Authors : Mohammed Shamim Uddin Khan , Mohammed Shahedul Quader and Tanvir Mohammad Hayder Arif
Abstract: A major portion of global trade transactions is handling of information. Traditional (local or international) trade essentially consists of moving goods and money. This cannot be done without sharing information between all the parties involved in the trade transactions. Paper document represents an old fashion, slow and ineffective system. If information is communicated and transferred on paper, it is needed to transport a lot of paper in addition to the actual information. It is time consuming as well as expensive. For this, there is a strong desire to get rid of papers in trade and the business community wants to utilize modern information technology for the purpose of effective and rational handling of information. At present the global traders use a system known as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) for transferring their information. EDI is quick as well as efficient system. The shipping industry is expected to get benefit greatly from its adoption, particularly in the areas of bills of lading. Electronic bill of lading has the ability to reduce the time span between ordering, delivering, invoicing and payment system. But existing legislation does not encourage the uptake of this technology. Numerous technical and legal obstacles have slowed the implementation of EDI at various stages. The rapid increase of electronic transactions and the plethora of technologies involved inevitably leads to problems on a global scale with legislation and regulation as because the legislatures’ machinery cannot keep pace with the changes regarding electronic commerce. This paper highlights the legal obstacles to the use of EDI system for electronic bills of lading. It also sheds light on the existing rules, which attempt to facilitate the use of electronic bills of lading. Finally, solutions to the legal problems that may arise from the use of electronic bills of lading are discussed.]
Mohammed Shamim Uddin Khan , Mohammed Shahedul Quader and Tanvir Mohammad Hayder Arif , 2004. Legal Aspects of Electronic Bills of Lading in Shipping Industry . Asian Journal of Information Technology, 3: 1254-1258.