BIMCO has recently revised the 1994 edition of the CONGENBILL and as of 31 March the old form is no longer available from BIMCO’s printers. When stocks of the old form run out we should start to see the 2007 edition crossing our desks on a regular basis. Older readers who remember the change over from the 1978 version to 1994 may have a view as to how long this is likely to take, but as this bill of lading is used for many dry cargoes we thought our readers involved in the dry market would appreciate a summary of the changes.
The main changes from the CONGENBILL 1994 are as follows:-
1. The signature box has been amended in order to meet the requirements of Article 20 of the UCP 600 rules and to make it more clear who has signed the Bill of Lading and on whose behalf. BIMCO has also taken the opportunity to re-style the form with a new box layout theme consistent with its other recently published standard forms
2. A new box has been added to allow the name/principal place of business of the carrier to be clearly identified for the avoidance of doubt.
3. The box used for “Time used for loading” has been removed. This has been done because it was felt that this provision was no longer relevant to the trade and therefore it served no useful purpose to retain the box.
4. The terms and conditions found on the reverse of the Bill are largely unchanged with the exception of the General Clause Paramount which has been replaced by the latest edition published by BIMCO. This favours the Hague Visby Rules with the SDR Protocol over the Hague Rules.
5. Readers should remember that under English law you need to have an express reference in the Bill to the charter party law and jurisdiction clause if that clause is to be incorporated into the Bill. This was one of the main reasons for amending the standard bill in 1994. Building on this point and given the recent trend for “Alternative Dispute Resolution” clauses in charters, the express incorporation of the law and arbitration clause of the charterparty into the Bill now also includes a reference to a “Dispute Resolution Clause”.
6. A minor amendment has been made to the General Average Clause to remove the phrase “or any subsequent modification thereof” after the words “York-Antwerp Rules 1994”. This has been done to reflect BIMCO’s policy to recommend that general average should be adjusted in accordance with the 1994 Rules and not the 2004 Rules which it believes to be less favourable to shipowners.
7. The reference to “The Charterers, Shippers and Consignees expressly renounce the Belgium Commercial Code, Part II, Art. 148” has been deleted to reflect the international nature of the intended use of the document.
CONGENBILL 2007 was approved by BIMCO’s Documentary Committee in
The revision of the CONGENBILL, however, is in no way intended to compromise the current use of the 1994 edition which when properly used remains a valid and legally binding document. In order to assist the industry during the transition period both versions of the CONGENBILL will remain available in electronic format on BIMCO’s online document editing system, “idea” (under the Bill of Lading section of the catalogue of BIMCO documents), until 31 December 2008, when the 1994 electronic edition will also be withdrawn.
Sample copies of CONGENBILL 2007 can be downloaded free of charge from BIMCO’s website at www.bimco.org.
milena.zoccarato@incelaw.com