pick-up of goods, resulting in detention charges and even huge fines. Therefore, in order to prevent the notification from going unnoticed, sometimes, there will be two notifiers. Because under the payment conditions of the letter of credit, the Consignee on the bill of lading is often the issuing bank, not the real consignee; When all documents are handed over to the issuing bank, the issuing bank will notify the real consignee to negotiate and other processes。 Fill in arbitrarily
In many cases, the notifier is acted as the notifier without knowing or communicating in advance, resulting in the arrival notice not reaching the consignee in time, resulting in delays in picking up the goods and additional costs. This requires that when confirming the bill of lading, the notifying party column should also be paid special attention to, and not arbitrarily。 About To order
Sometimes we come across a To order bill of lading. To order Bill of Lading refers to the general indication of a bill of lading. The general format is 'To order of xxx', which requires an endorsement of 'xxx' to transfer or pick up the goods. If the consignee column on the bill of lading only has 'To order', the meaning is 'To order of shipper', and the endorsement of 'shipper' is required. The notifier only serves to notify the consignee and has nothing to do with endorsement。 Questions about the notifier
1）If the consignee and notifier of the bill of lading do not agree, to whom the general notice of delivery is given？
Generally, the consignee is notified. Most bills of lading use the information of the notifying party as the main information for the agent of the destination port to contact the consignee. Because most bills of lading are consigned to To order, they are not directly named. Sometimes, when the notified person cannot be contacted, the consignee is approached or, if necessary, the consignor。 2）To do the bill of lading electric release, who should it be given？
Consignee. Whether it is the original or the electric discharge, it is the transfer of property rights, and its fundamental is to transfer to the hands of the property owner. The one who really owns the right to the goods is the consignee。 3）Is it okay if both the consignee and the notifying party of the bill of lading are To order?？
On the face of it, this is convenient and can be transferred to any consignee. However, in practice, general shipping companies stipulate that the consignee and notifier of the bill of lading cannot be To order at the same time. There can only be one, which is also to prevent freight risks。
4）The customer's letter of credit requires two companies to be written together in the notifier column on the bill of lading, is this okay?？
Some shipping company bills of lading will have a first notifier and a second notifier, if not, you can fill in two companies under one notifying party。
5）In the case of the consignee To order, can the notifier on the sea bill of lading pick up the goods？
No, when the consignee of the original bill of lading of the shipping company is To order, the consignor does not endorse and send it to the customer, and the consignee cannot raise it, let alone the notifier。
6）If the customer requests that the notifier column of the bill of lading display To order, is it okay?？
It's better not to be orderly. After all, the role of the notifier is to know the situation of the goods in time and notify the consignee to receive the goods in time. If not, the general notifier can write Same as consignee。
7）To order the consignee of the bill of lading, notified by Same as consignee
If the consignee is To order, be sure to provide a Notify party with specific contact information, otherwise after the ship arrives at the port, the goods cannot be picked up due to the inability to notify the importer or the relevant responsible party, and may even lead to serious consequences such as confiscation by customs. If you want to declare AMS/ACI, you may also be fined heavily by the customs of the other party。
8）To order the bill of lading does not require endorsement by the notifier ？
If the consignee of the bill of lading is To order and there is nothing else, such as Not To order of the XXX, then this is called a blank bill of lading and requires endorsement by Shipper. Notify party is the notifier of the destination port and has nothing to do with endorsement。
9）The goods have arrived at the port, and the customer said that the notifier's letterhead was not written in full, and asked to change the order, otherwise customs clearance could not be carried out. Does it really affect it？
The notifier's letterhead error will not affect, as long as the consignee on the bill of lading is correct, and the notifier's information will not affect the customs clearance and pick-up of the customer at the destination port as long as it does not affect the authenticity of the determination。
常见问题
1、Why sometimes foreign businessmen can pick up goods without a bill of lading？ 
We know that the bill of lading should theoretically be a "document of title", that is, whoever "legally acquires" the bill of lading is equivalent to getting the goods。
The bill of lading has four parties: the shipper (exporter), the carrier (forwarder/shipowner) Carrier, the consignee Consignee, and the notifying party Notify Party. Among them, the "consignee Consignee" determines the attribution of the goods。
“Consignee Consignee" usually comes in two ways：
ONE IS "TO ORDER OR TO ORDER OF... This bill of lading can be freely transferred by endorsement (the original holder signs on the back of the bill of lading to indicate transfer), which is more valuable----- because whoever "legally" obtains the bill of lading belongs to whomever owns the goods. Such a bill of lading is a "bearer bill of lading". In the operation of the bearer bill of lading, the foreign businessman has no right to pick up the goods if he cannot get the original bill of lading (unless the freight forwarder and the shipping company come in a mess, and there is no single release in violation of the law), which is very safe and recommended for everyone. Under a letter of credit, banks will usually also require such a bill of lading。
The other is the registered bill of lading, that is, the "Consignee Consignee" column specifies the consignee's company address (usually a foreign businessman), and only this company can pick up the goods. Because the consignee is specified, it is useless even if someone else gets the bill of lading, and the bill of lading cannot be transferred. On the other hand, precisely because it stipulates that if the person who picks up the goods dies, only he can pick up the goods, so some countries recognize that the consignee can pick up the goods even if he does not have the original, as long as he proves his identity。
This is why we encounter foreign companies in our business who can pick up goods without getting the original bill of lading。
In such a case, handing over the goods to the forwarder for a named bill of lading is almost tantamount to direct delivery to the foreign businessman. If the payment is not recovered at this time, there is a certain risk, and the payment depends on the consciousness of the foreign businessman. The nominative bill of lading also loses the effect of a "document of title"。
2、Which countries can pick up goods without the original bearer bill of lading？ 
Not all States may take delivery without an original (registered bill of lading).。
At present, there are two mainstream legal systems in the world, common law and civil law. Only common law systems were the common law system, which in the past considered a named bill of lading to be a document of title. Therefore, common law countries are prone to the phenomenon of private delivery under a named bill of lading。
Common law countries have： United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore, Bahamas, Botswana, Brunei, Cameroon, Cyprus, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nigeria, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Eswatini, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, etc。
When in doubt, you can check online whether the foreign business is a common law country。
However, even in common law countries (including the United Kingdom), there has been some jurisprudence in recent years that a nominative bill of lading is also a document of title. In common law systems, precedent is the law, which can be seen as a turning point. Nevertheless, it is still necessary to be cautious, after all, prevention is the main thing, once an accident, even if the lawsuit is won, it is not worth the loss for the vast majority of small and medium-sized export enterprises. What's more, it is not always possible to win the war, and it is easy for experienced foreign businessmen to turn litigation into commercial disputes and tear off for several years。
Therefore, for unfamiliar foreign businessmen, especially D/P, it is best to use the named bill of lading with caution. In fact, anonymous business operations will not cause too much inconvenience to foreign businessmen。
3、Are freight forwarders' bills of lading and shipowners' bills of lading the same thing?？
In practice, we will encounter two types of bills of lading: shipowners' bills of lading and freight forwarders' bills of lading. The owner of the ship is the cargo company that has its own ocean freighter. The cost of an ocean-going freighter is expensive, and the company with its own ocean-going fleet is naturally strong. In a sense, such companies are also more acceptable, because they pay more attention to reputation in long-term business, will not self-destruct for a little profit, and are relatively formal in operation. Another type of freight company is freight forwarder, referred to as freight forwarder. The freight forwarder himself does not have a ship, in a sense the nature is similar to that of an ordinary trading company. After they solicit the cargo, they take it to the owner together to book the space. We may as well regard the difference and relationship between ship owners and freight forwarders as wholesalers and retailers, and commodities are the "space" of ocean freighters. The shipowner wholesals the space to the freight forwarder, and the freight forwarder retails the space to us。
It is not difficult to imagine that although the shipowner is safe, after all, it is inevitable that the "shop will overwhelm customers", and the flexibility and hospitality of the service are often not as good as the freight forwarder. The number of freight forwarders is large and widely distributed, and it is very convenient to communicate with us to do foreign trade, and they are more willing to cooperate with our operations, especially the special operations such as "reverse bill of lading" mentioned above. Therefore, in practice, it is more common for us to deal with freight forwarders。
On the surface, the effect of the shipowner's bill of lading and the freight forwarder's bill of lading is similar, we sell the original bill of lading to a foreign businessman, and the foreign merchant takes the goods with the bill of lading. And in fact there is a difference. First of all, the bill of lading itself is a kind of "contract of carriage", and the freight forwarder issues the bill of lading to us, which is equivalent to signing a contract of carriage. The shipowner's bill of lading is a contract between us and the shipowner, while the freight forwarder's bill of lading is not. We hand over the goods to the freight forwarder, and the freight forwarder then hands it over to the shipowner, there is a carrier agreement between the freight forwarder and the shipowner, and the shipowner is only responsible for the freight forwarder and not to our cargo owner, because under the operation of the freight forwarder's bill of lading, for the shipowner, the freight forwarder is the "cargo owner"。.
therefore，凭The shipowner's bill of lading, which can be picked up directly when it arrives at the port of destination; The freight forwarder's bill of lading is not, and the freight forwarder's bill of lading needs to be taken to the port agent to "exchange the bill", that is, according to the freight forwarder's bill of lading, a notice of pick-up is issued, and then go to pick up the goods. Of course, for our pick-ups, this is just an extra procedure on the surface, and it is not a risk to not affect the pick-up. On the contrary, we can use this to better control property rights。For example, after we hand over the freight forwarder bill of lading to the customer, we suddenly find that the customer has fraudulent behavior and may not give money, then we can ask the freight forwarder to help, notify the destination port agent to "detain" the goods, so that the foreign businessman can not temporarily pick up the goods even if he holds the freight forwarder's bill of lading, giving us valuable time (there is no formal reason, the destination port is not convenient to forcibly detain the goods, can only delay for a few days, but for foreign trade disputes, this delay is very beneficial to exporters)。
In short, if the cargo transportation itself is unfortunately wrong, when we hold the freight company accountable, it is obvious that the powerful shipowner is more capable of being responsible than the ordinary freight forwarder. Usually, freight forwarders can cooperate with our work more than ship owners, and the help of freight forwarders is crucial in flexible handling of bills of lading and prevention of commercial fraud. In addition, the freight forwarder's transportation price is also very advantageous, often discounted。
The difference between the operation of MBL and HBL: MBL is the bill of lading of the shipping company; HBL is the forwarder's bill of lading。
1. SHIPPER PASSES THE CONSIGNMENT NOTE TO FORWARDER, INDICATING WHETHER IT IS A FULL CASE OR AN LCL。
2. FORWARDER TO THE SHIPPING COMPANY TO BOOK THE SPACE, THE SHIP ON BOARD BEHIND. THE SHIPPING COMPANY ISSUES MBL TO FORWARDER. MBL'S SHIPPER IS THE FORWARDER OF THE PORT OF ORIGIN, AND CSEE IS GENERALLY A BRANCH OR AGENT OF THE FORWARDER'S DESTINATION PORT。
3. FOWARDER SIGNED HBL TO SHIPPER. HBL's SHIPPER is a true cargo owner. CNEE generally makes letters of credit TO ORDER。
4. CARRIER transports the cargo to the port of destination after the ship has sailed。
5. FORWARDER SENDS MBL TO THE DESTINATION BRANCH VIA DHL/UPS/TNT, ETC. （INCLUDING：CUSTOM CLEARANCE DOCS）
6. AFTER SHIPPER GETS THE BILL OF LADING, IT WILL SUBMIT THE BILL TO THE DOMESTIC NEGOTIATING BANK WITHIN THE DELIVERY PERIOD AND SETTLE THE FOREIGN EXCHANGE. If you do T/TSHPPER, send the receipt directly to foreign guests。
7. The negotiating bank settles the full set of documents with the issuing bank。
8.CNEE pays the issuing bank the ransom。
9. FORWARDER TOOK THE MBL TO THE SHIPPING COMPANY TO EXCHANGE ORDERS AND PICK UP THE GOODS, AND CLEARED CUSTOMS。
10. CNEE TOOK HPL TO FORWARDER TO PICK UP THE GOODS。
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