UCP 600 Article 20: the bill of lading
A port-to-port document
Article 20 applies to a bill of lading covering a port-to-port shipment. It is not the multimodal rule in Article 19 and it is not the charter-party rule in Article 22. The document must appear to indicate the name of the carrier and be signed by the carrier, the master, or a named agent. If an agent signs, the document should show whether the agent signs for the carrier or for the master. A stamp that only says “as agent” and names nobody is a weak document under this article.
Ports and the on-board notation
The bill must show shipment from the port of loading to the port of discharge stated in the credit. It must bear an on-board notation. If the bill shows a place of receipt different from the port of loading, the notation has more work to do. It must state the port of loading stated in the credit and the date the goods were shipped on board at that port. The date of shipment is then that on-board date, not the earlier date the container was received at an inland depot.
Full set and transhipment
When the credit calls for a full set, Article 17 requires every original that forms the set. Article 20 also deals with how the set is expressed. A credit that prohibits transhipment is read with the article’s own transhipment provisions. Banks should not invent a transhipment discrepancy from a clause that the article says does not evidence transhipment. Read the credit and the article together. Do not refuse from a training slide.
How the shipment date feeds Article 14
The date of shipment taken from Article 20 is the date used for the 21-calendar-day count in Article 14(c), unless the credit states a different presentation period. An on-board date that is after the latest shipment date in the credit is late shipment. An on-board date that is fine, but a presentation that misses the presentation period, is a different discrepancy. Name the right one in the Article 16 notice.
Incoterms are not the bill
FOB, CFR, and CIF all use a ship’s rail or, under Incoterms 2020, an on-board point at the port of shipment for risk. That contract point does not replace Article 20. The bill still has to show the ports the credit states. A Bangladesh credit that says Chattogram and a bill that shows an on-board notation only at an inland container depot, without the port of loading, is the Article 20 problem described above.
Source
ICC, UCP 600, Article 20. Operational summary. The publication is at iccwbo.org. Open the cited source.
Frequently asked questions
Who must sign a bill of lading?
It must appear to name the carrier and be signed by the carrier, the master, or a named agent for one of them. An unsigned house-style printout that does not show that signature is not the Article 20 document.
What if the place of receipt is not the port of loading?
The on-board notation must also state the port of loading named in the credit and the date the goods were shipped on board. That on-board date is the date of shipment.
Does a charter-party bill use Article 20?
No. A charter-party bill of lading is examined under Article 22. Article 20 is the ordinary marine bill of lading.