What if the bill of lading is lost? How to solve ？

Importance of bill of lading:
At the port of departure, a bill of lading is a receipt for goods issued by the carrier or his agent; In the process of transportation, the bill of lading is the document of title of the goods; At the port of destination, the bill of lading is the proof of the contract to take delivery of the goods from the carrier or his agent.
Because only one set of bill of lading can be issued for one piece of goods, and the bill of lading is also a negotiable document, once the bill of lading is lost, it will have a great impact on the development of foreign trade business, which may cause the seller to be unable to settle foreign exchange and the buyer to pick up the goods.

The general loss of bill of lading includes the following situations:
1.Lost under the control of the exporter.
2.After the exporter sends the documents to the issuing bank, they are lost at the issuing bank.
3.The documents presented by the issuing bank are lost after being handed over to the express company.
4.Lost after the express company delivers it to the negotiating bank.
5.Lost after the negotiating bank delivers it to the consignee.

In both cases 1 and 5, exporters and importers should assume their responsibilities respectively.
In both cases 2 and 4, it shall be the responsibility of the issuing bank or negotiating bank;
The problem is that loss often occurs in the third situation, according to the existing effective postal regulations, the postal department only bears very limited responsibility.

Solution:

1.Inform relevant shipping companies and their agents in time. In this case, the shipping company and its freight forwarder have the obligation to handle the goods carefully. They can no longer release the goods just because the holder of the bill of lading holds the original bill of lading, but should require the consignee to provide sufficient evidence to prove that he obtained the bill of lading in good faith. For example, is the endorsement continuous? Does it meet the requirements? Has reasonable consideration been paid? The carrier may also deposit the goods under the bill of lading through legal procedures to relieve him of his liability for the goods.

2.Timely application for public notice to the court. One can ensure that the rights and interests are not violated under the bill of lading. 2 can solve the problem of long-term stagnation of margin. Because once the court decides to accept the notice, the transfer of bill rights during this period is invalid. The legal cost of the public notice procedure is low, and the lawyer ' s fee is also low. The expiration of the notice period ( usually 60 days ) can be applied to the court to make a decision of removal.

3.Generally speaking, the loss of documents shall not affect the pressure on the port, because the consignee is obliged to receive the goods and cannot refuse to unload accordingly; Similarly, the carrier cannot refuse to discharge the goods on the ground that the consignee has no original bill of lading, although it has the right to refuse to release the goods. If the goods still need some time to arrive at the port, the shipping company will re sign the original bill of lading. If you have arrived at the port, or even exceed the container free period and stacking free period, in order to avoid high port miscellaneous charges, you can ask the freight forwarder to help apply for one more day free. In addition, do not send the original bill of lading abroad. Choose telegraphic release of bill of lading to save time.

4.What kind of responsibility should express companies bear? he current regulations give them nearly exemption.Whether the loss can be transferred by insurance express risk insurance, the insurance company seems to have not yet carried out this insurance.

5.As long as the wording of the letter of guarantee issued by the bank is specific and comprehensive, there is generally no risk. When it comes to large amount guarantee, it's best to ask legal counsel to check, because there are many precedents of invalid bank guarantee in practice.

6.If the bill of lading is lost after the shipper settles the foreign exchange, the ownership of the goods has been transferred to the bona fide holder of the bill of lading. Therefore, it is generally not necessary to reissue the bill of lading. The obligation of the carrier is to deliver the goods to the bona fide holder of the bill of lading.

PS : The whole process should keep the information unimpeded, real-time updates dynamic to the consignee, comfort his mood, but also let him rest assured.