ubl-tsc — archive

[Jon Bosak]

Hello TSC, I am attempting to resolve the issue raised in Wednesday's TC meeting regarding the descriptions of certain transportation documents in sections 2 and 3 of the hub document. With regard to the relative space given to descriptions in Section 2, I think that's fine. It seems to me that the only problem is the size of the descriptions of Bill of Lading and Waybill in Section 3 in proportion to the other document descriptions. So I think these should be merged with the descriptions in Section 2 and then replaced in 3 with just a sentence or two. The two existing descriptions of the Bill of Lading look like this: / ======================================================================= <!-- in existing section 2 --> <section id="S-BILL-OF-LADING"> <title>Bill of Lading</title> <para>A <link linkend="T-BILL-OF-LADING">Bill of Lading</link> is issued by the party who provides the physical transportation services (e.g., carrier) to the party who gives instructions for the transportation services (shipper, consignor, etc.) stating the details of the transportation, charges, and terms and conditions under which the transportation service is provided.</para> <para>A Bill of Lading may also be issued by the party who acts as an agent for the carrier or other agents to the party who gives instructions for the transportation services (shipper, consignor, etc.) stating the details of the transportation, charges, and terms and conditions under which the transportation service is provided, but who does not provide the physical transportation service.</para> <para>A Bill of Lading corresponds to the information on the <link linkend="T-FORWARDING-INSTRUCTIONS">Forwarding Instructions</link>. It is used for ocean or river modes of transport.</para> <para>A Bill of Lading may serve as a contractual document between the parties for the transportation service. The document evidences a contract of carriage by sea and the acceptance of responsibility for the goods by the carrier, by which the carrier undertakes to deliver the goods against surrender of the document. A provision in the document that the goods are to be delivered to the order of a named person, or to order, or to bearer, constitutes such an undertaking.</para> </section> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- <!-- in existing section 3 --> <section id="T-BILL-OF-LADING"> <title>Bill of Lading</title> <para>Description: The Bill of Lading is issued by the party who acts as an agent for the carrier or other agents to the party who gives instructions for the transportation services (shipper, consignor, etc.) stating the details of the transportation, charges, and terms and conditions under which the transportation service is provided. The party issuing this document does not necessarily provide the physical transportation service. It corresponds to the information on the Forwarding Instructions. It is used for any mode of transport. A Bill of Lading can serve as a contractual document between the parties for the transportation service. The document evidences a contract of carriage by sea and the acceptance of responsibility for the goods by the carrier, and by which the carrier undertakes to deliver the goods against surrender of the document. A provision in the document that the goods are to be delivered to the order of a named person, or to order, or to bearer, constitutes such an undertaking.</para> ======================================================================= I propose to change them thus, but note the question that follows: / ======================================================================= <!-- for new section 2 --> <section id="S-BILL-OF-LADING"> <title>Bill of Lading</title> <para>A <link linkend="T-BILL-OF-LADING">Bill of Lading</link> is issued by the party who provides the physical transportation services (e.g., carrier) to the party who gives instructions for the transportation services (shipper, consignor, etc.) stating the details of the transportation, charges, and terms and conditions under which the transportation service is provided.</para> <para>A Bill of Lading may also be issued by the party who acts as an agent for the carrier or other agents to the party who gives instructions for the transportation services (shipper, consignor, etc.) stating the details of the transportation, charges, and terms and conditions under which the transportation service is provided, but who does not provide the physical transportation service.</para> <para>A Bill of Lading corresponds to the information on the <link linkend="T-FORWARDING-INSTRUCTIONS">Forwarding Instructions</link>. It is used for ocean or river modes of transport.</para> <!-- ***** THE FORMER TABLE IN SECTION 3 SAID: It is used for any mode of transport. ***** --> <para>A Bill of Lading may serve as a contractual document between the parties for the transportation service. The document evidences a contract of carriage by sea and the acceptance of responsibility for the goods by the carrier, by which the carrier undertakes to deliver the goods against surrender of the document. A provision in the document that the goods are to be delivered to the order of a named person, or to order, or to bearer, constitutes such an undertaking.</para> </section> ----------------------------------------------------------------------- <!-- for new section 3 --> <section id="T-BILL-OF-LADING"> <title>Bill of Lading</title> <para>Description: The Bill of Lading conveys information about an instance of a transportation service and may under some circumstances serve as a contractual document for the service. See <xref linkend="S-BILL-OF-LADING"/> and compare with <xref linkend="S-WAYBILL"/>.</para> ======================================================================= I think (pending your review) that this works pretty well, but note the discrepancy in the middle: The version in Section 2 says "It is used for ocean or river modes of transport," but the version in Section 3 says "It is used for any mode of transport." One of these has to be wrong; which? In the Waybill descriptions is another contradiction that's too big for me to attempt a rewrite without further clarification. The current descriptions in Section 2 and Section 3 read as follows: / ======================================================================= <!-- in existing section 2 --> <section id="S-WAYBILL"> <title>Waybill</title> <para>A <link linkend="T-WAYBILL">Waybill</link> is issued by the party who provides the physical transportation services to the party who gives instructions for the transportation services (shipper, consignor, etc.). It states the details of the transportation, charges, and terms and conditions under which the transportation service is provided.</para> <para>Unlike a <link linkend="T-BILL-OF-LADING">Bill of Lading</link>, a Waybill is not negotiable and cannot be assigned to a third party. It is issued as a cargo receipt and is not required to be surrendered at the destination in order to pick up the cargo. This simplifies the documentation procedures between a Transport Service Buyer and a Transport Service Provider.</para> </section> ----------------------------------------------------------------------- <!-- in existing section 3 --> <section id="T-WAYBILL"> <title>Waybill</title> <para>Description: The Waybill is issued by the party who acts as an agent for the carrier or other agents, to the party who gives instructions for the transportation services (shipper, consignor, etc.) stating the details of the transportation, charges, and terms and conditions under which the transportation service is provided. The party issuing this document could be a party other than that providing the physical transportation. It corresponds to the information on the Forwarding Instructions. It is used for all modes of transport. It can serve as a contractual document between the parties for the transportation service. The document made out by the carrier or on behalf of the carrier evidencing the contract for the transport of cargo.</para> ======================================================================= In addition to accounting for an implicit distinction between party as carrier and party as agent (as in the case of Bill of Lading), which I don't feel qualified to try to resolve correctly, the bit about the Waybill functioning as a contractual document in the Section 3 version is hard to reconcile with the way it is described in Section 2 and also seems to contradict what is said about the Bill of Lading as the document that can serve as a contract. This needs to be straightened out before I can complete the rewrite. Jon