What is Bill of lading? How Master Bill of Lading differentiate from Bill of Lading.

If you know about bill of lading and master bill of lading, you can differentiate both. Let us discuss what is Bill of lading and how does bill of lading work.

Bill of lading is a document issued by sea carrier of goods on receipt of cargo to him from the shipper (a person or company that transports or receives goods by sea, land, or air.). Bill of lading is issued to shipper after completion of export customs clearance procedures at load port customs location of the country.

After completion of export customs formalities, shipper hands over cargo to sea shipping carrier or his agent. As proof of receipt of goods, sea carrier or his agent issues a document which is called bill of lading (BL). Bill of lading is generally issued in triplicate with non negotiable copies. BL also is issued in quintuplicate (fivefold, multiply by five) on special request by shipper.

Once after obtaining original bill of lading from the sea carrier, shipper submits bill of lading with other documents with his bank, in turn bank sends to importer through importer’s bank. Importer collects bill of lading and other required documents from his bank and arranges for import customs clearance procedures. The shipper can surrender original bill of lading at load port where BL has been released and arranges to send a OBL release message to the counterpart office of sea carrier and advise them to release cargo without insisting for original bill of lading from consignee. The shipper also can release Seaway bill where in no original bill of lading procedures involved.

What is MBL master bill of lading and how does it work?

MBL means Master Bill of Lading issued by vessel owner or his agent to a freight forwarder on receipt of goods from shipper agreeing to deliver goods at destination.

Practical scenario:

A, a freight forwarder acts as a carrier legally accepts cargo from an exporter X agreeing to deliver cargo to Y at New York. A issues bill of lading to X on receipt of goods after necessary export customs formalities. A after receiving goods from X transfers goods to C who is a main carrier of goods. While  transferring goods to C, A obtains a bill of lading from main carrier C agreeing to deliver cargo at New York. Here, the bill of lading issued by A to X is called house bill of lading and the bill of lading issued by C to A is called Master Bill of Lading.

Conclusion:

Have you cleared your doubt yourselves about the difference between Bill of Lading and Master Bill of Lading?. Ok, let me conclude below the major differences between BL and MBL:

Bill of lading (BL) is a document, which is a proof of receipt of goods from shipper issued by sea carrier after completing export customs clearance procedures and formalities. If a freight forwarder delivers goods received from final shipper to main sea shipping carriers and obtains document of receipt of goods which is called Master Bill of Lading (MBL). In turn, said freight forwarder issues bill of lading to final shipper which is called House Bill of Lading (HBL).

Remember:

All Master Bills of Lading (HBL) are Bills of Lading, but all Bills of Lading need not be Master Bills of Lading. Correct?