On the issue of clean bills of lading

The main document in the process of "documentary" sale of goods is traditionally a bill of lading – a universal multi-purpose document used exclusively for the carriage of goods by sea or inland waterways. As practice shows, for example, in letter of credit transactions, banks, which are an important link in the contract of sale of goods, have a negative attitude to the so-called "unclean" bills of lading containing certain clauses, preferring to receive a set of documents that include only "clean" bills of lading. The article primarily analyzes the clauses that can be made to the bill of lading and are unilateral statements of the carrier on certain issues of performance of the contract of carriage by sea and do not require agreement with the shipper.

The legal significance of the clauses in the bill of lading is that they are intended to protect the carrier from liability for inaccurate or false information provided by the shipper. However, the negative legal effect of including clauses in the bill of lading is that they significantly reduce the evidentiary value of the bill of lading.

The article shows that not every cause made to the bill of lading makes it "unclean". In this regard, the provisions of a number of international conventions governing the legal regime of the carriage of goods by sea, as well as banking practices embodied in the unified rules, which are reflected in the publications of the International Chamber of Commerce.

Also addresses the important practical question about the advisability of using the carrier's practice of issuing «clean» bills of lading when there is doubt about the proper condition of the cargo in exchange for providing a shipper of a letter of guarantee providing for the compensation of potential losses to the carrier upon delivery of the goods to the receiver.

The final part summarizes the conclusions and recommendations.

Keywords

contract of sale, bank, bill of lading, clauses, International Maritime Law, Master, ship, Carrier, Shipper

Received

08.11.2019

Publication date

16.12.2019

Number of characters

33342

Cite

GOST	Gutsulyak V. On the issue of "clean" bills of lading // Gosudarstvo i pravo – 2019. – Issue 11 C. 104-112 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://gospravo-journal.ru/S013207690007476-5-1 (circulation date: 23.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S013207690007476-5
MLA	Gutsulyak, Vasiliy N "On the issue of "clean" bills of lading." Gosudarstvo i pravo 11 (2019):104-112. DOI: 10.31857/S013207690007476-5
APA	Gutsulyak V. (2019). On the issue of "clean" bills of lading. Gosudarstvo i pravo (11), pp.104-112 DOI: 10.31857/S013207690007476-5

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