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WHERE THE BL DATE IS REFERRED TO AS THE DATE OF ISSUANCE

By Mr Old Man
Posted on June 21, 2013
4 min read
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QUESTION

Dear Mr. Old Man,

We received a set of documents including:

– Draft at 180 days after B/L date (03 June, 2013)
– Invoice showing B/L date as 05 June, 2013
– B/L showing:
Date of issue: 05 June, 2013
On board date: 03 June, 2013

We refused the documents citing the discrepancy “Commercial invoice showing wrong B/L date”. However, the negotiating bank rejected the discrepancy.

Could you please tell me whether the negotiating bank was correct in its rejection of the discrepancy?

I’m looking forward to your answer ASAP.

Thank you in advance.
TNP
————-
ANSWER

Hi,

It is recognized in practice that issuing banks would stipulate the tenor of a draft as “xxx days after B/L date” while the phrase “xxx days after shipment date” is encouraged to be used to avoid confusion in fixing the maturity date.

According to sub-article 20 (a) (ii) UCP 600, the date of issuance of the B/L will be deemed the date of shipment unless the B/L contains an on board notation indicating the date of shipment, in which case the date stated in the on board notation will be deemed to be the date of shipment. So, it is understood from the provision that where a B/L contains an on board date and a B/L date, the on board date will be deemed to be the date of shipment.

According to paragraph 43 (c) ISBP 681, if the tenor refers to xxx days after the B/L date, the on board date is deemed to be the B/L date even if the on board date is prior to or later than the date of issuance of the B/L.

I think paragraph 43 (c) is designed for the purpose of fixing the maturity date of a draft to be drawn under the LC that requires the draft to be drawn at “xxx days after the B/L date. As for cases other than calculation of maturity date, the B/L date can be referred to as the date of issuance of the B/L. That the commercial invoice shows the B/L date as 05 June, 2006, which is the date of issuance of the B/L, is acceptable.

I think the negotiating bank was correct in its rejection.

Best regards,
Mr. Old Man

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