Unit 10 Shipment讲解

Unit 10 Shipment

Part One Basic Knowledge Concerned

1. The Domain of Shipment

Shipment is one of the essential links in the chain of international trade. The main activities of it include custom clearance, vessel chartering or shipping space booking, obtaining shipping documents after passing goods to the shipping company and sending shipping advice. Goods can be transported by road, rail or air, but in most cases of international trade, by sea.

This unit focuses on the most common conveyance method—ocean transportation, and on the necessary work related to shipment from the perspective and position of an exporter.

2. The Requirements of Shipment

In a sales contract, a sales confirmation or a Letter of Credit, terms of shipment are indispensable. Terms of shipment, which indicate the latest shipment time, ports of loading and unloading/destination, shipment documents needed and stipulation of partial shipment and transshipment, are the requirements of shipment agreed by both the seller and the buyer who enter into the sales contract.

In addition to these requirements, more instructions about shipment are given to the seller by the buyer. It is a written document called the “shipping instructions”, which states, other than what has been regulated in the sales contract or the Letter of Credit, the packing requirements and shipping marks of the cargo.

3. The Bill of Lading

The Bill of Lading, or the Ocean Bill of Lading, or B/L for short, is the document that the carrier, i.e. the shipping company makes, signs and issues to the consignor/exporter after receiving the cargo entrusted by the latter. It is a cargo receipt, an evidence of the carriage contract and most importantly, the document of title/ownership to the goods.

Under the payment method of L/C, B/L is always one of the key documents that the beneficiary/exporter needs to submit when he/she asks for negotiation in the negotiation bank. Under the payment method of collection, i.e. D/P or D/A, B/L is also one of the core documents that the importer pays or signs to receive.

4. The Shipping Advice

After the goods are loaded on board the ship, the exporter should immediately send the shipping advice to the importer informing the latter about the details of the shipment so that the importer can make preparation for receiving the goods and considering the sales distribution channels and more urgently, buy insurance if the trade term is FOB or CFR. Teletransmission is preferred for sending the shipping advice under FOB or CFR for the sake of speed.

5. Method of Shipment

In international trade, shipment can be made by sea, air, rail, truck and parcel post. In order to deliver goods more efficiently, we also have multimodal transport and land bridge transport. The choice of shipping methods depends on the nature of the products, the distance to be shipped, available means of transportation, and relative freight costs.

Part Two Letter-writing Guide

For letters written by the importer

1. Reminding or urging the exporter of when and how to ship the goods