EARLY PRESENTATION REVISITED

The last slope to the peak of Hai Van Pass

QUESTION

Dear Mr. Old Man,

LC states:

Field 48 (Period of Presentation): Documents presented later than 21 days after shipment date but within L/C validity acceptable.

Field 31D (Date and Place of Expiry): 150420 IN SINGAPORE

Presented bills of lading shows shipment date as  04/03/2015 while the covering schedule shows issuance date as 11/03/2015

We (issuing bank) raised discrepancy “early presentation” (in our opinion, the presentation should have been made  within the period from 25/03/2015 to 20/04/2015).

However, the presenter rejected the discrepancy reasoning as follows:

“Neither the LC states that documents must be presented after/later than 21 days after shipment but within the LC validity. Hence, we strongly recommend you to waive the discrepancy highlighted and remit the proceeds without any deduction of discrepancy fees”.

Is the presenter correct in its rejection?

Looking forward to receiving  your reply soonest.

Thanks and best regards,

NGLC

———-

ANSWER

Hi,

The presenter is correct in rejecting the discrepancy raised by the issuing bank. The clause ” Documents presented later than 21 days after shipment date but within L/C validity acceptable ” allows the documents to be presented later than 21 calendar days after the date of shipment but within LC validity. It does not prohibit the documents from being presented earlier than that period.

In my opinion, there is no discrepancy.

If the issuing bank expects that the documents are to be presented after 21 days after the date of shipment, it must expressly so state in the LC. For example, “Documents must be presented after 21 days after the date of shipment but within LC validity”.

Kind regards

Mr. Old Man

P/s: For further reference, click my related Q&A in my WordPress blog