H.M.Paperwork Filling out the Forms!

Most of the information in this section has been taken from "The International Freight Guide" with the kind permission of the British International Freight Association.

Bill of Lading
Airway Bill
CMR Note
Standard Shipping Note
Certificates of Origin
ATA Carnet
Movement Certificates
The Role of Customs and International Trade
Customs Entry and Customs Procedure Codes
Community Transit & the Single Market Effect
EDI - Customs, Trade & the Future

Airway Bill

The air waybill is a document of carriage which is issued by airlines to shippers of cargo. The conditions under which it is issued (the Warsaw Convention) are dealt with here :

This section deals only with the basic commercial function of the air waybill in relation to the shipper and consignee as named in the document. The air waybill, as distinct from the bill of lading, is not a document of title. Nothing within the Warsaw Convention which governs its issue, however, prevents it from being a negotiable document, although in a legal sense it is not negotiable. The nature of carriage by air is such that to use an air waybill as a negotiable document for letter of credit purposes is generally invalid as the goods would arrive at the airport of destination days or weeks before the air waybill arrived via the banking system, thereby allowing the consignee to take delivery of his goods. As a result, the document often travels forward with the goods allowing immediate release of the goods into the consignee's charge for subsequent customs clearance and delivery. Air freight, by definition, is a rapid form of transport whose value would be negated totally were air waybills to be used in the same manner as bills of lading.

The air waybill has several purposes:

1. It is evidence of a contract of carriage.
2. It proves receipt of goods for shipment.
3. It is a freight bill.

The Warsaw Convention requires that the air waybill is completed in at least three parts:

1. for the carrier (signed by the consignor);
2. for the consignee (signed by the consignor and carrier);
3. for the consignor (signed by the carrier).

The basic information to be shown on the air waybill is as follows:

• shipper's name and address;
• consignee's name and address;
• customs reference/status: the air waybill is an approved skeleton pre entry document;
• agent's IATA code;
• airport of departure and destination;
• first carrier;
• value of goods and currency;
• description of goods, dimensions, commodity code, rate class, chargeable weight and freight rate;
• freight charges (prepaid or payable at destination);
• ancillary charges payable.

The IATA Standard Air Waybill is used by all IATA carriers (those belonging to the International Air Transport Association) and it embodies standard conditions associated to those set out in the Warsaw Convention. When issued by an airline, the air waybill carries a unique reference number which commences with a carrier prefix. The air waybill number is the key to tracing the flight details of the consignment in question and must be quoted at all times when information is being requested.

Master air waybills and house air waybills

Airlines have, for the most part, been reluctant to operate consolidation services, preferring to allow specialist air freight forwarders to do so on their behalf. Where a forwarder sets up a consolidation (CONSOL) service, he enters into an agency agreement with a forwarder in the country to be served. The forwarder in the exporting country markets his service to exporters generally and consolidates together the consignments to be shipped, booking them as a single shipment with an airline. This single shipment may be consolidated at the forwarder's premises or in the airline cargo shed into a pallet load or airline container load (a "unit load device") which is then consigned to the forwarder in the country of destination. Thus the airline issues a "master air waybill", showing the shipper as the forwarder in the country of export and the consignee as the forwarder in the country of destination. The total number of packages in the consolidation, their weight and volume, is shown in the place on the air waybill designated for description of the goods. Thereafter, the forwarder in the country of export issues "house air waybills" to each shipper showing the details of each, Consignment in question.

Points to note

It is useful to note the following:

1. House air waybills do not allow forwarders to escape any liability for loss or damage to goods as set out in the Warsaw Convention. Where carriage is subject to the Warsaw Convention, it is essential that any documentation issued by the freight forwarder should contain a statement to that effect if the forwarder is to escape unlimited liability. A freight forwarder/consolidator will almost certainly be a contracting carrier under the Warsaw Convention.
2. When booking a consignment for shipment by air, care should be taken to ensure either:
• that it be flown as a direct airline shipment if particularly urgent or if required to be on a specific flight; or
• that any consolidation in which a consignment is being despatched will arrive at the destination airport within the required timescale.
3. Where consolidation is used, the master air waybill number should always be noted by consignors as this is the number which will help trace flight details of the shipment in case of need.

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