The bill of lading as a receipt for goods shipped

Abstract

A bill of lading that contains the date of the loading of the goods on board the ship and the name of the ship, is a "shipped" bill of lading, being thus a receipt of goods shipped on board a specific ship. In this thesis, I tried to outline its function as a receipt of goods. Throughout the thesis, there may be references to the general bill of lading that apply to the "shipped" bill of lading as well. First of all, I outlined the history of the bill of lading and pinpointed the importance of the function of the receipt of goods, this being the original function of the bill of lading. A review of the features that render international sales different from domestic sales followed. This was aimed so as to prove the importance of the function of the "shipped" bill of lading as is evidenced from the rest of the chapter. The difference between a "shipped" bill of lading and a " received for shipment" bill of lading was also outlined. The Third chapter deals with the contents of the bill of lading including the two particulars that are specific only to the "shipped" bill of lading i.e. the date of loading and the name of the ship. This is due to the fact that the contents of the bill constitute the receipt of goods. The next chapter focuses upon statements and practices that may disrupt the function of receipt of goods. Chapter five deals with the impact of recent developments i.e. the electronic bill of lading and the UNCITRAL Draft Instrument upon the receipt of goods. The conclusion deals with ways that can ameliorate the receipt of goods. Rather than ameliorating the bill itself, one should concentrate at making good use of such an important document.