ANY SAFE PORT – LATE PRESENTATION – LC EXPIRED

_QUESTION

_{Good morning, Sir}

_{1/ LC requires Port of Loading as Any safe port of Iraq. What is basic guidance or ICC opinion for on safe port?}

_{2/ If the presentation period is 21 days or within the LC validity and shipment and expiry date differ 30days in LC, when will be “late presentation” ?}

_Obidur

_—-

_ANSWER

_Hi,

_{1/ ICC has no specific guidance on safe ports or unsafe ports. The requirement “any safe port of Iraq” can be classified as an ambiguous instruction. According to ISBP paragraph (v) (Preliminary Considerations), the applicant bears the risk of any ambiguity of its instructions. The issuing bank should request the applicant to give a clear instruction regarding the port of loading, e.g., any Iraq port or Umm Qasr port.}

_{2/ Documents must be presented within the stipulated period for presentation but within the LC validity. A presentation that is made later than the stipulated period for presentation but within the LC validity is considered to be “late presentation” while a presentation that is made after the LC expiry date will be refused due to “LC expired”.}

_{I would like to give an example to make situations clearer:}

_{LC available with Issuing Bank states:}

_{Latest shipment date: 04 February 2024}

_{Date and Place of Expiry: 01 March 2024, Issuing Bank}

_{Documents must be made within 21 days after BL date.}

.

_{The documents presented to Issuing Bank on 25 March 2024 show:}

_{Shipment date: 01 February 2024}

_{Though the documents are presented within the LC validity, the issuing bank can refuse the documents stating the discrepancy “late presentation” because the presentation is made later than 21 days after the BL date.}

_{If the presentation is made after the expiry date, i.e., 01 March 2024, the issuing bank will refuse to pay based on the reason “LC expired”.}

_{If the LC states “documents must be presented within 21 days after BL OR within LC validity, the presentation made within 21 days after BL OR within LC validity is acceptable. In this case the LC should have stated “Stale documents acceptable”, i.e., documents may be presented later than 21 calendar days after the date of shipment as long as they are presented no later than the expiry date of the LC. This will also apply when the LC specifies a period for presentation together with the condition “stale documents acceptable.”}

_{Best regards,}

_{Mr. Old Man}