Legal Aspects of Interoperability of Electronic Bill of Lading Solution Providers

In maritime transport, numerous stakeholders from different countries interact with a key shipping document—the bill of lading. Given that maritime cargo carriage forms part of the global economy, it is a logical consequencethat electronic services for issuing, exercising exclusive control over, transfer ring, and surrendering the bill of lading are provided by companies operating under diverse legal regimes. As with mobile telephony or banking services, interoperability among users of electronic bill of lading service providers is crucial. The transfer of a bill of lading from one electronic service provider to another raises certain technical and commercial and, to a significant ex tent, legal questions. The author presents the current state of interoperability among electronic bill of lading providers, addresses current legal dilemmas and poses new questions.

Key words: interoperability, electronic bill of lading, ZEPEP, MLEC, MLETR, reliability of electronic platform, UNCITRAL, exclusive control