Bill of lading
Also known as: B/L, BL
A bill of lading is the ocean carrier's transport document. It proves the cargo and the contract of carriage, and if it is an original, who may claim the goods. In Dutch law that instrument is called a cognossement.
What do you use a bill of lading for at clearance?
The bill of lading is the transport document of the sea shipment. The shipping line (or the NVOCC on a house B/L) issues it after the goods have been taken over. For the declarant it is the sheet with the B/L number, the container, the seal, the gross weight, the shipper, the consignee and the notify party. In Portbase, the Dutch port community system, that B/L number is the key for the container to leave the terminal. Without a number there is no terminal notification. For the import declaration in DMS the bill of lading is not leading for value or classification. The invoice is. The B/L is often summary: furniture, auto parts, general cargo. That is enough for the shipping line, too little for a goods code. You use the B/L to check gross weight, packages, container number and parties against invoice and packing list, and to put the transport chain in the file. As a rule there is one B/L per container, or one B/L covers several containers of the same shipment. Check that every container from the pre-alert is on the B/L. A missing container means a missing declaration.
Original, telex release and seawaybill: what may you use?
An original bill of lading is a document of title. The shipping line usually issues three originals. Whoever surrenders an original can claim the cargo. As long as an original is still outstanding, the terminal will not release the container. Shipments then sit still while the papers are in transit, or a bank holds the sheet under a documentary credit. A telex release (express release) is the shipping line's notice that the cargo may be delivered without surrender of an original. The originals have then been surrendered or cancelled on the loading side. For the terminal the telex release is the signal that the documentary block is gone. For Customs nothing changes: you still need a copy of the B/L in the file, with the same data. A seawaybill is not a bill of lading as a document of title. It proves the contract of carriage and the receipt, but it is not negotiable. The consignee receives the cargo without originals. For the declaration it behaves the same: proof of carriage, a check of weight and container. In law it is not a cognossement.
What is the difference between house B/L and master B/L?
The master B/L is the document between the shipping line and the party that booked with it, often the forwarder or the NVOCC. The house B/L is the document between that forwarder and the cargo interest. The same container can therefore have two B/L numbers. In Portbase and at the terminal the master number counts, because that is how the shipping line knows the container. In the importer's file the house often counts, the sheet from their forwarder. For the declaration you must know which number the chain in the port uses. If you report the house number in Portbase while the terminal expects the master, the container does not release. Put both numbers in the file if you have them, and use for the terminal notification the number that sits on the shipping line. Description and weight must match on house and master. If they do not, something has been merged or split along the way. Groupage is the classic case: one master for the container, several house B/Ls for different consignees. Each house is then its own file, with invoice and packing list, under the same container.
Which data do you take from the B/L for the declaration?
The B/L number, the shipping line, the vessel and the voyage, load and discharge port, shipper, consignee, notify party, container numbers, seal numbers, number of packages, gross weight, and the place of delivery if it differs from the discharge port. Those fields feed the header of the import declaration and the terminal notification, not the item lines. Those come from invoice and packing list. The consignee on the B/L is not automatically the importer in DMS. Often the forwarder stands as consignee, or to order, and the notify party is the real receiver. The importer is the party for whose account the goods enter the Union. You take that from the invoice and from the power of attorney, not from the B/L alone. A declaration in the name of the consignee while the invoice shows another buyer is a classic error. You check the gross weight on the B/L against the sum of the packing list. You do not use the VGM figure (container plus cargo) as the goods' gross weight. You do not use the B/L description as a goods code. Furniture is not a classification.
How does the bill of lading relate to the cognossement?
It is the same document under two names. Bill of lading is the international trade name, the text that sits on the shipping line's form. Cognossement is the Dutch legal term, used in Book 8 of the Civil Code. An original B/L is a cognossement. A seawaybill is not, even from the same line and the same container. This page covers how you use the document in the operation: types, numbers, Portbase, checking against invoice and packing list. The cognossement page covers what the document is under Dutch law: the three functions, the forms to order, straight and to bearer, and why an original is a document of title. The two pages overlap in the object, not in the question. If you search for bill of lading, B/L or BL, you belong here. If you search for cognossement, you belong on the legal page. In the file itself the name on the PDF sheet does not matter, as long as you know whether you hold an original, a telex release or a seawaybill. That distinction has consequences for terminal release.
Where does the bill of lading go wrong in the file?
The first problem is a description that is too coarse and that someone still uses as a classification. Furniture, parts, STC (said to contain). The B/L is summary because the shipping line does not open the boxes. The invoice and the packing list must supply the detail. If they do not, the declaration sits on a code you cannot defend. The second problem is a missing original or a telex release that does not arrive. The container is discharged, terminal rent is running, the declaration can be ready, but the cargo may not leave the quay. That is not a customs problem, it is a documentary problem between shipping line, bank and consignee. You as declarant see it as a file that cannot go to the terminal notification. Call the client, not Customs. The third problem is a mismatch between B/L, packing list and invoice on weight, packages or container number. Stop the declaration. A wrong container number in DMS or in Portbase links the shipment to the wrong cargo. An unexplained weight difference is visible at once in a terminal weighing. Correcting beforehand is an email, correcting afterwards a revision.