Some TIPS of Risk Prevention: Shanghai Maritime Court Analyses the Characteristics of Several Disputes Arising out of "International Relocation"

With the increasing number of activities such as emigration and returns, the transnational logistics business of personal large items is also booming day by day. Some traditional freight forwarders and transportation companies begun to provide transportation service for transnational consignment of personal belongings, and the international relocation business has gradually become a new growth point. However, due to the complicated procedures and various parts of tasks to be accomplished by such international carriers, unexpected risks arise. In recent years, Shanghai Maritime Court accepted several disputes arising out of and/or in connection with the aforesaid cross-border transportation of personal large items, and such trend is still on the rise year by year.

According to introduction, in such cases, how to define legal relations remains to be a difficult issue to tackle with. The Parties to the contracts as service providers usually involves integrated service providers including booking space, customs declaration, packaging, sea transportation and land transportation, etc. The legal relationship in aforesaid contracts is different from those contractual relationship in the services provided in freight forwarding as well as carriage of goods by sea. In the process of verifying the amount of freight, some logistics companies argue that the expense they charged from customers constitutes "Introduction Fees" charged by the logistics platform only, rather than any actual freight. Therefore, how to define the legal relationship between individual customers and logistics service providers turn out to be a new challenge in handling such cases.

Secondly, there are still difficulties in verifying the value of the goods. Meanwhile, the parties also find it very difficult to fulfill their burden of proof in proving what had happened during the transportation process. In the pursuit of customs clearance tax evasion as well as costs lowering, some individuals, or even certain Customs Clearance Agencies choose to entrust  international logistics companies without certain qualification to handle the transnational transportation business. Certain irregularities would remain undoubtedly in the aforesaid operations. For example, no agreement is reached on the value, quantity, and specifications of the goods in the contracts, no price of the values of goods is evaluated, no corresponding purchase vouchers is kept properly, no insurance for the corresponding transportation is purchased etc. Additionally, the crucial delivery vouchers of goods, such as bills of lading, warehouse receipts, delivery receipts or any signature receipts are not presented at all. All aforesaid practices inevitably lead to difficulties in ascertaining the value of goods. In addition, it is not uncommon for service providers to sub-contract all or part of their obligations to any third parties, therefore individual customers can hardly know who acts as the actual carrier, and they often find they are in an extremely difficult position to fulfill their burden of proof in proving that the carrier is at fault during the transportation process.

It is suggested by Shanghai Maritime Court that, when individuals customers intend to transport their personal belongings for international relocation, they shall choose a qualified international transport company in the first place. Customers shall also declare the actual and accurate value of the goods carried to the relevant authority according to the laws and regulations. Besides, when signing a contract with a logistics company, the quantity, volume, freight and value of the goods shall be explicitly specified in the contract, and a Breach Clause is also important since such article may clarify the rights and obligations of the parties. Meanwhile, in the case of carriage of valuables, purchase of commercial insurance i.e. insurance of hedging risks and insurance of transportation are strongly recommended to prevent risks. Last but not least, please kindly pay attention to keep properly relevant documents such as original certificate of purchase of the goods carried and invoices, which constitute vital evidences to prove the actual value of goods under carriage.