Resolving Bills of Lading Problems for Maritime Carriers

(T. O. International Trade Seminars)

Introduction
Recently Dubai Shipping Agents Association (DSAA), Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) & Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC) met to raise their concerns over the provisions of Emirates Maritime Legislation be updated to cope with a lot of operation problems encountered by maritime carriers. Some of these problems are created due to lack of communications and understanding in the letter of credit practices as reflected in the UCP 500, to name a few, release of goods against letter of indemnity, invoice number and L/C number to appear in bill of lading and arbitration as a dispute resolution.
We are glad to invite Mr. T. O. Lee of Canada, an expert in letter of credit, maritime transport and arbitration to lead the half-day discussions on these problem areas amongst carriers, importers, exporters and bankers. He will give his analysis of the problems and suggest effective approaches to resolve these problems based on his 25 years experience in providing consulting and expert witness services in international L/C and B/L disputes. Mr. Lee is the Member of the Consulting Group of UCP 500 Revision, Paris, Member of United Nations Multimodal Transport Association, Geneva, Columnist of Lloyd's of London "Maritime Asia/Intermodal Asia" magazine, UK and Member of Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, UK. With these experiences and qualifications, he should be the man born for the job. He is the adviser to Schenkers Hong Kong since 1992. He provides professional workshops to bankers, carriers and freight forwarders in North America, Middle East and Asia.
This is the right opportunity to meet the bankers, carriers, freight forwarders and other users of L/C and B/L under one roof to create networking.
The Vice -Chairman of DSAA, may join as panelists along with some bankers

Target Group
Maritime carriers, freight forwarders, importers, exporters and bankers.

Duration
Half-day workshop

Approach
Operational problems in B/L and L/C will be highlighted and discussed amongst the participants, then analysed by the facilitator and recommendations suggested. Participants are welcome to bring their own problems for open discussions and hopefully resolution.

Contents Outline

Risks in release of goods against letter of indemnity to carriers, bankers, exporters and importers.
Purposes for invoice and L/C numbers to be included in B/L. Its impact to exporters, importers, bankers and carriers.
Problems to bankers from Maersk Line new indemnity clauses placed on face of B/L. The ICC Banking Commission Statement on this problem. Is this the ultimate solution?
Problems of L/C operations created by the carriers.
Problems of B/L problems created by the exporters, importers and bankers.
Arbitration for maritime disputes as a necessity in UAE Maritime Legislation
Recommendations to update the UAE Maritime Legislation.
Why a seasoned lawyer from a leading UK maritime law firm rated the China Maritime Code 1992 as the most complete maritime code? It took China 40 years to complete this masterpiece. What can UAE be inspired by this Code?
Enforcement is crucial to the success of a maritime code.

Facilitator
Mr. T. O. Lee FAE, MCIArb, MITD
Mr. T. O. Lee has over 30 years hands-on experience in resolving L/C and B/L disputes both inside and outside the courtrooms in North America, Middle East and Asia. His recommendations are risk free, focused, pragmatic, and cost effective. He is actively involved in standardisation of LOI with BIMCO, revising B/L for carriers, L/C forms for bankers and giving advices in UCP 500 revision with ICC Paris. He runs a B/L and L/C website www.tolee.com providing articles he wrote for ICC Paris, Lloyds of London, UK, L/C Monitor, Canada, L/C Update, USA, IMTA, United Nations, and Hong Kong Economic Journal, Asia on B/L, L/C and arbitration. Mr. Lee is a Fellow and an Accredited Expert (Letter of Credit) of the Academy of Experts, Gray's Inn, London and a Member of Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, UK. He is a representative of Canada giving comments in many trade finance rules revision by ICC Paris. In short, he is a consultant with transport, chartering, letter of credit, arbitration, Incoterms 2000, risk management, ISO2000 quality assurance, cargo insurance, China trade and commodity trades all in one head.

What Others Have To Say:

"A brief discussion with Mr. Lee will convince you of his expertise on International Trade particularly for his knowledge and experience in maritime chartering, multimodal transport, marine cargo insurance, trade frauds, the China Trade, mediation and arbitration".
Charles del Busto - Chairman of ICC Banking Commission (1990-1996)
"Mr. Lee's presentation is thought provoking and original in its content. It brings to light not only problems with documentary credits but also solutions that you could obtain only from practical experience working in the field. I highly recommend it to both bankers and traders who are serious about letters of credit".
Jacob Katsman - Managing Editor, LC Monitor, Canada
"Most comprehensive information in the handouts, inspiring presentation, professional in every respect, introducing the latest international trade fraud cases with in-depth analysis".
S. C. Kwok - Vice President, Citibank, Hong Kong
"Clear and focused line of thoughts, lively presentation, experienced in handling questions, lots of case studies from the speaker's own work file to be shared with us".
Ding Bo - Director, Zhum Heng Development Ltd., Guangdong Group, Hong Kong

"Handouts are clear, concise and focused, with lots of real life cases to reflect the current trading environment and the important changes in the market place".
Kenneth Y. M. Lee - Senior Consultant, Bank of Communications, Manhattan, New York, USA

(416) 298-5881

(416) 292-5535