Bill of Lading A bill of lading (sometimes abbreviated as B/L or BOL) is a document issued by a carrier which details a shipment of merchandise

and gives title of that shipment to a specified party.[1] Bills of lading are one of three important documents used in international trade to help guarantee that exporters receive payment and importers receive merchandise. A straight bill of lading is used when payment has been made in advance of shipment and requires a carrier to deliver the merchandise to the appropriate party. An order bill of lading is used when shipping merchandise prior to payment, requiring a carrier to deliver the merchandise to the importer, and at the endorsement of the exporter the carrier may transfer title to the importer. Endorsed order bills of lading can be traded as a security or serve as collateral against debt obligations. Bills of lading have a number of additional attributes, such as on board, received-forshipment, clean, and foul. An on-board bill of lading denotes that merchandise has been physically loaded onto a shipping vessel, such as a freighter or cargo plane. A received-for-shipment bill of lading denotes that merchandise has been received, but is not guaranteed to have already been loaded onto a shipping vessel. Such bills can be converted upon being loaded. A clean bill of lading denotes that merchandise is in good condition upon being received by the shipping carrier, while a foul bill of lading denotes that merchandise has incurred damage prior to being received by the shipping carrier.Letters of credit usually will not allow for foul bills of lading

Bill of exchange A bill of exchange or "draft" is a written order by the drawer to the drawee to pay money to the payee. A common type of bill of exchange is the cheque (check in American English), defined as a bill of exchange drawn on a banker and payable on demand. Bills of exchange are used primarily in international trade, and are written orders by one person to his bank to pay the bearer a specific sum on a specific date. Prior to the advent of paper currency, bills of exchange were a common means of exchange. They are not used as often today. A bill of exchange is essentially an order made by one person to another to pay money to a third person. A bill of exchange requires in its inception three parties the drawer, the drawee, and the payee. The person who draws the bill is called the drawer. He gives the order to pay money to the third party. The party upon whom the bill is drawn is called the drawee. He is the person to whom the bill is addressed and who is ordered to pay. He becomes an acceptor when he indicates his willingness to pay the bill. The party in whose favor the bill is drawn or is payable is called the payee. The parties need not all be distinct persons. Thus, the drawer may draw on himself payable to his own order. A bill of exchange may be endorsed by the payee in favour of a third party, who may in turn endorse it to a fourth, and so on indefinitely. The "holder in due course" may claim the amount of the bill against the drawee and all previous endorsers,

regardless of any counterclaims that may have disabled the previous payee or endorser from doing so. This is what is meant by saying that a bill is negotiable. In some cases a bill is marked "not negotiable" see crossing of cheques. In that case it can still be transferred to a third party, but the third party can have no better right than the transferor. Certificate of Origin A Certificate of Origin (often abbreviated to C/O or COO) is a document used in international trade. It is a printed form, completed by the exporter or its agent and certified by an issuing body, attesting that the goods in a particular export shipment have been wholly produced, manufactured or processed in a particular country. The origin does not refer to the country where the goods were shipped from but to the country where they were made. In the event the products were manufactured in two or more countries, origin is obtained in the country where the last substantial economically justified working or processing is carried out. An often used practice is that if more than 50% of the cost of producing the goods originates from one country, the "national content" is more than 50%, then, that country is acceptable as the country of origin.[1] When countries unite in trading agreements, they may allow Certificate of Origin [2] to state the trading bloc, for example, theEuropean Union (EU) as origin, rather than the specific country. Determining the origin of a product is important because it is a key basis for applying tariff and other important criteria. However, not all exporters need a certificate of origin, this will depend on the destination of the goods, their nature, and it can also depend on the financial institution involved in the export operation.

What are the types of covers available?

There are basically three internationally recognized types of covers available worldwide and all are offered by local insurance companies. They are known as Institute Cargo Clauses (A), (B) and (C). Institute Cargo Clauses (A) This is the widest possible cover which protects against all risks of loss or damage to the subject matter (i.e. Cargo).The main exclusions are as below: Wilful misconduct of the Insured Delay Wear and tear Ordinary leakage and breakage Inherence vice Rats or vermin

Institute Cargo Clauses (B) and Clauses (C) These covers are more restricted and basically insure against named perils only. The risks covered by both the (B) & (C) Clauses are: Fire or explosion Vessel being stranded, grounded, sunk or capsized Overturning or derailment of land conveyance Collision or contact of vessel or conveyance with any external object other than water Discharge of cargo at port of distress General Average sacrifice Jettison Salvage Charges and Liability under the Both to Blame Collision Clause. In addition to the above named risks, the (B) Clause covers loss or damage attributable to: Earthquake, volcanic eruption or lightning Washing overboard Entry of sea, lake or river water into vessel, craft, etc Sling damage

The most common terms of purchase are as follows:

Consignment Purchase Cash-in-Advance (Pre-Payment) Down Payment Open Account Documentary Collections Letters of Credit

Consignment Purchase Consignment purchase terms can be the most beneficial method of payment for the importer. In this method of purchase, importer makes the payment only once the goods or imported items are sold to the end user. In case of no selling, the same item is returned to the foreign supplier. Consignment purchase is considered the most risky and time taking method of payment for the exporter. Cash-in-Advance (Pre-Payment) Cash in Advance is a pre-payment method in which, an importer the payment for the items to be imported in advance prior to the shipment of goods. The importer must trust that the supplier will ship the product on time and that the goods will be as advertised. Cash-in-Advance method of payment creates a lot of risk factors for the importers. However, this method of payment is inexpensive as it involves

direct importer-exporter contact without commercial bank involvement. In international trade, Cash in Advance methods of payment is usually done when

The Importer has not been long established. The Importer's credit status is doubtful or unsatisfactory. The country or political risks are very high in the importers country. The product is in heavy demand and the seller does not have to accommodate an Importer's financing request in order to sell the merchandise.

Down Payment In the method of down payment, an importer pays a fraction of the total amount of the items to be imported in advance. The down payment methods have both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that it induces the exporter or seller to begin performance without the importer or buyer paying the full agreed price in advance and the disadvantage is that there is a possibility the Seller or exporter may never deliver the goods even though it has the Buyer's down payment. Open Account In case of an open account, an importer takes the delivery of good and ensures the supplier to make the payment at some specific date in the future. Importer is also not required to issue any negotiable instrument evidencing his legal commitment to pay at the appointed time. This type of payment methods are mostly seen where when the importer/buyer has a strong credit history and is well-known to the seller. Open Account method of payment offers no protection in case of nonpayment to the seller. There are many merits and demerits of open account terms. Under an open account payment method, title to the goods usually passes from the seller to the buyer prior to payment and subjects the seller to risk of default by the Buyer. Furthermore, there may be a time delay in payment, depending on how quickly documents are exchanged between Seller and Buyer. While this payment term involves the fewest restrictions and the lowest cost for the Buyer, it also presents the Seller with the highest degree of payment risk and is employed only between a Buyer and a Seller who have a long-term relationship involving a great level of mutual trust. Documentary Collections Documentary Collection is an important bank payment method under, which the sale transaction is settled by the bank through an exchange of documents. In this process the seller's instructs his bank to forwards documents related to the export of goods to the buyer's bank with a request to present these documents to the buyer for payment, indicating when and on what conditions these documents can be released to the buyer. The buyer may obtain possession of goods and clear them through customs, if the buyer has the shipping documents such as original bill of lading, certificate of origin, etc. However, the documents are only given to the buyer after payment has been made ("Documents against Payment") or payment undertaking has been given - the buyer has accepted a bill of exchange issued by the seller and payable at a certain date in the future (maturity date) ("Documents against Acceptance"). Documentary Collections make easy import-export operations within low cost. But

it does not provide same level of protection as the letter of credit as it does not involve any kind of bank guarantee like letter of credit. Letter of Credit A letter of credit is a document that a financial institution or similar party issues to a seller of goods or services which provides that the issuer will pay the seller for goods or services the seller delivers to a third-party buyer.[1] The issuer then seeks reimbursement from the buyer or from the buyer's bank. The document serves essentially as a guarantee to the seller that it will be paid by the issuer of the letter of credit regardless of whether the buyer ultimately fails to pay. In this way, the risk that the buyer will fail to pay is transferred from the seller to the letter of credit's issuer. Letters of credit are used primarily in international trade for large transactions between a supplier in one country and a customer in another. In such cases, the International Chamber of Commerce Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits applies (UCP 600 being the latest version).[2] They are also used in the land development process to ensure that approved public facilities (streets, sidewalks, storm water ponds, etc.) will be built. The parties to a letter of credit are the supplier, usually called the beneficiary, the issuing bank, of whom the buyer is a client, and sometimes an advising bank, of whom the beneficiary is a client. Almost all letters of credit are irrevocable, i.e., cannot be amended or canceled without the consent of the beneficiary, issuing bank, and confirming bank, if any. In executing a transaction, letters of credit incorporate functions common to giros and traveler's cheques. Different Types of Letter of Credit

Import/export Letter of Credit

It is said to the credit which buyer assigns i so that he imports a product to his own country and in general this credit is in another country and its value is export value.

Revocable Letter of Credit

In this type of credit buyer and the bank which has established the LC, are able to manipulate the letter of credits or make any kinds of corrections without informing the seller and getting permissions from him. This type of LC is not used a lot.

Irrevocable LC

In this type of LC, any kinds of change and manipulations from the buyer part and the establisher bank require the permission and satisfaction of seller part. According to the last rules of international business room, return ability or none return ability, the credit will be none returnable.

confirmed LC

They are the guaranties that buyer will be given so that, the buyer will give the guaranty from his own bank to any other valid bank that the seller will desire it.

Unconfirmed LC

This type of letter of credit, does not acquire the other bank's confirmation.

Transferrable LC

It is said to the credit that the seller can give a part or parts of credit (Completely) to the person or persons he decides. This type of credit is a benefit for seller.

Untransferable LC

It is said to the credit that seller cannot give a part or completely right of assigned credit to somebody or to the persons he wants. In international commerce, it is required that the credit will be untransferable.

Usance LC

It is kind of credit that won't be paid and assigned immediately after checking the valid documents but paying and assigning it requires an indicated duration which is accepted by both of the buyer and seller. In reality, buyer will give an opportunity to the seller to pay the required money after taking the related goods and selling them.

At Sight LC

It is a kind of credit that the announcer bank after observing the carriage documents from the seller and checking all the documents immediately pays the required money.

Red Clause LC

In this kind of credit assignment seller before sending the products can take the prepaid and parts of the money from the bank. The first part of the credit is to attract the attention acceptor bank. The reason why it named so, is that the first time this credit is established by the assigner bank, to take the attention of the offered bank, the terms and conditions were written by red ink, from that time it became famous with that name.

Back to Back LC

In this type of LC consisted of two separated and different types of LC. First one is established in the benefit of the seller that is not able to provide the corresponding goods for any reasons. Because of that reason according to the credit which is opened for him, neither credit will be opened for another seller to provide the desired goods and sends it. Back-to-back L/C is a type of L/C issued in case of intermediary trade. Intermediate companies such as trading houses are sometimes required to open L/Cs by supplier and receive Export L/Cs from buyer. SMBC will issue a L/C for the intermediary

company which is secured by the Export L/C (Master L/C). This L/C is called "Backto-back L/C".