Bill of Lading --- B/L

 

What is a Bill of Lading?

A Bill of Lading is a document that the Carrier of goods issues to the “Shipper” of the goods.  It’s a document to provide evidence or proof of shipment.

This is extremely important in International Trade as it provides ‘title’ as to who legally owns the cargo.  Moreover, the Bill of Lading acts as evidence of Contract of Carriage, receipt of goods and document of title to the goods.

The owner of the cargo (the holder of the B/L) has the legal rights to claim the goods or arrange transfer ownership of the cargo to another party in the supply chain.

What is an electronic Bill of Lading (eB/L)?

An electronic Bill of Lading is a new electronic version of the bill of lading.  The eB/L performs the same functions, and in addition it improves the speed, security and accuracy of information.

In the past, the transfer of important information relied on a physical Bill of Lading document being posted from the shippers to consignees in a different country.  Using an eB/L, the data contained on the Bill of Lading can be transferred to other parties involved in the supply chain almost instantly.

How Does an Electronic Bill Of Lading Improve the Import Export Process?

Upgrading to an Electronic Bill Of Lading process will bring a variety of benefits to many parties along the global supply chain.  The traditional Bill of Lading process is quite manual, slow, and not easy to share to parties in the supply chain.

A Benefits that an Electronic Bill of Lading will Provide

A Paperless Process

Instant Exchange of Information, Data and Title

Accessibility

Data Accuracy

Data Security

Eliminate Postage Costs

Electronic Storage, Searching and Historical Records

Challenges for the Electronic Bill Of Lading

Understanding and Adoption

Legal Complications

Verifying Insurance Cover

 

Conclusion

As mentioned above, there is no doubt that the new Electronic Bill of Lading process will provide so many benefits, efficiencies and cost savings to the global shipping industry.  The technologies are in place, but all of the value cannot be enabled unless the laws and adoption is mainstream.

When the eBL does become mainstream, companies will have to ensure that they have efficient systems and data structures to keep competitive and also to enable the many new integration efficiencies that will come as a result.  All supply chain parties must be proactive to improve any outdated processes or software systems to ensure they don’t miss the boat.

Difference Between House Bill of Lading and Master Bill of Lading | HBL vs MBL

Bill of lading is a legal document which serve as Receipt of goods, Contract of carriage and Document of title.
There are separate articles on Bill of Lading & types of Bill of Lading in this website.

In this article, I shall explain the differences between two types of Bill of Lading, House Bill of Lading (HBL) and Master Bill of Lading (MBL).

House Bill of Lading (HBL): Freight forwarders or NVOCC operators issue the HBL to the actual consignee. There are two cases in HBL, which are mentioned below:

A. HBL issued for FCL cargo: If a shipper has the one or more full container cargo, and the trade is being executed under FOB or EXW incoterms, buyer/importer needs to take care of ocean freight/main carrier. Buyer will appoint a freight forwarder at buyer's country and that freight forwarder will have a counterpart/agent at the origin country. The agent will arrange all required operations at origin including arranging containers. Once cargo is handed over to the terminal, the agent at country of origin will issue a House Bill of Lading (HBL) to the seller/exporter/shipper for entire cargo (all FCLs).
In this case, the shipping line/main carrier will issue one Master Bill of Lading (MBL) simultaneously to the agent (counterpart of buyer’s freight forwarder). The HBL is the replica of the MBL; all details in the HBL are same as the details of MBL except shipper, Consignee & Notify party.

B. HBL issued for LCL cargo: If a shipper has only few boxes to ship, which is too small for a full container, then the shipper can go ahead with LCL mode. A freight forwarder or NVOCC operator consolidate the cargoes of different shippers in a single container and ship together. In this case, the freight forwarder or NVOCC operator will issue separate HBL to all the shippers.


Master Bill of Lading (MBL): A carrier/ shipping line issues Master Bill of Lading to the shipper or the freight forwarder or NVOCC operator. If the shipper books the containers directly, MBL will be issued to the sipper directly by the carrier. If containers are booked by freight forwarder or NVOCC operator, MBL will be issued to the freight forwarder or NVOCC operator.

Differences between HBL and MBL:

1. HBL is issued by the freight forwarder or NVOCC operator to their customers. The shipping line (main carrier) issues MBL to freight forwarder or NVOCC operator.

2. In HBL shipper is the exporter of goods (actual shipper). In MBL shipper is the freight forwarder or NVOCC operator.

3. In HBL consignee is the importer of the goods (actual consignee). In MBL consignee is the counterpart or overseas agent of freight forwarder or NVOCC operator.

4. Receiver of goods at destination surrenders the HBL to the overseas agent or counterpart of the NVOCC operator or the freight forwarder and receive the NOC. Freight forwarder or NVOCC operator usually surrender the MBL to the shipping line at origin.