ICC Digital Library Forum

Dear sirs,
We would like to apply to you with the clarification on the following matter and your valuable opinion would be highly appreciated.
Having received the application for opening the Letter of Credit under the contract between the Russian Applicant and the Beneficiary located in Bangladesh, the terms and conditions of which stipulates the terms of delivery -CFR Genoa (shipping document required - Marine/Ocean Bill of Lading), though the shipment is to be made to St.Petersburg, Russia, we wonder whether it's possible to open Letters of Credit on such terms and conditions as there is contradiction in interpretation ICC official rules for interpretation of trade terms (Incoterms 2000), which envisage that port of destination is to be indicated when using terms of delivery - CFR.
In this connection, we kindly ask you to consider this matter and we are awaiting your detailed comments.
Yours faithfully.

Dear Ms Natalia Fedorova,

In your case a multimodal transport BL is more suitable since the transport involves substantial surface transport after discharge at Genoa.

By the way, "CFR XX" alone may not stand fully or clearly without doubts as an "Incoterm" unless it is presented in the format "CFR XXX Incoterms 2000" a citation recommended by the ICC Commission on International Commercial Practice (responsible for drafting the Incoterms) in which we are a representative from Canada (this is not advertising but just to convince you of the credibility of the source of information).

If you cannot change the marine BL requirements, or to obtain an amendment on the port of discharge etc., as a short cut, you may consider to fill in the "Final Destination" box with "a place in Russia" and add "via Genoa" (whether in the same box or in the "port of discharge box" we are not so sure as we have to check this out but there is no time for it). We have seen an ICC Opinion deeming this not as a valid discrepancy. However, for safety sake, please search the DC Pro for this Opinion before you rely or act on it.

Since this is a voluntary work, we cannot spend our time to check for the precise box to be filled and the like. And our memory may fail us too. Hence please treat it as a friendly hint only.

Both we and the DC Pro do not assume any liabilities or responsibilities for our opinions which are given just for discussion purpose. Members should not quote it for any purpose without our written approval.

We are from http://www.tolee.com

[edited 8/22/01 5:49:21 PM]