Clean Bill of Lading vs Claused: What 10 Carriers Print
What is a clean bill of lading, and why can one remark from the carrier decide whether your bank pays you? A clean bill has no clause or notation on it that expressly says the goods or their packing are defective. A claused bill carries one, and a bank paying under a letter of credit will not accept it. The printed terms of 15 container lines were checked on 5 October 2026. Of the documents that could be fetched, 10 of 10 print a clause disclaiming knowledge of your cargo's contents, weight or description, and none declares a defect. The small print is not the danger. The typed remark is.
The remark is written when the carrier receives your cargo, days before your documents reach the bank. One exporter on a public trade forum described the result: the issuing bank had raised a discrepancy because the bill was not marked "clean", and the seller wanted to know whether that was valid.
If you already know how original, telex and seaway release differ, this is the other half of the document: not how the bill releases the cargo, but what the carrier writes about the cargo on its face.
Checked 5 October 2026 · By Iman Yusoff, IFG Shipping
What Is a Clean Bill of Lading?
A clean bill of lading is a bill whose face carries no clause or notation declaring that the goods, or their packing, were in a defective condition when the carrier received them. ICC Academy sets out that UCP 600 article 27 requires banks to accept only such clean transport documents. Cleanliness is judged by what is written, not what is in the box.
The bill of lading is a receipt, evidence of the contract of carriage and, in its original negotiable form, a document of title. Here, the receipt is what matters. When the carrier signs the bill, it confirms what it saw at the moment it took the goods. A clean bill says, in effect, "nothing looked wrong". A claused bill says, "this is what looked wrong, and we noted it".
A claused bill is also called a "dirty" or "foul" bill. All three names mean the same thing. "Claused" is the most useful word with a bank or a carrier, because it points to the clause, and the clause is what any argument will be about.
Clean vs Claused Bill of Lading: 5 Differences
The two bills can look identical except for one line of text.
Point | Clean bill of lading | Claused bill of lading |
What the face shows | No remark declaring a defect in the goods or packing | A remark that expressly declares damage, defect or inadequate packing |
Letter of credit | Acceptable under UCP 600 article 27 | Not acceptable unless the credit is amended or the buyer waives |
Evidence of condition | Prima facie evidence the goods were received as described | Evidence the defect existed at receipt |
Buyer's claim position | Buyer can point to the carrier for damage found later | Carrier can point to the remark for the noted defect |
Who wrote the deciding words | The carrier, by leaving the condition unqualified | The carrier, by adding the clause |
Notice the last row: either way it's the carrier's pen, and your influence comes before it moves.
Who Writes the Remark, and When?
The carrier writes it, at the point it receives your goods. Article III(3) of the Hague-Visby Rules puts the duty on the carrier: once it has the goods and the shipper asks, it must issue a bill that records, with other details, how the goods looked when it took them, their apparent order and condition. In Singapore, section 3(1) of the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1972 gives those rules the force of law, as the Council of ASEAN Chief Justices' Singapore law guide explains, which makes them mandatory.
"Apparent" is a narrow word. Gard's Guidance on Bills of Lading (2011) reads it as whatever a careful, competent ship's officer would notice on a reasonable look, not what a specialist might find. Nobody expects the master to unwrap the cargo or send it for laboratory tests. So the carrier judges the outside: the cartons, the crates, the wrapping, the seal.
Gard also counts packing adequacy as part of condition. A carton too weak for the voyage is a condition problem even when the goods inside are perfect. That makes packing, not product quality, the first thing to check when you want a clean bill.
Under Article III(4) of the Hague-Visby Rules, the bill is prima facie evidence of receipt as described. Once the bill has been transferred to a third party acting in good faith, proof to the contrary isn't admissible.
Which Remarks Make a Bill Claused, and Which Do Not?
Not every clause on a bill of lading makes it unclean. The test in ISBP 821, as ICC Academy summarises it, is whether the clause expressly says the goods or their packing are defective.
Wording on the bill | What it declares | Effect on an LC presentation |
"12 cartons torn, contents exposed" | A defect in the packing | Makes the bill claused |
"50 coils rusty, remainder in apparent good order and condition" | A defect in part of the goods | Makes the bill claused |
"Packing insufficient for sea carriage" | Inadequate packing | Makes the bill claused |
"Said to contain" / "Shipper's load and count" | That the carrier did not check the contents | Not a defect statement, so it does not meet the ISBP 821 test for a claused bill |
"Weight / measure / quantity unknown" | That figures come from the shipper | Not a defect statement; Gard says "weight unknown" wording will not normally make the bill unacceptable |
The coil example comes from Gard's guidance, which prefers a precise count of the affected units, as in the table, to a vague "some rusty". The carton and packing lines are illustrations of the same principle, not quotations. Gard also calls "order and condition unknown" unacceptable, because the master is obliged to inspect.
What 10 Carriers' Printed Terms Say (Checked 5 October 2026)
Does the printed small print on a carrier's bill make it claused? A frozen list of 15 container lines was checked on 5 October 2026 by fetching each one's published bill of lading or sea waybill terms from its own website. Every clause about receipt, contents and condition was then read and coded. Ten documents could be fetched and read. Five could not, and they are not counted.
What the printed terms contain | Count (of 10) | What it means for an LC seller |
A clause saying the carrier makes no representation about, or does not know, the contents, weight or description (said to contain, shipper's load and count, particulars furnished by the merchant) | 10 of 10 | Standard wording; it declares no defect, so under the ISBP 821 test it does not make a bill claused |
"Apparent good order and condition" wording for receipt | 9 of 10 | The clean default: condition is good unless a remark says otherwise |
Wording that limits the receipt to the container, or says the carrier did not check a merchant-packed container | 8 of 10 | For FCL, the carrier is vouching for the box, not your cartons |
Printed wording that declares goods or packaging defective | 0 of 10 | The printed terms alone do not make a bill claused |
One more observation, which was not set out in advance and so is treated as exploratory: 3 of the 10 documents define "clean", or "clean on board", for shipper-packed containers as referring to the container only.
So the no-knowledge wording on almost every bill is the industry norm, not a remark against you. What can hurt you is a specific note about your cargo, typed or stamped on the face at receipt. Gard also ranks the layers: a handwritten word beats a typed one, and a typed word beats the printed form. A handwritten note at the terminal outranks everything in the small print.
What Does Clean on Board Actually Mean?
"Clean on board" joins two separate conditions: clean, meaning no defect remark, and on board, meaning the goods have been shipped rather than only received for shipment.
On the first half, ICC Academy states that the word "clean" doesn't need to appear on the document. Even when your credit asks for a "clean on board" bill, you don't need the carrier to stamp "CLEAN" on it. You need the absence of a defect remark.
On the second half, Article III(7) of the Hague-Visby Rules says that after loading, the bill shall, if the shipper so demands, be a "shipped" bill. That's the "on board" part, and it's about timing, not condition. A bill can be shipped on board and still claused.
So when a credit asks for a "full set clean on board bill of lading", read it as three checks: all the originals, no defect remark, and evidence of loading. Original versus telex versus seaway release is a separate decision, covered in our guide to the three bill of lading release types.
Why a Claused Bill Stops Your Letter of Credit Payment
A letter of credit pays against documents, not goods. Under UCP 600 article 27, as ICC Academy puts it, banks only accept clean transport documents. A claused bill is therefore a discrepancy, whatever the true state of the goods.
ICC Academy notes that UCP 600 sub-article 14(b) caps the bank's examination at five banking days, counted from the day after you present. Trade Finance Global confirms the same limit.
If the presentation doesn't comply, the bank can approach the buyer for a waiver. Trade Finance Global explains that if the buyer agrees to waive and the issuing bank accepts, the bank honours. If the buyer refuses, the bank issues a refusal notice and holds or returns the documents. Your bank's undertaking has just turned into your buyer's goodwill.
This is why we say on IFG's guide to letter of credit vs open account that a discrepancy in the bill of lading can delay payment even when the cargo is perfect. Our release-types guide also notes that a letter of credit usually calls for a full set of original negotiable bills, so every original carries the same remark. If you're still choosing a payment term, our comparison of telegraphic transfer vs letter of credit shows where document risk sits in each.
Why a Letter of Indemnity Is Not the Fix
When a remark threatens payment, someone may suggest a letter of indemnity: the shipper promises to cover the carrier if it issues a clean bill anyway. P&I clubs, which insure shipowners' liabilities, are blunt about this.
Britannia P&I's guidance notes that masters are usually asked for clean bills because a bank requires them to extend credit to the buyers. It calls a clean bill for cargo the master knows is wrongly described a fraud, and says an LOI does not cure that. Britannia adds that courts in some jurisdictions may hold such an LOI unenforceable and void on public policy grounds.
West P&I's claims guide puts the carrier's view in one line: the shipper's interests under letters of credit are of no concern to the carrier. Gard tells masters to resist exactly this pressure.
A clean bill bought with an LOI moves the risk onto you and onto an innocent buyer further down the chain. It isn't a route to rely on.
Containers: What the Carrier Can and Cannot See
If your cargo moves in a container, that changes what the carrier can see. Gard's guidance treats a container provided by the shipper as packing, and says its seal should be checked and the seal number recorded.
Does the carrier open your container to inspect the goods? Not for a full container you pack and seal yourself, unless the seal is broken; Gard says a container with a broken seal should then be opened if practicable. Otherwise it sees the box and the seal. 8 of the 10 carrier terms checked for this guide say so in print: they limit the receipt to the container or state that the carrier didn't check what was packed inside. With loose cargo consolidated by a forwarder, the cartons themselves are received, so a torn or wet carton can be noted. Our guide to FCL vs LCL explains how each mode is packed and handled.
Verdict: Fix the Remark Before the Cargo Reaches the Carrier
Read together, the sources make a claused bill a packing problem dressed as a banking problem.
First, for goods sold under a letter of credit, spend on export-grade packing before anything else in the shipment. A replaced carton costs less than a refused presentation.
Second, for a known cosmetic defect, such as marked outer cartons on sound goods, tell the buyer before loading and ask for the credit to be worded around it.
Third, for an open-account or telegraphic-transfer sale, a remark is a claims matter, not a payment stopper. Record it and move on.
7 Checks Before Your Cargo Is Loaded
Read the credit's transport-document clause. Note exactly what it asks for: full set, clean, on board, consignee, notify party.
Match the packing to the voyage. Condition includes packing adequacy, so pack for the sea leg and the handling at both ends.
Inspect before handover. Photograph every pallet, carton face and the sealed container door, with the date visible.
Replace, don't explain. Swap torn or wet cartons before the goods reach the terminal or the warehouse. Gard's advice to masters is to warn the shipper in writing that the bill will carry a remark unless the damaged goods are swapped or repaired.
Check the description. Marks, count and weight on the shipping instruction must match the commercial invoice and packing list, because Hague-Visby Article III(5) makes you guarantee the figures you give.
Ask for the draft bill. Read it before issue. Wording is easier to fix at draft stage than after the originals exist.
Warn the buyer early. If a remark is likely, raise it before loading so an amendment can be arranged in time.
Already Claused? 3 Ways Out
If the remark is already on the bill, you have three routes, none of them quick.
1. Replace before sailing. If the goods are still at the terminal, ask whether the damaged units can be pulled and replaced and a new bill issued. That depends on the carrier and the timing.
2. Amend the credit or seek a waiver. Gard points to one route: the shipper gets the credit changed so that it allows for the damage. Under UCP 600 Article 10, as ICC Academy explains, a credit can only be amended with the agreement of the issuing bank, any confirming bank and you as beneficiary. Failing that, the buyer can waive the discrepancy at presentation.
3. Accept that the terms have changed. Without an amendment or waiver, the documents may end up moving on collection terms instead. Our guide to documentary collection (D/P and D/A) explains what protection remains. If the goods are genuinely damaged, read who pays when cargo is damaged or lost and check your marine cargo insurance cover.
Method
On 5 October 2026, before any document was read, a list of 15 container lines serving Asia was frozen: the large global lines plus the Asian lines a Singapore, Malaysian or Indonesian SME is likely to meet. For each, a web search found the first bill of lading terms document on the carrier's own website, which was fetched with a named research user-agent that respects robots.txt and saved as text. An AI research agent did the collection and coding against four outcomes fixed in advance: a no-knowledge clause, "apparent good order" wording, a receipt limited to the container, and any printed defect declaration, judged against ICC Academy's definition of a clean transport document. Every yes and every no was re-checked by the same process against the full saved document. Failed fetches were retried once with the same address and recorded as failures, not as "no".
Limits
This is a convenience list chosen in advance, not a random sample of all carriers, and 5 of the 15 could not be read (three refused the named user-agent, one returned a bot-protection page, one had no document that could be found). One of the ten is a sea waybill version and one is marked as a superseded edition. Only printed terms were read, not real issued bills or the remarks typed on them. The coding was done by an AI agent, with no separate human coder. The result describes these documents on this date. It says nothing about how often carriers clause real bills.
Cite this
IFG Shipping. "Clean Bill of Lading vs Claused: What 10 Carriers Print". Carrier terms collected 5 October 2026. Dataset version 1: an anonymised table of 15 rows (carriers replaced by codes), published as a CSV with this page. This page is the canonical source.
Learn It With Iman, or Hand It to IFG
Learn it yourself. If you want to read your own bills and credits with confidence, the guides on this site cost nothing to read, starting with our shipping roadmap. I post lessons on LinkedIn and on TikTok as @freightsifu, and you can ask me directly on WhatsApp at +60 14 325 8325. There are no courses, workshops or certificates to buy.
Hand it to IFG. If you'd rather have the booking, packing and draft bill checked together before loading, send IFG the shipment details and your credit's document clause or WhatsApp the same number. We'll reply on the route and the documents. The carrier still writes the remark and the bank still decides, but you'll know what to expect before the cargo moves.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the word clean have to be printed on the bill of lading?
No. ICC Academy states that under UCP 600 article 27 the word "clean" doesn't need to appear on the document, even when the credit asks for a clean bill. A bank that objects only to the missing word is pointing at the wrong thing. What matters is that there's no clause or notation that expressly says the goods or their packing are defective.
Does the carrier open the container before issuing a clean bill?
Normally not, for a container you pack and seal, unless the seal is broken. Gard's guidance says the master isn't expected to remove packing or test the cargo, and 8 of the 10 carrier terms checked for this guide limit the receipt to the container or say the contents weren't checked. The carrier notes what it can see: the box, the seal and, for loose cargo, the cartons.
This article is general education on shipping documents, not legal or banking advice. Letter of credit terms, bank practice and carrier procedures vary; always check the exact documentary terms of your credit with your bank, and the bill of lading wording with your carrier, before shipping.
Content production support: SingRank, an SEO and AI search (GEO) agency in Singapore.
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