Commercial and Legal Need for Documentation
Cargo documentation is commercially as well as legally required to comply with regulations, to identify ownership, to identify responsibility, to process payments, and for the cargo to move from its point of origin to the point of its destination.
The Bill of Lading is a legal document internationally accepted as the document of the ownership of cargo. It is commercially and legally the most important cargo document. When goods are released by a seller into the hands of a third party such as the ocean carrier, there could be some anxiety as to whether the seller would receive the payment for his property or not. This is predominant in the case of a customer being far away and in a different country, where normal commercial practices are not known or perfectly understood.
The ownership of the goods must not be passed until the seller has been paid by the buyer and the terms of sale as described in the commercial invoice and the Bill of Lading have been satisfied. The ocean carrier’s bill of lading is the legal guarantee that the goods will not be delivered to the wrong party or until all the due payments have been made. The checks and exchange of documentation and the control mechanisms ensure that all commercial interests are satisfied. Documentation helps to verify that the seller and the ocean carrier are paid their dues, the customs duty and other local taxes have been paid, and the consignee has receive his cargo satisfactorily.
The document explains the clauses of the bill of lading.