INVOICE NUMBER AND DATE ON C/O

QUESTION

Dear Mr. Old Man,

Our bank issued an LC, and received docs presented as belows:

– Commercial Invoice issued by Ben, showed number and date as: IV12345 date 12/5/2012
– Certificate of Origin issued by third party named XYZ co with number and date as: 1023564 (IV12345) date 9/5/2012

At first, I consider this as a discrepancy, but I hear that according to ICC opinion R705 this can be accepted. I do not have ICC opinion for ref, so could you pls spend time to explain me?

Your support is highly appreciated,

Regards
MN
———————

ANSWER

Hi,

Where a party shown as the consignor is different from the beneficiary, it would not be unreasonable to receive a certificate of origin that provides reference to an invoice number and date that is not consistent with the invoice presented by the beneficiary, provided the other data complies with that in the credit and in other documents.

Please find attached below R705 for your reference.

Best regards,
Mr. Old Man

Attachment:

When a party shown as the consignor is different from the beneficiary, whether it is unreasonable to receive a certificate of origin that provides reference to an invoice number and date not consistent with the invoice presented by the beneficiary; whether reference to an invoice number different from that presented by the beneficiary would be inconsistent and discrepant
Official Opinion R705 / TA585rev – 2005-2008

From ISBP – paragraph 200

QUERY

Paragraph 200 of ISBP allows for the presentation of a certificate of origin mentioning the consignor of the goods as a party other than the beneficiary of the credit.
Query 1:
A certificate of origin mentions the number and date of the invoice of the other party rather than the invoice number and date as stated on the presented invoice of the beneficiary. In this situation, we do not consider the document to be inconsistent with the other presented documents and consequently not discrepant for that reason. Furthermore, any other reference pertaining to the other party (such as the other party's contract number, etc.), in addition to the invoice number and date, will not make the document discrepant. Do you endorse our opinion?
Query 2:
A certificate of origin shows the consignor of the goods as the beneficiary of the credit, and all further particulars of the document are credit complying. Also, the data is consistent with the other documents presented by the beneficiary of the credit. But the certificate of origin nevertheless shows an invoice number inconsistent with the number of the presented invoice. We consider the document to be discrepant for that reason. Do you endorse our opinion?

ANALYSIS/CONCLUSION

Analysis
The full text of paragraph 200 of ISBP reads: "The certificate of origin may show the consignor or exporter as a party other than the beneficiary of the credit or the shipper on the transport document."
Conclusion
The wording that appears in paragraph 200 of ISBP represents, not only international standard banking practice, but also the view of the Banking Commission in response to previous questions as to the viability of a certificate of origin showing a consignor that was different from that shown on a transport document.
Query 1:
Where a party shown as the consignor is different from the beneficiary, it would not be unreasonable to receive a certificate of origin that provides reference to an invoice number and date that is not consistent with the invoice presented by the beneficiary, provided the other data complies with that in the credit and in other documents. Your opinion is correct.
Query 2:
Where the beneficiary is shown as the consignor on the certificate of origin is not a situation covered by ISBP paragraph 200. Reference to an invoice number that is different from that presented by the beneficiary would be inconsistent and discrepant. Your opinion is correct.