What is the difference between House B/L and Master B/L? Explanation of the Advantage and Disadvantage of House/Master as Freight Forwarder

In general, we do booking to the forwarders when arranging for sea export. The customer will be issuing B/L (shipping certificate) at the time of handling, and the customer can choose to use either House B/L or Master B/L. Houses B/L and Master B/L have advantages and disadvantages, so it is important to tell the forwarders at the time of booking after understanding the difference correctly.

We now explain the difference between House B/L and Master B/L below.

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Explained House B/L and Master B/L in Video

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What is House B/L & Master B/L?

In B/L, there are types such as Original B/L, Surrender B/L, Sea Waybill etc. The difference between House B/L and Master B/L is simply the difference in issuers.

House B/L: Forwarder issues
Master B/L: Ship company issues

For the difference between Original B/L, Surrender B/L and Sea Waybill, please check here.
Explanation about B/L! Let’s understand the role of B/L used for trade.

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When using House B/L for cargo handling

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Examples of House B/L

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Main differences

① Shipper column: Name of the company exporting cargo is stated
② Cnee column: Name of the company importing cargo is stated
③ B/L format: use forwarders
④ Delivery of B/L at Destination: Cnee will deliver the B/L to the Forwarding agents

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Examples of master B/L when using House B/L

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Main differences

① Shipper column: list the name of the forwarder who will arrange the export
② Cnee column: B/L list the name of the inserting forwarder
③ B/L format: use shipping company’s one
④ Delivery of B/L at Destination: Shipping Line Agent

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Point

When using House B/L like this, two sets of B/L which are House B/L and Master B/L are issued in 1 shipping. In this case, only the house B/L is handed to the customer, so many people do not know the existence of the master B/L.

Since there are two sets of B/Ls in this way, when imported goods are caught in customs clearance, sometimes house B/L has no problem but there is a mistake in master B/L . * Although it will be described later, since fixing master B/L in this case is only fixing the system, it will be fixed sooner.

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When using Master B/L for cargo handling

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Example of B/L when using master B/L

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Main differences

① Shipper column:Name of the company exporting cargo is stated
② Cnee column: Name of the company importing cargo is stated
③ B/L format: use shipping company’s one
④ Delivery of B/L at Destination: Shipping Line Agent at destination[br num=”2″]

Unlike the case of using House B/L, the format of B/L is the shipping company’s one, the name of the exporter of cargo is stated in Shipper, the importer of cargo is stated in Cnee. The name of the forwarder is not listed anywhere.

So, we will now explain the advantages and disadvantages when using House/Master B / L like this.

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What are the advantages and disadvantages of House BL?

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Advantages of House B/L

· Issuing is fast
· Fixing is fast
· Flexible
· Influence on application for certificate of origin

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Disadvantages of House B/L

· D/O expenses occurred on the importing side[br num=”2″]

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Point

The advantage of using House B/L is that it is possible to respond quickly and flexibly. Generally, B/L is issued after departing from the cargo port, but in the case of House B/L, B/L creation can be ready before departure, so B / L will be issued to the customer immediately after departing.

It is not uncommon for international transport to have mistakes in B/L. The Gross Weight was different, the size was wrong, had to write the HS Code in the description, and so on. If you are a forwarder who provides flexible service at House B/L at this time, you can fix it immediately.[br num=”2″]

[br num=”2″]It also affects the speed of issuing certificates of origin. B/L is required to issue the certificate of origin. In the case of House B/L, you can obtain B/L immediately after departure so you can apply for certificate of origin right after the departure.

※ In the case of export to neighboring countries, it is common that cargo has arrived while issuing documents. Since import clearance can not be promoted without required documents, speed of issuing documents is a very important point in trade.

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What are the advantages and disadvantages of the Master BL?

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Advantages of Master B/L

No local D/O expenses in site.

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Disadvantage of Master B/L

· It takes time to issue
· It takes time to fix
· No flexible response
· It takes time to obtain a certificate of origin[br num=”2″]

The opposite thing to House B/L occurs when using Master B/L. The point is the difference in speed and flexible service. Since the shipping company issues B/L, generally B/L will be issued on the next day or two days later, as soon as the ship departs from the port.

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Summary

In today’s trade, things are speeding up. Since the customer also manufactures the schedule so as not to make the inventory as much as possible, if the flow of cargo and document does not proceed in the same way, it affects the production / transportation schedule.

As cargo is moving, whether or not you can quickly create “documents” to handle it. Since we are forwarders, we say something from the standpoint of forwarders, but it is fairly safe to use House B/L.[br num=”2″]

It is a transaction between international and different cultures and languages, and more specifically, human beings create documents and manage their handling. It is common for international transactions to cause some problems. It is important to know how to safely control problems. Therefore, we hope you understand the advantages and disadvantages of House Master B/L before use it.