国际贸易中无单放货之律师视点

提单是指用以证明海上货物运输合同关系和货物已经由承运人接收或者装船，以及承运人保证据以交付货物的单证(《海商法》第71条），简称B/L。在国际贸 易中，承运人承运货物时签发提单给发货人作为凭证，之后由发货人将提单交付给收货人，收货人凭提单在货运目的港提货。而发货人交付正本提单给收货人的前提 条件大多为收到全额货款。故，提单除具有“合同成立的证明文件”、“物权凭证”和“货物收据”三大功能外，同时也是国际结算中的一种最重要的单据。
A bill of lading is a document which serves as an evidence of the contract of carriage of goods by sea and the taking over or loading of the goods by the carrier, and based on which the carrier undertakes to deliver the goods against surrendering the same. ("maritime law" Article 71), A bill of lading is shorted as the B/L. In international trade, the carrier issues a B/L to the consigner, then the B/L will be delivered from the consigner to the consignee and the consignee will take delivery of goods at the destination port by presenting the B/L original. The delivery of the original B/L to the consignee is mostly on condition that the full payment is received. Therefore, in addition to the three functions which are to prove the contract establishment, to be a document of title and to be a receipt of goods, B/L is also one of the most important documents in the international settlement.
无单放货，又叫无正本提单放货，是指承运人或其代理人(货代)或港务当局或仓库管理人在未收回正本提单的情况下，依提单上记载的收货人或通知人凭副本提单 或提单复印件，加保函放行货物的行为。无单放货的情况下，发货人直接向收货人追讨货款的难度非常之大。因为涉及到案件管辖、适用法律以及不同国度之间判决 的承认与执行等诸多国际司法问题。因此，发货人通常选择以承运人违约或侵权为由在国内提起违约赔偿之诉或侵权赔偿之诉（承运人大多在国内有实际资产）。由 于无单放货既违反了运输合同正确交货的义务，又侵犯了提单所表彰的物权，所以只要承运人无免责事由，就应该对此承担全部责任。
Releasing goods without original bill of lading is referred to the carrier, or its agent (freight), the port authorities or the warehouse management release the goods based on B/L counterpart or a copy of the B/L and a letter of guarantee, without being surrendered the original B/L. Under such a circumstance, it will be very difficult for the consigner to dun the consignee for payment directly. Because several judicial issues involved such as the jurisdiction, the application of the law, the acknowledgement and execution of verdicts from foreign countries Therefore, usually the consigner will choose to bring a lawsuit against carrier’s breach of the contract or tort in domestic court (in most cases, the carrier has real assets at home). The carrier shall bear full responsibility for release of goods without original B/L because release goods without original B/L not only violates the provisions of transportation contract but also infringe the title of the goods in which B/L implies unless the carrier have grounds of exemptions.
《最高人民法院关于审理无正本提单交付货物案件适用法律若干问题的规定》法释〔2009〕1号第七条：承运人依照提单载明的卸货港所在地法律规定，必须将 承运到港的货物交付给当地海关或者港口当局的，不承担无正本提单交付货物的民事责任。这是国内关于承运人免责的明确法定情形。目前，国际上大多数国家依然 严格执行收货人凭正本提单提货的交易规则。但也有一些国家主要集中在南美洲，例如巴西在2013年之后便规定货物到港后承运人需无条件将货物移交给海关的 仓库且收货人仅凭清晰的提单复印件即可提货。在此情况下，一旦发生无单放货，发货人将面临既无法向收货人主张货款，又因承运人具备法定免责事由而无法索赔 的两难境地。巴西2013年新政出台后，曾引起国内部分出口企业的恐慌，特别是温州的企业（温州一年对巴西出口有30多亿元人民币）。温州商务局官网曾为 此专门刊文《巴西“无单放货”新政或系媒体误读》，其结论为“而从常理考虑，巴西出台该政策可能性不大，希望企业不要盲目恐慌。”。而根据我们正在办理的 一个巴西苏瓦沛港无单放货案件所获得的信息来看，很可能是温州商务局误读了巴西新政。
According to The article 7 of <provisions of="" the="" supreme="" people's="" court="" on="" several="" issues="" concerning="" application="" law="" in="" trial="" case="" a="" non="" original="" bill="" lading="" for="" delivery="" goods=""> judicial interpretation (2009) No.1 : in the event that the carrier must delivers the goods to local customs or port authority according to the law of where the port of discharge is located specified in the B/L, he shall bear no civil liability for release of goods without original bill of lading. This is a legal provision of the carrier’s exemption cause in China. At present, most of the countries in the world are still strictly implement the rule of release with the original B/L. However, there are some countries in South America require the same with china. For example, after 2013, the law of Brazil regulates that the carrier shall deliver goods to the local customs directly without precondition and the consignee can pick up the goods only with a clear copy of the B/L. Under such circumstance, in the event that the carrier releases the goods without an original B/L, the consigner will face a dilemma that on one side he is not able to dun the consignee for payment on the other hand he can’t claim damages against the carrier because of the carrier’s exemption as per the law. After the new deal of Brazil introduced in 2013, some of the export enterprises in China feel panic, especially the enterprise in Wenzhou (Wenzhou’s exports to Brazil are more than 3 billion Yuan in a year.). An article published on the website of Wenzhou business bureau named “the new deal of goods release without original B/L in Brazil may be media’s misunderstanding” is said that from normal sense, there are few possibilities for Brazil to publish the new deal and hope that the companies do not panic blindly. However, according to the case related to goods release without original B/L at Suape Port in Brazil we are dealing with, it may well be the Wenzhou business bureau’s misunderstanding of the new deal.
最后，建议做外贸的朋友在与巴西公司做贸易时避免以持有提单的方式作担保，而改用预付款或信用证方式，以避免货、款两空。
As a consequence, we suggest all of you who are doing export-oriented business with Brazil that adopt a payment way such as deposit in advance or L/C instead of valid B/L which is uses as a guarantee to avoid losing both goods and payments.