If the port of
destination is not known it is not easy for the seller to organize
shipment. For forward shipment or FCA contracts the ECF therefore sets a time
limit of 14 calendar days (GCA 15) before the first day of the contractual
shipping period for communicating this information to the seller. Otherwise it
might not be possible to complete the processes required for shipment within the
agreed period - see also under "Port of destination" in topic 04.05.03 for more
on how the GCA approaches this particular aspect. For immediate and prompt
shipment or FCA contracts the destination must be declared at the latest on the
first calendar day following the date of sale (and at the time of contract by
GCA). Shipment must be made during a vessels
last call at the agreed port of loading during that particular voyage.
This rule is intended to exclude vessels that trade up and down the coast of a
country with several ocean ports until enough cargo has been accumulated to make
the main journey more profitable.
The coffee must be
shipped on a port to port or a combined transport bill of lading issued
by a regular or Conference shipping line which, using one or more vessels, will
carry the goods throughout the voyage without further intervention by seller or
buyer. The line issues a B/L at the port of origin to cover the entire voyage,
enabling the buyer to see the details of shipment on the first vessel and to
claim the coffee at final destination from a subsequent vessel. (See also 05,
Logistics.)
Transshipment: the first vessel discharges at
an intermediate port and the goods are reloaded onto another vessel to the final
destination. This is increasingly frequent as shipping companies rationalize
operations. In particular, the use of containers has encouraged the development
of shipping hubs: larger or more central ports that are fed containers from
outlying ports by smaller vessels for loading onto large container vessels.
Shipping
advice: as soon as the required information is available, the seller
must advise certain specific details of the shipment.(But under the ECF's FCA
contract sellers have just two calendar days to transmit advice of delivery).
For a shipment on terms
other than CIF (which the seller insures), the shipping advice enables the buyer
to insure the shipment and either to make the necessary arrangements to receive
it at the port of destination or (where the bill of lading allows such a choice)
to declare an optional port of destination in time for the shipping company to
arrange discharge there.
A series of time-limits in ECC are designed to ensure
that these objectives are met, and to give the buyer the freedom to procure a
replacement parcel elsewhere if no shipment is forthcoming.
The details to be included
in the advice of shipment or delivery are listed in the ECF contracts. The buyer
is entitled to receive such an advice, or an advice of delayed
shipment/delivery, or an advice of force
majeure. Failure to receive an advice theoretically entitles the buyer to
take the drastic step of canceling the contract and claiming recompense for any
loss suffered.