bill of lading
A bill of lading is issued by the carrier or master of a ship to the shipper. It has three functions: it is a receipt for the goods shipped, evidence of the contract of carriage, and a document of title. Because it is a document of title, transferring it by endorsement and delivery transfers the right to the goods, so goods can be sold while still at sea.
The consignee or endorsee named in it gets the rights and liabilities under the contract of carriage. In India, bills of lading are now governed by the Bills of Lading Act, 2025, which replaced the 1856 Act, and the carrier's duties under the Hague-Visby Rules by the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, 2025. A bill of lading is a document of title within the Sale of Goods Act.
Example
The exporter endorsed the bill of lading to the buyer's bank, which could then take delivery of the cargo at Mangaluru port.
In Indian law
- Bills of Lading Act, 2025
- Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, 2025
- Section 2(4), Sale of Goods Act, 1930 (document of title to goods)
See also
sale of goods · bottomry · negotiable instrument
Read more in the study notes
- Pledge (Contract II)
- Passing of property in goods (Contract II)
- Unpaid seller and remedies for breach (Contract II)
- Marine insurance: nature, interest, value and kinds of policies (Insurance Law)
- Export procedure and export documents, with the organic-produce exporter problem (International Business)
- Standardisation of terms: FOB, CIF and Incoterms 2020 (International Trade Economics)