Information from A Document Not Stipulated in the Letter of Credit

Information from A Document Not
Stipulated in the Letter of Credit

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An Applicant v. An Issuing Bank
A letter of credit (L/C) with payment available at the counter of the issuing bank and subject to the UCP 500 called for goods of country A origin. In the commercial invoice, the packing list, the bill of lading, the insurance certificate, the certificate of inspection and the certificate of origin, the goods was of country A origin. A copy (not original) of the export declaration in country A, not called for in the L/C, was nevertheless presented, probably due to negligence of the documentation clerk during the Christmas high season, together with the other stipulated documents. It indicated that the goods was assembled in country B. The beneficiary made a timely presentation to the issuing bank through a presenting bank, which was the beneficiary's banker.
The issuing bank, after due consideration, paid the beneficiary.
The applicant refused to take up the documents due to discrepancies in the export declaration in respect of the country of origin of the goods

not being consistent with the other documents;

also not complying with the L/C requirements; and

that the export declaration presented was not an original.
The applicant also suspected that there was a fraudulent country of origin for the goods shipped.
Before the issuing bank affecting payment, we were retained by the issuing bank to provide our expert's opinions on the issues.
Opinions: ...

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