In international trade, we may encounter buyers asking exporters to provide ocean bills of lading or loan bills of lading. What is the difference between the two?

Ocean bills of lading (MARINE/OCEAN B/L)

It has three functions:

First, it is a receipt for goods issued by the carrier or its agent to the shipper after receiving the goods.

Second, it is a certificate of the establishment of the transport contract between the carrier and the consignor.

Third, it is a certificate of the property rights of the consignee to collect the goods at the destination of the goods.

Corresponding to ocean bills of lading are charter party bills of lading (CHARTER PARTY B/L) and multimodal transport documents (MULTIMODAL TRANSPORT DOCUMENT)

House bills of lading (HOUSE B/L), and its counterpart is master bills of lading (MASTER B/L)

The difference between these two bills of lading is not big, but the qualifications of the issuers are different. H B/L will have more bill of lading fees at the destination port (sometimes more than one bill of lading fee).

If there is no special requirement in the L/C, the two have the same effect, both are valuable documents, and both can be transferred by endorsement.

The difference between the two bills of lading:

1. The bill of lading is the bill of lading issued by the shipping company. As long as there is a sea bill of lading, anyone can pick up the goods directly from the shipping company at the destination port. The loan bill of lading is the bill of lading issued by the freight forwarder based on the sea bill of lading, and it needs to be exchanged for the sea bill of lading at the designated agent or branch at the destination port.

2. If you want to prepay the freight and pick up the goods quickly, you can issue a sea bill of lading, and you can also save more than ten US dollars in bill exchange fees. If you want to control the ownership of the goods, pay the freight on delivery, etc., you have to issue a loan bill of lading. The freight forwarder can help you do this, of course, not for free.

3. If your goods are not a full container, but scattered goods, you must only issue a loan bill of lading, because the shipping company will not help you consolidate the containers, and will not help you separate the goods at the destination port.

4. If you are doing L/C, but you cannot produce it within the specified delivery period and cannot get on the ship, then you can choose to issue a loan bill of lading and ask the freight forwarder to backdate 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 ocean bill of lading is the most basic property right certificate, and you cannot control many of the terms in it.

6. The general freight forwarding bill number is not included in the customs manifest management system, and is different from the bill of lading number on the import declaration form;

7. The freight forwarding bill of lading has the name and contact method of the bill exchange company, and the contact company is not a port shipping agency such as Waidai or Sinotrans.

8. Freight forwarding bills of lading generally have the words "as agent of carrier" on the page, while ocean bills of lading show "as carrier"

Note: If the payment is not prepaid, you must be especially careful whether it is an ocean bill of lading or a freight bill of lading. Generally, an ocean bill of lading is required, otherwise the goods may be taken away by the freight forwarder