Operation procedures and risk warnings for designated goods

Designated goods refer to the freight forwarder designated by the foreign buyer, who is responsible for arranging the transportation of the goods. Usually refers to FOB, EXW and other freight collect goods (i.e. goods for which the freight is borne by foreign buyers).

▎Operation process for designated goods

First, the freight forwarder designated by the buyer (hereinafter referred to as the foreign agent) sends an email or other contact methods to contact its domestic company or partner to inform the shipper of the contact information.

Secondly, after receiving the shipper's contact information, the domestic freight forwarder contacts the shipper to inquire about the status of the goods, and sends an email or informs the foreign agent through other means. If the goods are ready, you can inform the other party of the expected shipment information and ask if shipment arrangements can be made. If you use the booking number of a foreign agent, you must also ask for the booking number so that you can submit it to the shipping company.

It is important to note that designated goods are subject to the instructions of the consignee, not the consignor., when the consignor has any requirements that do not meet the conventional requirements, he must inform the foreign agent, and arrangements can be made only after obtaining the permission of the foreign agent. Otherwise, the consignor's request will not be accepted. Especially when you are handling the goods of this consignor for the first time, you should pay more attention. to avoid unnecessary trouble.

After obtaining the permission instruction from the foreign agent, matters such as booking of space, trailer and customs declaration can be arranged. Of course, for stable goods shipped regularly, you can inform the other party of the voyage information while booking space. At the same time, you need to ask the other party what format of HBL is issued. Generally speaking, it will be the HBL provided by a foreign agent.

During the period of arranging the shipment of goods, if there are any updates on the status of the goods and any problems encountered, you must communicate with the foreign agent in a timely manner.

After the goods are shipped and the bill of lading is issued, you need to ask the foreign agent how much the handling charge is, and then send it to the foreign agent together with MBL, HBL, PSS (profitshare sheet), and other customs clearance documents (if the agent asks you for them)..

In addition, since there may be multiple cooperating agents in the same country, do not mix up the goods between different agents to avoid unnecessary embarrassment. And if your company has its own branch in that country, you cannot disclose branch information to foreign agents. This will make the foreign agents feel that you are competing with them, which will affect future cooperation.

★ What are the risks of designated goods ★

Since the bill of lading issued by the freight forwarder to the shipper is HBL (freight forwarder's bill of lading) rather than MBL (shipping company's bill of lading), and HBL cannot truly achieve the purpose of controlling the rights to the goods, it will cause foreign agents to "release goods without a bill of lading", that is, foreign agents In the absence of HBL, the agent relied on its possession of MBL to collect the goods from the shipping company and then released them to the consignee, resulting in a situation where the shipper lost all payment.

Of course, it is now extremely rare to deliver goods without a bill of lading. However, exporters and importers still need to pay attention to this issue when they first cooperate. Try to urge the consignee to pay the price as soon as possible.

Expansion: About HBL/MBL/OBL

HBL---HouseB/L (freight forwarding order)

MBL---MasterB/L (ship owner's bill)

OBL---OriginalB/L (original sheet)

The difference between the three:

The issuing subject is different:MBL is a bill of lading issued by the shipping company, and HBL is a bill of lading issued by the freight forwarder based on the MBL, which is issued by the freight forwarding company. HBL is not issued just when you want to. The entity issuing HBL must at least have an agent in the port of destination.

Looking up is different,MBL is named after the shipping company, and HBL is named after the freight forwarder.

The destination receives goods in different ways:MBL can directly pick up the goods from the shipping company. For HBL, you must first exchange MBL with the freight forwarder at the destination port. Then use MBL to pick up the goods, commonly known as order exchange. Or the customer at the destination port can directly find the freight forwarder to pick up the goods with HBL.

The scope of application is different:MBL is applicable to FCL; as for LCL, the freight forwarder can only sign HBL to the customer or release it via telex. Because the shipping company will not help you consolidate the boxes, nor will it help you divide the goods at the destination port. In this case, only HB/L or electric discharge can be used.

Although the ship owner's bill (MB/L) is the most basic document of property rights, it is rigid and you cannot control many of the terms in it. If you are doing L/C, but you cannot produce it within the specified delivery time and cannot get it on the ship, then you can choose to issue HB/L and ask the freight forwarder to reverse the bill of lading for you. If you are doing L/C, you do not find any special requirements for the ship when reviewing the order (such as: ship age, ship registration, ISMCODE, freight certificate, port of call, ship certificate, etc.) and the shipping company cannot issue these. what to do? If you do not submit the documents as required, you will not be able to settle the exchange. In the case where L/C does not clearly stipulate not to accept freight forwarding orders, SHIPPER will generally choose shipping forwarding orders.

Another thing is: when the consignor does not receive payment from foreign customers, it may be required to issue a consignment note in order to control the goods and avoid losing both money and goods.

There is also a more special situation: when a third party is involved, the middleman does not want the final customer to know the source of the goods and other information, so it may require the issuance of a consignment note to protect trade secrets.

Issuing a shipowner's bill is a safer choice for both shippers and freight forwarders. For shippers, the credibility and safety factor of shipowners must be stronger than that of freight forwarders. Generally speaking, they will trust shipowners, and compared with shipowners, they must be somewhat uneasy about freight forwarders. It is also safer for freight forwarders. There is no need to use an agent. If the agent takes away the goods and leaves, the freight forwarder will be working in vain, or even go bankrupt. Therefore, if the export of a whole container is less than ten thousand, it is necessary to use freight forwarding and is not very willing to issue a forwarding order.

Cost issue: The shipowner generally does not incur any fees when picking up the goods at a single destination port. The freight forwarder will definitely charge an exchange fee from the customer at the destination port (it may also be paid by the shipper to the freight forwarder, and the freight forwarder will settle with the agent separately).

Extended information

The freight forwarding bill is the ocean bill of lading (HouseB/L) issued by the freight forwarding company itself.

The whole box can be issued as H order or M order. If it is LCL, it will definitely be H order.

The original bill of lading refers to the "bill of lading" issued by the carrier or a person authorized by it to take delivery of the goods from the carrier and claim rights. If multiple original bills of lading are issued, it shall be stated in the issuance terms that after one of the original bills of lading is used to pick up the goods, the remaining original bills of lading will automatically become invalid.

Master bill of lading (also called ocean bill of lading, shipowner's bill of lading) in English: MASTERBILL (MB/L), shipowner's bill of lading refers to the ocean bill of lading issued by the shipping company (MasterB/L, also called master bill, sea bill, referred to as M bill), It can be issued to the direct cargo owner (the freight forwarder does not issue a bill of lading at this time).