THE British International Freight Association (BIFA), the forwarding industry association, has warned its members about the dangers of requesting a switch bill of lading without being fully aware of potential liabilities.
'Switching bills of lading is a practice where a request is made to the issuer/carrier (or the carrier's agent) to issue a second set of bills of landing in substitution for the original documents issued at the time of shipment. This can often occur at a port other than the load port and subsequent to initial loading,' said the BIFA statement.
BIFA says that this practice is often used to conceal the identity of the supplier and the end-user from each other. Although this is usually legitimate, BIFA warns that issuers should be aware when dealing with this request.
WORLD SHIPPING
'Switching bills of lading is a practice where a request is made to the issuer/carrier (or the carrier's agent) to issue a second set of bills of landing in substitution for the original documents issued at the time of shipment. This can often occur at a port other than the load port and subsequent to initial loading,' said the BIFA statement.
BIFA says that this practice is often used to conceal the identity of the supplier and the end-user from each other. Although this is usually legitimate, BIFA warns that issuers should be aware when dealing with this request.
WORLD SHIPPING