Legal status
Electronic bills of lading in the United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the Electronic Trade Documents Act 2023 gives electronic trade documents, including electronic bills of lading, the same effect as their paper equivalents, provided a reliable system ensures that only one person can control the document at a time.
- Status
- In force
- Instrument
- Electronic Trade Documents Act 2023
- MLETR-based
- Partial
- Enacted
- 20 Jul 2023
- In force since
- 20 Sept 2023
- Scope
- Covers any electronic equivalent of a paper trade document whose possession is required to claim performance, with listed examples including bills of lading, bills of exchange, promissory notes, ship's delivery orders, warehouse receipts, mate's receipts, marine insurance policies and cargo insurance certificates. The electronic document must be held in a reliable system that ensures exclusive control and transfer; the Act does not apply to documents issued before it came into force.
In more detail
The Act received Royal Assent on 20 July 2023 and came into force on 20 September 2023. It extends to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. UNCITRAL lists the United Kingdom (2023) as having legislation influenced by the Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records and the principles on which it is based, rather than enacting it directly.
What remains unclear
The Act does not apply to electronic trade documents issued before 20 September 2023. Whether a document that qualifies under the Act is recognised in another country depends on the governing law and the law of that country, not on the Act alone.
Sources
- Electronic Trade Documents Act 2023 (c. 38)The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk) · published 20 Jul 2023 · accessed 16 Oct 2026supports: status, instrument, enacted, in force since, scope, summary
- Status: UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (2017)UNCITRAL · accessed 16 Oct 2026supports: MLETR basis, summary
- Electronic Trade Documents Act 2023 (Bill 3344): bill stagesUK Parliament · accessed 16 Oct 2026supports: status, enacted