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Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017

Other commercial matters - Bills of lading, sea waybills, and ship’s delivery orders - Liabilities under shipping documents

322: Bill of lading in hands of shipper, consignee, or endorsee is conclusive evidence as against master or other signer of bill

You could also call this:

“A shipping document proves what goods were loaded, even if they weren't”

A bill of lading is a document that shows what goods have been loaded onto a ship. When you have this document, and you’re the shipper, the person receiving the goods, or someone who paid for the right to have the goods, it proves that the goods were put on the ship. This is true even if the captain or someone else signed the bill of lading.

This rule applies even if some or all of the goods weren’t actually put on the ship. But if you knew for sure that the goods weren’t loaded when you got the bill of lading, then this rule doesn’t count.

The person who signed the bill of lading can avoid getting in trouble for saying goods were on the ship when they weren’t. To do this, they need to show two things: it wasn’t their fault, and it happened because the shipper or the person with the bill of lading (or someone connected to them) was being dishonest.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM6844703.

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Part 5 Other commercial matters
Bills of lading, sea waybills, and ship’s delivery orders: Liabilities under shipping documents

322Bill of lading in hands of shipper, consignee, or endorsee is conclusive evidence as against master or other signer of bill

  1. Every bill of lading in the hands of the shipper or of a consignee or an endorsee for valuable consideration, representing goods to have been shipped on board a vessel, is conclusive evidence of the shipment as against the master or other person who signs the bill of lading.

  2. Subsection (1) applies even though the goods or some part of the goods may not have been shipped.

  3. However, subsection (1) does not apply if the holder of the bill of lading has had actual notice at the time of receiving the bill of lading that the goods were not in fact loaded on board.

  4. The master or other person who signs a bill of lading may excuse himself or herself from liability for a misrepresentation that goods have been shipped on board a vessel by showing that the misrepresentation was caused—

  5. without any default on his or her part; and
    1. wholly by the fraud of the shipper or of the holder of the bill of lading (or a person under whom the holder claims).

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