When the goods are shipped by international sea, cross-border sellers must have heard of the original bill of lading or the duplicate bill of lading, because these bills of lading are related to the important matter of picking up the goods by themselves. However, it also avoids that some cross-border sellers or new freight forwarders do not understand, so today, 18 Supply Chain will give you a popular science knowledge about the original and duplicate bills of lading!

The original bill of lading refers to the "bill of lading" issued by the carrier or the person entrusted by it to pick up the goods from the carrier and claim the rights. The original bill of lading is sometimes marked with the word "Original", and the bill of lading has the official signature and seal of the carrier and the date of issue. The original bill of lading is generally in triplicate, but also in two, four or five copies, so that the shipper loses one of them and can pick up the goods against the other bills of lading.

If there is an original bill of lading, there will also be a duplicate bill of lading, which is actually a copy of the original bill of lading. Under normal circumstances, the words "copy" or "non-transferable" will be marked on the front, and there are no provisions on the back of the bill of lading. The duplicate bill of lading has no legal effect, but it is an indispensable document for the agent of the port of departure, transit and destination, as well as the carrying vessel. The duplicate bill of lading is one of the documents for the arrangement of work between the cargo party, the ship party and the port party.

Depending on the issuer of the original bill of lading, there will also be the owner's bill of lading MB/L, also referred to as the M bill; the freight forwarding bill of lading HB/L. Referred to as H list. HB/L is a bill of lading issued by the freight forwarder to the owner based on the ship owner's bill of lading. Generally, when the volume of small and medium-sized cross-border e-commerce sellers is not enough for the whole container, the freight forwarder will carry out LCL and issue the freight forwarder's bill of lading. Although the shipowner's bill of lading is the most basic document of title and has legal effect, it has little room for maneuvering in the operation of small batches of goods.

The bill of lading is generally divided into three positives and three pairs or two positives and three pairs. Different shipping companies may have different regulations on this aspect. Therefore, if the seller has specific requirements in this regard, it is recommended to ask your own freight forwarder or logistics agent in advance. See Whether the shipping company can issue a bill of lading to verify the order, for some routes like OOCL, only three positives and one pair can be issued.

The last point to note is that the bill of lading cannot have unclean remarks, and the consignee and notifier of the bill of lading must be filled in strictly in accordance with the letter of credit.