WHETHER A CONGENBILL IS A CHARTER PARTY BILL OF LADING

QUERY FROM LEUNG, KS

Would you please comment on the following:

quote
The Issuing Bank refuse to honour the bill due to following discrepancies:1. Charter Party B/L presented Please be advised that the word ‘Charter Party’ shown on back page of B/L under condition of carriage.According to UCP600 Article 20 a)v) contain terms and conditions of carriage will not be examined. We need to check the face of B/L only.
Therefore the discrepancies as invalid.
unquote

Thank you for your assistance.

Regards,
Leung, KS

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COMMENT
Just my own humble opinion!

Hi,

It is agreed that Congenbill is designed for charter party bills of lading and it usually bears the heading “Bill of Lading to be used with Charter Parties”. However, in your specific case the reference “to be used with Charter Parties” appears on the reverse of the bill of lading.

According to UCP 600 sub-article 20 (a) (v), which says "Contents of terms and conditions of carriage will not be examined.", and ICC Opinion TA635rev, which says “Where a congenbill is presented without reference to “to be used with Charter Parties”, it would not, in itself, be an indication that it is subject to a charter party and would be acceptable.”, the described bill of lading seems not to be a charter party bill of lading.

Frankly speaking, I would feel very uncomfortable if I had to reject the discrepancy raised by the issuing bank as anyhow, the bill of lading obviously bears the reference “to be used with Charter Parties” right under the title “Terms and Conditions of Carriage” which cannot be missed, especially when it is a congenbill. I wonder whether a bill of lading similar to the described congenbill is acceptable as a charter party bill of lading if the credit requires a charter party bill of lading to be presented. The answer may be “YES”.

What’s more. The structure of a bill of lading is not governed by the UCP, hence, a congenbill should be treated as a charter party bill of lading if it bears the reference “to be used with Charter Parties” whether on the front or on the reverse of the bill of lading but right under the title “Terms and Conditions of Carriage”.

This matter should be put on ICC Banking Commission’s agenda at their coming meetings.

Just my own humble opinion.

Best regards,
Nguyen Huu Duc

P/S: ICC Opinion TA635rev: A "congenbill" usually bears the heading "Bill of Lading to be used with Charter Parties". The presentation of this form of document without amendment to the stated terminology would be considered to be an "indication that it [the bill of lading] is subject to a charter party". However, where a "congenbill" is presented without reference to "to be used with Charter Parties", it would not, in itself, be an indication that it is subject to a charter party and would be acceptable. …