Learn about the obligations of international freight forwarders!

International freight forwarding refers to an economic activity in which an international freight forwarding organization accepts the entrustment of the consignee and consignor of import and export goods, handles international cargo transportation and related business for the consignor in the name of the consignor or itself, and collects labor remuneration.




(1) Division of responsibilities when appearing as a pure agent
As an agent, the freight forwarding company plays the role of matchmaking between the cargo owner and the carrier, and the cargo owner and the carrier directly sign the transportation contract. The freight forwarding company charges a commission, and the responsibility is small. When the goods are lost or damaged, the owner can claim directly from the carrier.

(2) Division of responsibilities when appearing as a party
1. The freight company signs a contract with a third party (carrier) in its own name.
2. When arranging storage and transportation, use your own warehouse or transport
3. Charge the difference when arranging transportation and LCL shipment
In the above three cases, for the shipper, the freight forwarder is the carrier, and the carrier should be responsible.

(3) Responsibilities when appearing as NVOCC
When a freight forwarder engages in NVOCC business and issues its own NVOCC bill of lading, it becomes a NVOCC operator and is regarded as a legal carrier. He is both a carrier and a shipper.

(4) Division of responsibilities when the identity of the multimodal transport operator appears
When a freight forwarder is responsible for multimodal transport and issuing bills of lading, it becomes a multimodal transport operator (MTO) and is considered a legal carrier.

1. The United Nations "Convention on Multimodal Transport" stipulates the responsibility of MTO for lost or delayed delivery of goods.
(1) The limit of compensation for loss of or damage to goods shall not exceed a maximum of 920 SDR per piece or per shipping unit, or 2.75 SDR per kilogram, whichever is higher. However, if the international multimodal transportation does not include sea or inland water transportation according to the contract, the liability of MTO shall not exceed 8.33SDR per kilogram of the gross weight of the lost or damaged goods.
(2) For the delayed delivery of the goods, a 90-day delivery period is stipulated. The MTO's compensation limit for the delayed delivery is 2.5 times the freight of the delayed delivery of the goods, which cannot exceed the full freight of the contract.

(5) Division of responsibilities when appearing as “mixed” identity
Freight forwarders are engaged in a wide range of businesses. In addition to acting as a freight forwarder on behalf of the client to declare customs, apply for inspection, and arrange transportation, they also use their own employees to provide services for their own vehicles, ships, aircraft, warehouses, and loading and unloading tools. Or the carrier in the land stage and the agent in the sea stage. The confirmation of the legal status of the freight forwarder cannot be simplified, but should be analyzed according to the specific situation.