________________________________________
QUERY
From: TTL
Sent: Wed 3/23/2011 10:00 PM
Dear Mr. Old Man,
Pls help me with this problem:
According to L/C issued by us:
Field 46A: Documents required: Full set of clean B/L made out to order of Bank A – B Branch.
Field 47A: All discrepancies except the grade, quality, quantity are acceptable provided that the docs are presented within the validity of the credit.
We received an B/L made out to order of Bank (wrong name and without branch name).
If we raise a discrepancy, it will conflict with field 47A. If not, we could not endorse the B/L.
I am not sure what to do in this situation so I really appreciate your help.
Looking forward to your reply
Thank you
________________________________________
From: Nguyen Huu Duc (DNG)
Sent: Thu 3/24/2011 11:06 AM
Hi,
The L/C was issued badly. Such a condition should have been removed or otherwise the issuing bank would bear the risk of having to accept all discrepancies including the discrepancy as described in your case.
Your description does not let me know how wrong the name of the bank in ‘consignee” box is. Is that a different bank’s name or your bank’s name which is misspelled?
Please contact the carrier or its agent asking whether it can accept to deliver the goods against a full set of original bills of lading endorsed by your bank. If it does not accept, your bank may issue a letter of indemnity in favor of the carrier to enable the applicant to take delivery of the goods.
Dispute with regard to the title to the goods can be minimized if the other information on the bill of lading is consistent with those in other documents (invoice, c/o…). So, please check before deciding to issue such a letter of indemnity.
Last but not least, notwithstanding how powerful the applicant is, a wise bank should never accept to issue L/Cs with this unacceptable condition ““All discrepancies are acceptable” as it may be exposed to unexpected risks.
Best regards,
Mr. Old Man
mroldmanvcb
March 29, 2011 at 9:03 pm
Trang writes:Dear Mr Oldman, Thank you so much for your early reply. I have to admit that the L/C was issued carelessly.In the consignee box, our branch name is missing so apparently we are unable to endorse the B/L.I have been trying to contact the agent in Vietnam as per particulars in the B/L but they did not answer. Therefore, I called the branch of the shipping line in Vietnam and they said there no problem for the Buyer to take the delivery of goods with the discrepancy as described. The problem now lies in customs clearance procedures since it is the customs agent who may not permit the goods imported to Vietnam due to that discrepancy on the B/LIn terms of LOI as you advised, as far as I know, when the goods arrive before docs and to help the Buyer take the delivery of goods before receiving the docs, Banks issue LOI in favour of carrier and in order for banks to issue an LOI, the Buyer has to deposite 100% value of goods or have a credit line with banks.. However, in this case, docs received sooner than goods. So we can not issue LOI.We decided that the docs complied with terms and conditions of the L/C and just wait.Could you please give me your futher professional idea on this issue?Thanks again!Best regards,Trang————Mr. Old Man writes: Sorry for my late reply. I've just come back from Hanoi. I do not think the customs authorities will refuse to clear the goods because of such a discrepancy.Your bank will issue a LOI upon the arrival of goods and upon request of the applicant. The applicant bears the risk of any ambiguity in its instructions to issue or amend a ccredit (ISBP para. 2), That is to say, he must accept such a discrepancy and reimburse your bank if your bank honour the presentation. Best regards,Mr. Old Man ————- Trang writes:It was very nice to receive your reply. It seems that you had no time to rest after your trip, answering our non stop questions.Hope you always in good health to keep up the good work that you have been doing.About customs clearance procedures that I mentioned in the last mail, I am not sure with this, either.I will inform you the details later when our client go receive the goods.Now, a side question: have you ever thought of publishing a book on case study or queries from your Oprera. It would be a valuable source of knowlege for us. Pls think about that, Mr. Oldman.Lastly, Could you please show me how to find ICC publication that you quote when answering our questionsThank you————-Mr. Old Man writes: Thanks for your nice suggestion. To write a book is not difficult. The issue is that I do not intend to do so. Yet, I'll think again. Not sure but I may classify, revise and publish it in English when appropriate..ICC opinions do not cover every thing. Moreover, sometimes I'm too busy to read and quote it for my answer. Best regards,Mr. Old Man