Research On Legal Problems Concerning NVOCC

Non-vessel operating common carrier (NVOCC) refers to this kind of enterprise, which doesn't operate or own any vessel, but can, in the name of carrier, receive consignors' cargo for transportation and issue its own bill of lading or other corresponding transport documents, and is entitled to collect freight and obliged to fulfill the contract for transport through actual carrier.Before Ordinance of International Shipping (hereinafter referred as OIS) became effective on January 1st, 2002 , the shipping market in the field of NVOCC was badly managed because there were no corresponding laws and regulations ruling NVOCC. OIS, which has established the administrative system of NVOCC for the first time in China, comprehensively stipulates the qualification for NVOCC and its business activities. According to OIS and relative laws and regulations, and in the light of the practice of NVOCC, this article probes into some legal problems of NVOCC in the administrative and civil aspects. I hope this article will be conducive to the development of business of NVOCC and the perfection of relevant system of NVOCC.This article is composed of six chapters. The foreword mainly introduces the outcome of NVOCC, and the concept and characteristic of NVOCC is introduced in the first chapter. It is administrative management system of NVOCC, such as bail system, registration system of bill of lading and system of application for qualification that is studied in the second chapter. The following chapters all deal with civil legal questions of NVOCC. The third chapter introduces the types and scope of business of NVOCC and the fourth chapter mainly analyzes the relation of NVOCC and forwarder, which are not only closely collected but also differentiate in many aspects. As we know, when NVOCC receives consignors' cargo, he should issue his own bill of lading to consignors, but on the other hand, NVOCC should book space from actual carrier in the name of consignor and receive the B/L from actual carrier. Therefore there are two contracts for transport and bills of lading for the same cargo, which makes the legal relationship of bill of lading in the business of NVOCC more complex than that in liner transportation. The fifth chapter specializes in the study of legal relation of B/L of NVOCC and the sixth chapter discusses the dispute on freight concerning NVOCCunder two kinds of typical circumstances since disputes on freight in the business of NVOCC arises frequently due to the complexity of civil legal questions. Last but not the least, I make a proposal that the administration of NVOCC that has obtained the qualification should be strengthened, and should pay more attention to supervising NVOCC having no qualification.The comparative study method is adopted in this article.Wu Chongfang (International Law 2000) Directed by Pro. Yin Dongnian...