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About International Trade

Lexis®+ International Trade is an online practical and comprehensive guidance product for contentious and non-contentious lawyers providing advice to and supporting governments, businesses and organisations that engage in international trade.

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As the UK pursues an independent trade policy and businesses seek to exploit these opportunities, stay ahead of the curve and guide your clients through this vast regulatory landscape.

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An online practical and comprehensive guidance product for contentious and non-contentious lawyers giving advice to and supporting governments, businesses and organisations that engage.

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Jurisdictional guides relevant to international trade, giving lawyers an overview of applicable laws at national level which impacts on international trade.

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Covering all WTO agreements, WTO disputes, trade remedies, free trade agreements, the UK-EU TCA as well as guidance on a range of topics related to international trade such as sanctions and export controls.

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Associated legal terms

Bottomry

Bottomry is an historic form of maritime financing where the master of a ship borrows money for the necessities of the vessel or voyage and pledges the ship itself as security, on the condition that repayment is only due if the ship survives the voyage. If the ship is lost, the lender loses the money advanced.

In modern UK and Irish shipping and admiralty practice, bottomry has been largely superseded by marine mortgages, marine insurance and standard ship finance arrangements, and is now mainly of academic or historical interest. The concept appears in older case law and commentary on maritime law and general average, but is not a commonly used instrument in contemporary commercial practice in England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland or Ireland.

Key legal features traditionally associated with bottomry include: a loan made in extremis for maritime necessities; security limited to the maritime adventure (the ship, and sometimes freight in a related “respondentia” bond); and risk of total loss borne by the lender. Modern practitioners may still encounter bottomry in the interpretation of historic shipping documents, older authorities and comparative maritime law analysis.

Document of title

A document of title is a document that enables the person holding it to deal with goods (or other property) as owner, or to transfer possession or control of those goods to another. In commercial practice this commonly includes bills of lading, warehouse receipts and delivery orders, and, in some contexts, share certificates and land title deeds.

In England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland, the concept is reflected in statute and case law, particularly in sale of goods and carriage of goods legislation, which recognise certain documents as symbolising the goods and allowing constructive delivery by endorsement or transfer. A good faith purchaser of a negotiable document of title may obtain better rights to the goods than the transferor.

In Scots law, the expression is used in a similar commercial sense, although underlying rules on transfer of ownership and security differ; documents such as bills of lading still function as key indicia of entitlement to possession.

Across all four jurisdictions, documents of title are central to international trade, secured lending over goods, and the resolution of priority and risk of loss issues in supply chains.

Free on board (FOB)

Free on board (FOB) is a commonly used delivery term in sale of goods and international trade contracts indicating the point at which the seller’s obligations to deliver, and the risk of loss or damage to the goods, pass from seller to buyer. In practice, FOB usually means the seller must place the goods on board the vessel nominated by the buyer at the named port of shipment, within the agreed time and in the agreed manner, and bear all costs and risks up to that point.

FOB is not a statutory term in the Sale of Goods Acts in the UK or Ireland, but has been extensively interpreted by case law and is also reflected in Incoterms rules published by the ICC (e.g. FOB Incoterms 2020). Courts in England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland treat FOB clauses similarly, focussing on allocation of risk, cost, and responsibility for insurance, export formalities and documentation (such as bills of lading).

Lawyers should identify whether the contract adopts FOB as an Incoterm, a customised trade term, or as construed under common law, as this affects when property and risk pass, and who bears duties regarding carriage and insurance.
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