BIMCO eyes global electronic bill of lading standard

BIMCO has teamed up with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and other key stakeholders to help identify and overcome obstacles preventing a more widescale adoption of electronic bills of lading.

Establishing a globally accepted standard for electronic bills of lading is a critically important step for the successful digital transformation of our industry,

…says Grant Hunter, Head of Contracts and Clauses at BIMCO, who is leading the project for the organization.

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BIMCO’s role will be to develop a global electronic bill of lading (eBL) standard for the dry and liquid bulk sectors and encourage its acceptance and adoption by regulators, banks, carriers and insurers.

The ICC is looking forward to working with BIMCO on its ambitious goal of delivering an electronic bill of lading standard for dry and wet bulk shipping to the world,

…added Oswald Kuyler, Managing Director of the Digital Trades Standards Initiative (DSI) at the ICC.

A bill of lading is a contract issued by a carrier (shipping line), or by the agent, to the owner of the goods shipped, to acknowledge receipt of cargo for shipment. The document basically states what goods are being shipped, as well as where the shipment is coming from and heading to.

BIMCO said its electronic bill of lading standard will be fully aligned with the UN/CEFACT MultiModal Reference Data Model to ensure seamless and transparent eBL transactions across international borders.

The organization plans to develop its eBL standard with the assistance of, among others, the Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA) who published their own standards for the liner industry in December 2020.

Earlier in 2020, DCSA had carried out a financial modelling exercise to fully understand the benefit of digitising the bills of lading, which found that the total cost of processing paper bills was almost three times that of eBLs.