Shipowner's Bill of lading refers to the ocean bill of lading (Master B/L, also known as Master Bill, sea bill, or M Bill for short) issued by the shipping company. It can be issued to the direct shippers (at this time, the forwarder will ship the bill of lading to the direct shippers) or to the forwarders (at this time, the forwarder will ship the bill of lading to the direct shippers).

Forwarder's Bill of Lading (House B/L, also known as sub-bill of lading, or H sheet for short), strictly referred to as non-vessel carrier (first-level forwarder, China began to obtain relevant qualification certification in 2002, the forwarder must pay a deposit in the bank designated by the Ministry of Communications to be approved) bill of lading. It is a bill of lading issued by the forwarder who has obtained the qualification of NVOCC(Non-vessel operating common carrier) and is approved by the Ministry of Communications and put on record, usually issued to the direct shipper; Sometimes there is a counterbill of lading, where the bill of lading is issued to the counterparty, and the counterparty issues its own bill of lading to its direct shipper. Now the export is generally more HOUSE orders, especially to Europe and America.

As far as the exporter is concerned, both bills of lading can be used as negotiation documents and will be accepted by the bank.

Difference between ocean bill of Lading and forwarder bill of Lading

The difference between the two

1. The SHIPPER and CONSIGNEE column are different in the bill of lading. The SHIPPER of the forwarder's bill of lading is the actual exporter (direct owner), while the CONSIGNEE usually fills in the same column of the shipping bill in accordance with the provisions of the L/C, usually TO order. When M sheet is issued to the actual exporter, the SHIPPER should fill in the exporter, and the CONSIGNEE should fill in the consignee according to the content of the shipping sheet. The SHIPPER is the forwarder and the CONSIGNEE is the forwarder's agent at the port of destination.

2. The formalities for exchange of the destination port are different. As long as you hold the M bill, you can directly exchange the import bill of lading at the shipping agency of the destination port. The procedure is simple and fast, and the cost is relatively fixed and cheap. The holder of document H must exchange for document M at the forwarder of the destination port to get the bill of lading and go through customs declaration and pick-up procedures. However, the cost of document exchange is expensive and variable, which is all decided by the forwarder of the destination port.

3. As a Marine bill of lading, the M sheet is the most basic and true certificate of property right. The shipping company will deliver the goods to the consignee indicated on the M sheet at the destination port. If the exporter gets document H, it means that the actual control of the shipped goods is in the hands of the forwarder (at this time, the consignee of Document M is the forwarder's agent at the destination port). If the forwarder company goes bankrupt, the exporter (importer) cannot pick up the goods by H one-way shipping company.

4. For FCL goods, both M and H orders can be issued, while for LCL goods, only H orders can be issued, because the shipping company will not help the shippers to LCL and will not help the shippers to distribute the goods at the destination port.

5. The B/L number of the general freight forwarder does not enter the customs manifest management system, which is different from the B/L number on the import declaration form; The forwarder B/L has the name and contact method of the replacement company, but the contact company is not an overseas agent or port shipping agent.

H order also has the following advantages

1. For FOB terms, freight collect business, usually the forwarder needs to call the consignee of the master order to the agent of the destination port, and then the forwarder will distribute the order to the customer, the destination port agent will collect the freight from the consignee in the future. On the one hand, shipping companies have certain restrictions on freight collect. In addition, it is not easy to deal with the difference between the shipping company's price and the price quoted to the customer if only the master order is issued. Agents, on the other hand, can solve this problem in a very good way.

2. For the DDU and DDP business, the shipping company is only responsible for delivering the goods to the destination port. If the consignor requires the forwarder to provide one-stop service, the forwarder needs to issue a separate order and issue the main order to its agent at the destination port, who is responsible for customs clearance, delivery and even tax payment. This is the popular door-to-door service, where the forwarder is responsible for picking up the goods from the shipper's door until they arrive at the consignee's door.

3. For triangular trade business, the domestic freight forwarder will require the shipping company to issue master orders for the whole process to themselves, and then issue a set of sub-orders in which the consignor is the supplier and the consignee is the middleman; Then do the SWITCH BILL OF LADING in the location of the middleman, that is, the shipper is the middleman, the consignee is the actual destination port of the consignee's bill of lading.

4. For the small goods of several customers to the same destination port, the freight forwarder will adopt the practice of one main container, that is, the consignee of the main order CONSIGN to the agent of the destination port, and then issue several sub-orders to each customer, the sub-order number is 001A, 001B, 001C... In the future, the agent of the destination port will take this container out, and the customer will pick up his part of the goods at the destination port after customs clearance.

5. Under L/C payment mode (the letter of credit also stipulates that the H sheet is acceptable), if the exporter cannot produce the goods within the stipulated delivery time and cannot ship on time, he can ask the forwarder to issue HB/L and backsign the bill of lading, of course, the forwarder will require to issue the letter of guarantee.

MBL and HBL procedures

1.SHIPPER will send the shipping documents to the FORWARDER, indicating FCL or LCL.

2. The FORWARDER shall book space with the shipping company after the ship is ON BOARD. MBL issued by the shipping company to the FORWARDER. The SHIPPER of MBL is the FORWARDER of the FORWARDER port of shipment, while CNEE is usually the branch or agent of the forwarder port of destination.

3.FOWARDER sign HBL to SHIPPER. The SHIPPER of HBL is the true shipper. CNEE generally makes letter of credit TO ORDER.

4. The CARRIER delivers the goods to the port of destination after the ship leaves.

5.FORWARDER will send MBL to the branch of the destination port via DHL/UPS/TNT. (INCLUDING: CUSTOM CLEARANCE DOCS)

6. After getting the B/L, SHIPPER shall present the B/L to the domestic negotiating bank and settle the remittance within the time of presentation. If T/T SHPPER is made, send the documents directly to the foreign customer.

7. The negotiating bank shall settle the full set of documents with the issuing bank.

8. The CONSIGNEE shall pay the issuing bank for the redemption.

9. The FORWARDER of the destination port has changed the order to the shipping company with MBL to take delivery of the goods and clear customs.

10.CONSIGNEE takes delivery of goods to the FORWARDER with HBL.

Distinction between forwarder's Bill of Lading and owner's Bill of Lading

Apparent distinction between forwarder's Bill of Lading and owner's Bill of Lading: CARRIER or FOWARDER's bill of lading can be distinguished from the header. Like the big shipping companies, EISU, PONL, ZIM, YML and so on.

Shipowner's Bill of lading and forwarder's Bill of lading are distinguished mainly from the following aspects:

1. Without special stipulations in the letter of credit, FREIGHT FORWARDER's B/L (HB/L) Bill of lading is not acceptable.

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