Policy & Compliance
or other appropriate place. Provided the shipper is notified “without delay”, the shipper bears the associated risks and costs. Where a consignee has exercised its rights under the contract but then delays or refuses delivery, the consignee will bear those costs instead. This marks a shift away from a default assumption that costs sit with the consignee, and places renewed focus on who the contractual shipper is. Under the revised code, a ‘shipper’ includes not only the cargo owner, but also anyone who enters into the contract of carriage or delivers the goods to the carrier, directly or through another. Depending on how booking notes are signed, how house bills are issued, and how capacity is described, a forwarder may find itself characterised as the shipper. Documentation discipline therefore becomes critical. Forwarders intending to act only as agent should ensure booking notes and instructions are signed clearly “as agent for and on behalf of” the named principal. Just as important is notice. The allocation of cost and risk now turns on whether notice was given ‘without delay’. That makes the audit trail – emails, system messages, formal letters – not just good practice, but potentially decisive. BIFA’s advice Members’ attention is drawn to the revised wording of Clause 10(A) of the 2025 edition of the BIFA Standard Trading Conditions (STC) which covers the situation where cargo is not delivered, emphasising that all costs shall be paid by the customer or owner of the cargo. What Members should consider in their operational processes are: • Tightening abandoned cargo wording in booking notes, service agreements and house bill of lading terms. Where applicable, the relevant clause within the STC should be referred to. • Being explicit on when cargo is treated as unclaimed, how notice is given, who pays, and what indemnities apply, especially where you could be viewed as the contractual shipper upstream. Mid-voyage change requests The revised code formally recognises a shipper’s right, during the carrier’s responsibility period, to instruct changes such as suspending the voyage, returning goods, changing the discharge port, or delivering to a different consignee. These rights are subject to indemnifying the carrier for resulting losses and expenses. Once again, BIFA STC Clause 20 (A) requires the customer to indemnify the BIFA Member in this situation. Carriers may only refuse where compliance is impossible, would disrupt normal operations, involves unpaid additional costs without security, or where required transport documents cannot be produced. In practice, many forwarders have been handling such requests on a commercial basis for many years, but it is now a legal right. When handling such a scenario the key points to consider are:
“ Under the revised code, a ‘shipper’ includes not only the cargo owner, but also anyone who enters into the contract of carriage or delivers the goods to the carrier, directly or
includes both international and domestic coastal carriage between PRC ports. Inland river transport, however, remains outside the scope. For forwarders, this matters because domestic coastal carriage carries some important differences: • The carrier’s seaworthiness obligation runs throughout the voyage, not just before and at the beginning. • Delay can be established where goods are not delivered within a reasonable time, even where no delivery deadline is specified. • Two familiar international defences – errors in navigation or management of the ship, and fire – do not apply to domestic coastal carriage. If you are involved in coastal sea legs, including sea-river or river-sea moves, contract wording, standard operating procedures and claims handling assumptions should be reviewed at the earliest opportunity. Unclaimed cargo: the cost burden shifts towards the shipper The revised code introduces a clearer framework for unclaimed and abandoned cargo. Where nobody takes delivery at the discharge port, the master may discharge the cargo to a warehouse
through another
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