Surrender B/L Meaning
When you ship internationally, the carrier’s destination agents will often ask for the original bill of lading. However, once the bill of lading has been surrendered at the carrier’s office of origin, the original bill of lading will not be required to receive the shipment at the destination.
A bill of lading is like a ticket for cargo. The original must be submitted to the carrier’s destination agent for receipt of the shipment unless the bill of lading has been surrendered.
In international trading, most shippers (exporters) do not send the original bill of lading to the consignees nowadays. Instead, they surrender the bill of lading at the origin, making the procedure much more accessible.
Usually, a bill of lading is issued on the day of the ship’s departure. For example, if you are shipping from Japan to Hong Kong, the shipment will arrive at the Hong Kong port in six days. If a shipper receives a bill of lading from the carrier a few days from the date of departure and then sends it to the consignee by EMS, FedEx, or the like, the bill of lading will be delivered to the consignee after the ship arrives at the Hong Kong port. The charge for shipment by EMS or FedEx is not cheap, and there is also a risk of non-delivery or delay.
With that in mind, the procedure becomes very simple when the bill of lading is surrendered. Once the bill of lading is submitted, no original is required. Once the carrier receives payment from the shipper (generally through an international mover like us, in the case of personal effects shipments), they make arrangements to surrender the bill of lading. Then they confirm to the destination agent that the bill of lading has been submitted and that the shipment can be released without the original. Usually, surrendering the bill of lading takes a few hours to several days.
When a bill of lading is surrendered after you make a payment to the carrier, they put a stamp that says “Surrendered” on the bill of lading, and they send you a copy of surrendered b/l. You must send a copy of it to the consignee.
Waybills (Sea waybills) are just as valid as a surrendered bill of lading, meaning no original is required. Express release/telex releases are the same.
The customs offices of Central and South American countries and Indonesia do not accept surrendered bills of lading, waybills, or express releases. Therefore, if you are shipping (from Japan or elsewhere) to many Central and South American countries or Indonesia, you must make sure that your international movers or shipping agent sends you the original bill of lading instead of surrendering the bill of lading.
Learn more about a bill of lading.
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