WHAT IEC (IMPORTER EXPORTER CODE)CODE:

No Import or Export shall be made by any person without an IEC number unless specifically exempted.

IEC number is 10 digit code number given to an importer or exporter by the regional office of the DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF FOREIGN TRADE in short DGFT, Department of Commerce, Govt of India.

IEC is not required to following categories: 

1.  Import/Export of goods for personnel use, which is not                     connected with trade, manufacture or agriculture.

2.  Import/Export by government ministries and departments, and         certain notified charitable organizations. 

ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE:

International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) fosters international trade and commerce to promote and protect open markets for goods and services and the free flow of capital. The ICC performs three primary activities:

1.  The establishment of rules

2.  Dispute Resolution and 

3.  Policy Advocacy

ICC is world business organization, founded in 1919 in Paris, is a non governmental organization whose membership is composed of thousand of companies and business associations in near 150 countries and across all economic sectors.

WHAT IS HS CODE?

The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, HS code for short is a common standard worldwide for describing the type of commodity that is shipped.

Every commodity that enters or crosses most international borders has to be declared to customs using this code. Thus the code helps to standardize and identify the cargo in the same manner whether it is in Singapore, Rotterdam or in any country in the world.

Developed and managed by the world customs organization, the HS code consists of :

5000 commodity groups covered in 99 chapters containing 21 sections;

Is identified by six digit code 

Is arranged in a legal and logical structure and 

Is supported by well defined rules to achieve uniform classification all over the world.

HOW IS HS CODE USED?

The system is used by many economies in the world as the basis for their customs tariffs and for the collection of international trade statistics. Over 98% of the merchandise in international trade is defined in the terms of the HS CODE. 

Through its contribution to the harmonization of customs and trade procedures, the HS code reduces the costs related to international trade as there is no "translator" required for people to read and understand this code.

CHALLENGES IN CLASSIFICATION FOR COMPANIES: 

The acceptance and versatility of the HS code as a universal economic language and code for goods may vary between countries and customs authorities. Improper usage of HS code could result an improper tariff being applied by customs which can increase the cost of imports exponentially to the customers.

Using the correct HS code and the right interpretation is of utmost importance for an importer as usage of incorrect code may be considered by customs as non-compliance, misleading or mis- declaration, all of which comes with its associated penalties.  

WHEN IN DOUBT, IT WOULD ALWAYS BE PRUDENT TO CONSULT CUSTOMS DIRECTLY OR EXPERTS IN THE CUSTOMS CLEARANCE COMPANIES FOR ADVISE ON THE CORRECT HS CODE TO USE  

MAJOR PORTS ON INDIAN COASTLINE:

KANDLA PORT (GUJARAT)

MUMBAI (MAHARASHTRA)

NAVASHEVA (JAWAHARLAL NEHRU PORT)

MURMAGAON (GOA)

NEW MANGALORE (KARNATAKA)

KOCHI (KERALA)

TUTICORIN (TAMIL NADU)

CHENNAI (TAMIL NADU)

ENNORE (TAMIL NADU)

VISAKHAPATNAM (ANDHRA PRADESH)

PARADIP (ODISHA)

HALDIA AND KOLKATA ( WEST BENGAL)

PORT BLAIR (ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLAND)

 

PORTS IN INDIA:

India's coastline spanning 7516.6 kilometers. There are 13 major ports(12 Government-owned and one private) and 187 notified minor and intermediate ports. The total 200 ports are presents in the following states:

        STATE                             PORTS

MAHARASHTRA   -    53

GUJARAT                -    40

TAMIL NADU         -    15

KARNATAKA         -    10

OTHERS                  -    82

Government of India plans to modernise these ports and has approved  a project called Sagarmala.

There are also 7 shipyards under the control of Central Government of India. 2 shipyard controlled by State Governments and 19 Privately owned shipyards.

NOTE: Transportation Infrastructures often require government ownership or regulation because of its inherently monopolistic nature. In the absence of a monopoly, deregulation and market forces are an effective mechanics.When the infrastructure is publicly owned,it is important to price usage to reflect the marginal impact on the cost. If this is not done, over use and congestion result because the cost borne by a user is less than his or her marginal impact on total cost. 

www.linkedin.com/in/ilslogistics

Chapter 2 of B/L:

More explanation about B/L

A BILL OF LADING may be issued as a house bill of lading or a master bill of lading. 

1. A House Bill of Lading (HBL) is issued by NVOCC operator or a Freight Forwarder to their customers.
2. A Master Bill of Lading (MBL) is issued by the shipping line (carrier) to the NVOCC operator or a Freight Forwarder.

When issued for a FCL as well as LCL shipment (non-groupage), a HBL should always be issued on back to back basis with an MBL which means that the HBL should be an EXACT replica of MBL issued by a shipping line in respect of all details except the shipper, consignee and notify party details which will be different in the HBL and MBL.

HBL: 

1. In the HBL the shipper will be usually be the actual shipper/exporter of the cargo (or as dictated by the L/C).
2. The consignee will usually be the actual receiver/importer of the cargo (or as dictated by the L/C).
3. The notify could be same as consignee (or any other party as dictated by L/C)

MBL: 

1. In the MBL the shipper will usually be the NVOCC operator or the agent or the Freight Forwarder.
2. The consignee will usually be the destination agent or counter part or office of the NVOCC operator or the Freight Forwarder
3. The notify could be the same as consignee or any other party.

In the interest of insurance coverage/exposure, it is recommended that all the details on the HBL and MBL like vessel, voyage information, cargo description, number of containers, seal number, weight and measurement should remain same. The only difference should be in the shipper, consignee and notify details.

Unless disallowed by L/C the HBL is also used/treated as negotiable document and can be considered to fulfill the roles of bill of lading but due care must be taken when using HBL as negotiable document as sometimes it can be used for a counter productive and dangerous practices of consigning the HBL and MBL exactly the same which means that there are two sets of B/L issued by the two different entities for the same cargo.

Such issues can happen due to the ignorance of the NVOCC or Freight Forwarder. 

Below are the templates  of MBL and HBL


MBL of the carrier maersk line

 HBL of  Freight Forwarder INTEGRAL LOGISTICS SERVICES PVT.LTD.

 

Bill of Lading (BOL):

A bill of lading in shipping is a record of the traded goods which have been received on board. It is a document that establishes an agreement between a shipper and a transportation company for the transportation of goods. Carrier issues these records to the shipper.

A bill of lading indicates a particular carrier through which the goods have been transported to their final destination and the conditions for transporting the shipments to its final destination. Land, Ocean and Air are the means used for bill of lading.

It is also a receipt for the cargo being shipped, which contain the shipment details and their parties involved. It may also act as a legal transportation contract. 

For vessels, there are two types of bill of lading:

 A straight bill of lading, which is non-negotiable and negotiable or shippers's order bill of lading. The later can be bought, traded or sold while the goods are in transit. The customer usually needs an  original as proof  of ownership to take possession of goods.

There is also liner bill of lading with no pre-printed terms and conditions on it's back side, instead relationship between the carrier and the shipper should be governed by the carrier's standard condition of carriage.

Order bill of lading is the bill uses express words to make the bill negotiable. This means that delivery is to be made to the further order to the consignee using words such as " delivery to A Ltd. or to order or to assigns. The cargo is only delivered to the bonafide holder of the bill of lading, and it has to be verified by an agent who issues delivery order and the verified bill of lading

- is the most modern type bill which is widely used all over the         world.

- ensures the safety of delivery of cargo to a bonafide holder of   B/L.

- since ship visits several foreign ports where the language,   practice, procedures may be different, the master might be inconvenienced during the delivery of the cargo.People might fraudulently collect the cargo.

- to overcome this difficulty and avoid future claims and litigation, the consignee or the holder is required to surrender the bill of lading to the ship's agent at the discharge port who will verify the genuineness the bill of lading. When satisfied, the agent will issue the delivery order and the verified bill of lading. Now any person can collect the cargo from the ship by surrendering the bill of lading and delivery note to the ship.

All goods which have not been paid in advance and shipped under "To Order" of the bill of lading can be categorized into two types:

1.  To Order, Blank Endorsed: 

     Not consigned to any named party "To Order" of consignor with the intended-consignee's name given under notify party. The consignor must sign and stamp (endorse) this bill of lading so that it's title can be transferred.

2.   To Order, Bank:

       Consigned to a bank with the intended consignee's name given under notify party. The bank endorses the B/L to the intended consignee against payment of (or a pledge to pay) the amount of the accompanying bill of exchange 'To order B/Ls are used commonly in the letter of credit transactions and may be bought, sold or traded or used as security for borrowing money from the bank or landers.

Bill of lading on the basis of method of operation:

1. Received for shipment B/L - This B/L is sent from agent/charter      to shipper. The endorsement of this bill ensures that the carrier        has received goods but does not confirm it is on board of the            assigned vessel.

2. Shipper B/L - This B/L is issued when cargo is loaded on                 board. It binds the ship owner and shipper directly.

3. A clean B/L - Is one which states that the cargo has been loaded      on board the ship in apparent good order and condition. Such          B/L will not bear any clause or notation which expressively              declares a defective condition of goods and/or the packing. The        opposite term is a soiled B/L. It reflects that the goods were              received by a carrier in anything but good condition.

4. Through B/L - This B/L is a legal document that allows for             direct delivery of cargo from point A to point B. The bill                 allows  the transportation of goods both within domestic border       and through international shipments as it serves as receipt of             cargo, a contract of carriage and sometimes title of the product         as well.

5.  Combined transport B/L - This bill gives information about           cargo being transported  in large containers by sea and land i.e         through multi modal transport.

6.  Dirty B/L - If a shipper raises an objection about the condition         of the cargo is in good order, he/she can include a clause                   thereby causing the B/L to be "claused or dirty" along with               the remark as per the finding of the cargo condition. E.g torn           packing, broken cargo, shortage in the quantity of the goods etc.

THE B/L COMPRISES THE FOLLOWING DETAILS:

1. The complete name and official address of the receiver and shipper.
2. The purchase order or reference/invoice nos. which helps the shipper and the consignee to release the goods for pickup or accepted at delivery.
3. The date and the pickup acts as a reference to track a freight.
4. The details of the items including the nos. and units being shipped, and weight and dimensions of the product along with the nature of the cargo carried e.g. dangerous goods etc.
5. If the goods are hazardous, department for transportation for hazardous material designation is tagged, ans it is cited on the bill to follow special rules and regulations
6. The details of packaging used such as crates, plates, cartons, pills, drums etc.
7. Any special notes or instructions for the carrier.

   B/L TRACKING:

Different companies use different B/L which makes it difficult to track them unless a specific tracking service is provided by the carrier. There are few companies which tie up with the shipping carriers to track the B/L for easy trade.