International Sale Of Goods Contract With The International Carriage Of Goods By The Relevant Legal Issues

The buyers and the sellers under the contract for international sales of goods are located in different places. In order to transfer the contract objects from the sellers to the buyers successfully; therefore, some necessary supporting contracts such as the contact of carriage and the insurance contract are required. Among those supporting contracts, the contract of carriage is the most important one. It is made on the basis of the sales contract and aims to ensure the performance of it. At present, carriage of goods by sea is still the most widely used way of transportation. Thus, contract for international sales of goods and the contract of carriage by sea are two contracts which are both individual and complementary to each other. Sales contract is the core of the whole trade process; furthermore, the contract of carriage should meet the requirements of the sales contract. The performance of the contract of carriage also reflects the rights and obligations of the sellers or the buyers under their sales contract.There are three parties under the contract of carriage by sea which are the shipper, carrier and the consignee. The shipper and the carrier form the contractual relationship by entering the contract of carriage. Moreover, the shipper and the consignee form the contractual relationship by entering a sales contract. Additionally, the issue of B/L gives rise to the legal relationship between the carrier and the consignee. Usually, the shipper under the contract of carriage is the seller, while the consignee under contract of carriage is often the buyer. Hence, the question about how to deal with these relations well, and assure both contracts make sense is worthy to be discussed both in trade circles and in shipping industries.This dissertation below includes 5 chapters. The first three chapters focus on the closely correlative contents from the sales contract and the contract of carriage. They analyze the main clauses of the sales contract which are the price terms, the shipping terms and the terms of payment. Additionally, they also present some confusing clauses that may bring potential disputes into business practice and give some suggestion regarding the connection of those clauses from the two individual contracts. Chapter 3 introduces the new Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits, UCP600. As UCP600 is supposed to be implemented in July 1st, 2007, Chapter 3 also briefs the rules about the requirements to the shipping documents from it. At last, because the regulations of the relationship among the shipper, the carrier and the consignee in our Maritime Code are not clearly enough; therefore, Chapter 4 and 5 put these questions in to further study, and give some suggestions for the sellers under the FOB Contract to be cautious during the shipping process.This dissertation hopes to bring the readers some deeper insights of the interrelationship between the two contracts, and helps our importers or exporters to solve some related problems in the international business practice.