In today's globalised world, international trade is becoming increasingly common and the Bill of Lading and the Manifest play a crucial role as key documents.
What's a manifest?
The manifest is the abbreviation of the manifest of inbound and outbound transport vehicles, which refers to the carrier that reflects the information of goods, articles and passengers carried by inbound and outbound transport. A simple understanding of the manifest is like the information sheet of the goods in the express box you receive.
The manifest includes the original manifest, the pre-allocation manifest and the loading (boarding) manifest.
- Original Manifest: refers to the manifest sent by the manifest issuer to Customs containing information about the goods, articles or passengers loaded on the incoming means of transport;
- Pre-arranged manifest: means the manifest reflecting the expected loading of goods, articles or passenger information for the incoming means of transport;
- Loading (boarding) manifest: means the manifest reflecting the actual loading of goods, articles or passenger information on the incoming means of transport.
Role of the sea manifest:
1. An important basis for the loading, unloading, distribution and stowage of ships.
2. It is an important reference for business transactions between customs, insurance companies, freight forwarders, shipowners and cargo owners.
3. It is used for the smooth running of subsequent cargo transport, customs declaration and clearance.
What's a Bill of Lading?
The Bill of Lading is a written document issued by the shipper or his agent to prove that the goods have been received and can be shipped to their destination and delivered to the shipper.
Ocean Bills of Lading are generally divided into two categories: Master Bill of Lading (MB/L, commonly known as Shipowner's Bill of Lading), which is issued by the shipping company. It is usually used for the transport of full container loads.
The Master Bill of Lading has the following characteristics.
- Direct issue: The shipping company issues a bill of lading directly to the shipper and when the goods arrive at the destination, the consignee can collect the goods directly from the shipping company with this bill of lading without going through an intermediary.
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Scope of application: It is more suitable for transporting full container loads, as full container loads are usually sent from a single shipper to a single consignee, with fewer intermediaries.
The other is the House Bill of Lading (HB/L, commonly known as Forwarder's Bill of Lading), which is a bill of lading issued by a freight forwarder qualified as a non-vessel operating common carrier.
Compared to the shipowner's bill of lading, the forwarder's bill of lading has greater flexibility, which is mainly reflected in the following aspects:
- Greater flexibility: Forwarder B/L allows forwarder companies to act as intermediaries to provide a wider range of services to shippers and consignees, such as hiding cargo resources, protecting trade secrets, providing freight collect, DDU, DDP and other service options.
- Wide range of applications: It is suitable for both full container loads and less than container loads. The forwarder can integrate the LCL cargo of multiple shippers for more efficient transportation and distribution.
In practice, the shipper on the bill of lading is usually the actual exporter, while the consignee information is filled in according to the letter of credit or other trade terms. This arrangement makes the Forwarding Bill of Lading more advantageous in handling complex international trade.
Function of the Bill of Lading:
- Receipt of goods: The bill of lading is a receipt issued by the carrier to the shipper confirming that the carrier has received and loaded the goods specified in the bill of lading, or that the carrier has taken over and loaded the goods on behalf of the shipper.
- Proof of contract of carriage:The carrier undertakes to carry the goods for the shipper because there is a certain relationship of rights and obligations between the carrier and the shipper, and the relationship of rights and obligations between the two parties is evidenced by the bill of lading as the contract of carriage.
- Documents of title:Whoever holds the bill of lading has the right to require the carrier to deliver the goods and has the right to possess and dispose of the goods. The bill of lading represents the goods it carries.
In today's global trading environment, understanding and correctly using the ocean bill of lading and manifest can effectively ensure the safe and smooth movement of cargo and protect a company's international business.
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