The Electronic Trade Documents Act (“the Act”) comes into force today in the United Kingdom, giving legal recognition in English law to electronic trade documents, including electronic bills of lading.
The Act was preceded, in 2022, by the UK Law Commission’s Report on Electronic trade documents, which was the culmination of an extensive consultation process with stakeholders, including the Group. The Act reflects the recommendations of the Law Commission that the law should be reformed so that certain electronic trade documents, including electronic bills of lading, can be recognised as having the same legal recognition and functionality as their paper counterparts.
The Group welcomes this significant legislative development, which comes soon after the adoption by Singapore of similar legislation, in the form of the Singapore Electronic Transactions (Amendment) Act 2021. Both sets of legislation meet the requirements of the Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR), a uniform model law adopted by the UN Commission on International Trade law (UNCITRAL) in 2018.
Club Rules provide that liabilities arising in respect of the carriage of cargo under paperless trading systems are covered, provided that the system has first been approved by the Group. Since 20 February 2010, the Group has approved ten electronic systems. The Group is reviewing its approach to electronic bills of lading in light of the Act. At the same time, we continue our dialogue with industry stakeholders to assist in managing the transition from a private contractual environment to one recognised under national laws, which will serve for the benefit of the wider international shipping and trade community.
The International Group
UK P&I
Date21/09/2023
Share this
You may also be interested in
On December 11, 2023, five US agencies released a joint compliance note “Know Your Cargo” (“the Compliance Note”), highlighting tactics commonly deployed by malign actors in the transportation sector and best practices for the maritime and other transportation industries as well as examples of enforcement actions.
The coming into force of the Electronic Trade Documents Act last week in the UK is a potentially transformational moment in the development of electronic bills of lading.
This circular confirms approval by the International Group of an updated version of the Secro Customer and User Agreement dated 16th March 2023 as well as use of the Secro Customer e-billls of lading in conjunction with the said User Agreement
This circular informs Members of the approval by the International Group of P&I Clubs (the Group) of the eTEU eBL Platform.