The Multimodal Electronic Transferable Transport Record (ETTR) : A Survey of Laws and Basic Concepts

A transport document is a receipt issued by the carrier of goods upon taking possession of them under a contract for their carriage. It is a document of title when its transfer may facilitate not only the transfer of the right to claim the goods from the carrier but also the transfer of title to the goods. Particularly in relation to the carriage of goods other than by sea, and by reference to banking and commercial practices, this study surveys the current legal position of both digitization and negotiability of transport documents. This is done with a view to preparing the ground for the establishment of a legal basis for a multimodal Electronic Transferable Transport Record (ETTR) of which control will be functionally equivalent to the possession of a negotiable tangible document of title. Views as to the need for a multimodal ETTR are divided and may not be the same across all industries and geographic regions. Nonetheless in some industries and regions the demand for an ETTR is genuine and merits a solution. To meet this demand the study recommends the treatment of the document of title under the American UCC Article 7 as the starting point for an ETTR project

Electronic Bills of Lading. A legal study of the development of e-B/Ls

MasteroppgaveJUS39

The Bill of Lading in an Era of Electronic Commerce: Legal Developments and the Reform Options for Nigeria

One of the pervasive effects of the advancement in information and communication technology is a radical shift in the means of conducting business transactions. With the digitalization of the global economy, business transactions are increasingly conducted in an electronic medium. The bill of lading, as the most important ocean transport document, has, in response to the needs of the times, passed through many phases of development to its present electronic nature. The problem however, is adapting the challenges of electronic commerce to the old contractual legal order. For the bill of lading, the challenge is the replication of all its traditional functions in electronic settings. Achieving this requires well-established electronic and legal infrastructure. This thesis evaluates the present electronic bill of lading regime in Nigeria with particular reference to the positions in Canada and the United Kingdom and discusses the reform options open to Nigeria in addressing these challenges

Digitalization of Maritime Transport Documents : a study of the interplay of public rules and private norms amid social changes

The digitalization of maritime transport documents has became the chokepoint of promoting the automation level of the shipping industry. The lack of stable expectation is, among other things, the main reason that preventing international seaborne trade participants to apply digitalization solution. A harmonized legal framework worldwide would be the first step towards achieving stable expectation of applying electronic maritime transport documents. By employing the doctrinal method and the functional method of comparative law, the book draws a landscape of electronic law today and examined the effect of public international legislation. The empirical study suggests that actors across branches have developed workable standards towards the use of electronic documents by introducing compatible bylaws. The interactions between these private actors and their bylaws provide a possibility to achieve legal unification and self-evolvement of law on the global sphere. Deducting from the empirical results, the book proposes a private regulatory system as an alternative for achieving legal unification for the digitalization of maritime transport documents

The concerns of the shipping industry regarding the application of electronic bills of lading in practice amid technological change

In the sea trade, the traditional paper-based bill of lading has played an important role across the globe for centuries, but with the advent of advanced commercial modes of transportation and communication, the central position of this document is under threat. The importance of the bill of lading still prevails as does the need of the functions that this document served in the past, although in a changed format. In the recent past, the world has witnessed a lot of debate about replacing this traditional paper-based document with an electronic equivalent that exhibits all of its functions and characteristics, both commercial and legal. More specifically, unlike many rival travel documents, such as the Sea Waybill, a bill of lading has two prominent features, that is to say, its negotiability and its acceptability as a document of title in certain legal jurisdictions that are required to be retained in an electronic bill of lading so as to also retain the prominence of this document in the future landscape. This thesis is, however, more concerned about the legal aspects of adopting the electronic bill of lading as a traditional paper-based legal document as well as an effective legal document in the present age. However, the scope of this debate remains primarily focused on the USA and UK jurisdictions. In the course of this thesis, it is observed that, in the past, the bill of lading has been subject to a variety of international regimes, such as The Hague Rules and The Hague-Visby Rules, and presently efforts are being made to arrive at a universal agreement under the umbrella of The Rotterdam Rules, but such an agreement is yet to arrive among the comity of nations. On the other hand, efforts made by the business community to introduce an electronic bill of lading are much louder and more evident. The private efforts, such as the SeaDocs System, CMI Rules, and the BOLERO Project, etc., were, however, received by the fellow business community with both applause as well as suspicion. At the same time, there are a number of concerns voiced by the international business community on the legislative adoptability in national and international jurisdictions and the courts’ approach in adjudicating cases involving electronic transactions and these are making the task of adoption of electronic bill of lading in the sea-based transactions a difficult task. Therefore, in the absence of any formal legal backing from national and international legislations, these attempts could not achieve the desired results. In this thesis, the present situation of the acceptability of electronic transactions in general, and of the electronic bill of lading specifically, has also been discussed with reference to certain national jurisdictions, such as Australia, India, South Korea and China, in order to present comparative perspectives on the preparedness of these nations. On the regional level, the efforts made by the European Union have also been discussed to promote electronic transactions within its jurisdiction. All the discussion, however, leads to the situation where the level of acceptability of electronic bill of lading in the near future is found to be dependent upon the official efforts from the national governments and putting these efforts towards arriving at an agreement on Rotterdam Rules as early as possible. The other area of importance revealed in this thesis is the need for change in juristic approach by the courts while interpreting and adjudicating upon cases involving electronic transactions. On the whole, this thesis has provided a cohesive and systematic review, synthesis and analysis of the history of the bill of lading, its importance as a document of title, and attempts to incorporate its important functions within the fast-paced electronic shipping commerce of today. In such a way it has provided a valuable contribution to the literature by providing a comprehensive resource for jurists, policy-makers and the business community alike, as they work towards adapting the bill of lading so that it might be successfully applied in electronic form.

Can The Functions Of A Paper Bill Of Lading Be Replicated By Electronic Bill Of Lading

The replication of the functions of paper bill of lading by the electronic bill of lading has generated series of controversy among shippers and carriers from high tech states and low tech states. Due to the nature of the traditional functions of paper bill of lading being capable of recognised as receipt for goods, evidence of contract of carriage and documents of title, proponent of the paper bill have questioned the capability of the electronic bill to actually replicate these functions. Modern means of replicating the paper bill are in operation in advanced states. Such electronic data base system like Bolero, The @ Global Trade, APL have all attempted to replicate the paper bill of lading, though, with some defects which borders on security concerns associated with electronic data message coupled with the evidentiary value of such data messages in different jurisdictions. Furthermore the problems of negotiability and meeting the writing requirements of the paper bill by the electronic bill has been a major source of concern considering the deep rooted conservative attitude of traders. Various arguments and defects of the paper and electronic bill of lading will be examined critically with the objective of finding practical and viable option which is faster and convenient in transacting international business for shippers and carriers. Keywords: bill of lading, electronic bill, contract of carriag

Digitalization of Maritime Transport Documents : a study of the interplay of public rules and private norms amid social changes

The digitalization of maritime transport documents has became the chokepoint of promoting the automation level of the shipping industry. The lack of stable expectation is, among other things, the main reason that preventing international seaborne trade participants to apply digitalization solution. A harmonized legal framework worldwide would be the first step towards achieving stable expectation of applying electronic maritime transport documents. By employing the doctrinal method and the functional method of comparative law, the book draws a landscape of electronic law today and examined the effect of public international legislation. The empirical study suggests that actors across branches have developed workable standards towards the use of electronic documents by introducing compatible bylaws. The interactions between these private actors and their bylaws provide a possibility to achieve legal unification and self-evolvement of law on the global sphere. Deducting from the empirical results, the book proposes a private regulatory system as an alternative for achieving legal unification for the digitalization of maritime transport documents