On 20 February 2025, the International Group of P&I Clubs (IG) introduced a new streamlined process for approving e-Bill platforms. The new process requires solution providers to demonstrate that their system is reliable, and that only "compliant" e-Bills are used. It is the result of recent legislative developments reflecting the increasing number of countries that have adopted laws recognising electronic bills of lading.
"Compliant" e-Bills must be governed by laws that recognise them as equivalent to paper bills of lading – such as English law following the Electronic Trade Documents Act (ETDA) 2023. To make e-Bills compliant, incorporation clauses in bills of lading should expressly state the governing law, which must recognise e-Bills, even if it differs from the law governing the charter party.
Many bills of lading used in the bulk shipping sector use an “incorporation clause” to incorporate governing terms from the charter party. To avoid uncertainty, they should always include wording that expressly incorporates the charter party’s law and arbitration provision. This is needed to establish clearly the law and jurisdiction governing the bill of lading. The charter party from which governing terms are incorporated is usually identified by its date.
For example, Clause 1 of BIMCO’s CONGENBILL’s conditions of carriage includes all the “terms and conditions, liberties and exceptions” of the charter party dated on the face of the bill of lading, including the law and arbitration clause. However, owners and charterers might have agreed in the charter party on law and arbitration from a jurisdiction where eBills are not legally recognized as equivalent to paper bills of lading.
To avoid the risk of an e-Bill on a “deemed approved” system not being considered compliant by the IG, you could think about amending the words of the incorporation clause. This could be done by adding to the general words of incorporation to state the law that governs the bill of lading (from a jurisdiction that recognises e-Bills), which may be the same as or different from the law governing the charter party.
The use of e-Bills is growing steadily and recent legal reforms are helping to accelerate the process. The IG’s approval of e-Bill systems provides valuable certainty to shipowners that their P&I cover will not be prejudiced when using an approved system. The welcome new streamlined process supports these recent developments.
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