Trade operations
The documents that actually move a cargo
A bill of lading is not paperwork. It is title, contract and receipt in one page — and everything else is built around it.
5 min read · GIE Holding
In commodity trade, the goods move on one schedule and the documents move on another. Most disputes are not about quality. They are about a document that did not match, or arrived after the vessel did.
The core set
- Bill of lading: the carrier's receipt, the contract of carriage and, when issued to order, the document of title.
- Commercial invoice and packing list, consistent with the letter of credit to the character.
- Certificate of origin, often required for preferential duty or for sanitary clearance.
- Certificate of analysis for the specification, issued by the producer or an independent laboratory.
- Phytosanitary and fumigation certificates for agricultural cargoes.
- Insurance certificate, where the Incoterm places the risk with the seller.
Incoterms decide who holds the risk
FOB places the cargo on board at the load port, and the buyer arranges the freight. CFR and CIF move the freight obligation to the seller, with CIF adding insurance. The three letters change who books the vessel, who pays for delays and who argues with the carrier — so they belong in the first conversation, not the last.
The letter of credit is a document test
Banks pay against documents, not against goods. A discrepancy of one word — a port name, a tolerance, a signature — can hold a payment for weeks while the cargo sits at destination. The discipline is simple: draft the credit from the contract, and check every document against the credit before presentation, not after.
Our rule on every shipment: one owner for the document set, from drafting to presentation. When responsibility is shared, it is usually lost.