Difference Between Bill of Lading and Bill of Entry that you must definitely know

A Bill of Entry (BE) is a legal document filed by importers/ Customs Brokers on or before the arrival of imported goods. A bill of lading (BL) is a legal document that serves as a shipment receipt issued by the carrier to the shipper that has the details of the type, quantity, and destination of the goods being carried. Know the Difference Between Bill of Lading and Bill of Entry –

Difference between Bill of Lading and Bill of Entry

Bill of Lading and Bill of Entry are two very different documents –

While the Bill of Lading is used to prove the ownership of the goods, the Bill of Entry is used to clear the imported goods from the customs. The key differences between the two are mentioned below in detail.

To know the Difference Between Bill of Lading and Bill of Entry, we must first understand what is the meaning of the Bill of Lading and also what is the meaning of the Bill of Entry.

Bill of Lading (BL or BoL)

• Bill of Lading is a document that is issued by the shipping line/company.
• This document is issued when the goods are received by the carrier(ship) on board for shipment purpose.
• Bill of lading helps in Identifying the goods on ship as it has information like container number, seal numbers, Number of containers, port of origin and destination, Consignee name & address, buyer name & address, notify party name & address, IEC number, contact details etc.
• We can also track our shipment by using bill of lading number on the shipping line website.
• Examples of shipping lines/companies are – Mearsk, Cosco, One line etc.
• It is a negotiable document and can be used as a proof in court of law.

To know more on Bill of lading you can read our article What is Bill of Lading and Types of Bill of Lading at our website – www.eximpedia.com

Bill of Entry (BE or BoE)

• Bill of Entry is filed for all import shipments.
• Bill of Entry is filed by the customs broker on behalf of the importer and prepared by Customs Department.
• It is mainly used for identifying right classification of goods imported, valuation and duty assessment by customs officers.
• It is prepared by using supporting documents like Bill of Lading, Invoice, Packing list, Certificate of origin, IGM number, Importer details, GST registration, IEC code etc. which are also important documents required for Import.
• Therefore, a bill of entry shows that the items imported are billed and classified for purpose of duty assessment. After which duty amount is paid and goods are cleared from customs.

To know more about the Bill of Entry in detail read our Article on important things about the Bill of Entry at Eximpedia which shall clear the concept.

To conclude…

Difference between Bill of Entry and Bill of Lading

BE (Bill of Entry) is a document prepared by the importer’s country’s customs house department. It shows the items that are billed or imported and goods’ classification for the purpose of assessment of Duty. The Bill of Entry is basically prepared on the basis of Bill of Lading, Commercial Invoice, Packing List, IEC code, IGM, and other documents. The bill of Entry is prepared by on the basis of importer or the Customs Borker/ CHA declaration regarding the importing goods.

BL (Bill of Lading) is document prepared by the shipping line basically for the purpose of the shipment of the goods. BL shows the details of the consigner and the consignee, address, port of loading and unloarding, item name, quantity, weight, CBM, and details of contianer No. and seal and voyege in vessal. By the Bill of Lading number one can track the contianer or our shipment.

We hope that you must have understood all the information about Bill of Lading and Bill of Entry. Also we hope that you got the major Difference Between Bill of Lading and Bill of Entry in detail. If you have any questions related to HSN and SAC then please comment down below, we will be glad to solve all your queries.

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