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Q 422: Why does sometimes, in the 1st & 2nd leg, Bills of Lading shipper remains the same?
A: 1. Normally, Ocean Bill of Lading is issued against sea shipment.
2. Bill of Lading is an extremely important document in international trade.
3. Bill of Lading is a transport document.
4. Bill of Lading contains several particulars of the transaction.
5. Exporter receives these Bills of Lading from the shipping company when the goods are delivered/shipped and other formalities are completed.
6. The exporter sends full set of BL to the importer/consignee through the bank and/or directly.
7. The importer/consignee uses this set of BL for taking delivery of the goods, after completing required procedure along with payment.
8. All details incorporated at the time of issuance of the BL at the load port will be made available to the consignee/importer at the destination - as they are.
9. Sometimes, the shipper or exporter does not want the importer/consignee to know the correct/actual details which are otherwise available on documents.
10. A switch BL is a method used in international business to achieve this objective.
11. A switch Bill of Lading is a second set of Bills of Lading that can be issued in place of the original Bills of Lading for a shipment.
12. The original Bills of Lading are surrendered to the carrier or their agent when the switch Bills of Lading are requested.
13. The switch bill can be requested for a number of reasons:
|
1 |
To hide the original shipper’s identity |
The seller may not want the consignee to know the name of the exporter so that the consignee can't make a deal with the exporter directly in future. |
|
2 |
To hide the cargo’s origin |
The seller may not want the buyer to know the country of origin of the cargo, so they may request that the port of loading be shown as a different port. The benefits related to country of origin will be affected adversely. |
|
3 |
To change trading conditions |
The switch bill can be used if the original trading conditions have changed. For example, if the goods are resold during transit and the discharge port changes. The switch bill can include some changes to the shipment description, such as the condition of the cargo, payment terms, and the place and date of loading. |
14. Please note that some information cannot be changed:
* The date of shipment
* The place of shipment
* The number of packages
* The net weight and gross weight
15. The switch bill must also be worded identically to the original Bill of Lading if it was claused.
16. Any special instructions from the shipper, such as temperature requirements, cannot be changed.
17. You will observe that the name of the shipper sometimes in 1st & 2nd leg Bills of Lading remains the same due to the reason or purpose of obtaining switch BL by the shipper. In other words, only data which is needed to be modified will be attempted. Generally, it is on minimum basis.
Q 423: We imported raw material by paying full import duty. We manufactured goods using the raw material, which we will be exporting next month. Can we claim duty drawback on the export product as we have used scrip for the payment of import duty?
A: 1. The answer is in the affirmative.
2. Your claim of duty drawback is on goods manufactured in India. You are eligible for duty drawback irrespective of duty paid in cash and/or through scrip.
3. The percentage of duty drawback will be based on HSN Code of export product, which is declared under All Industry Rate (AIR).
4. Your Custom Broker will require to file Shipping Bill properly.
5. Your bank account which is recorded in Customs, will be credited with the drawback amount once the shipment is over.