Glossary

CargoDocs has a lot of business terminology that is usually not easy to get through a developer's point of view. There are references to documentation standards used across the API and day-to-day business transactions. We have tried to cover the majority of the commonly used terminologies throughout the API documentation and endpoints.

Terminology	Description
Advising Bank	The exporter’s bank.
Bill of lading (BoL)	A negotiable transport document issued by the carrier
Buyer	The purchaser of goods, and typically the consignee on the bill of lading
BoL/SWB Template	An exact digital replica of the front and back of the paper BoL format(s) used by the carrier
CargoDocs	A technical and legal platform that enables the use of original electronic bills of lading and supporting documents in cross-border shipments.
Carrier	The container line, NVOCC or breakbulk carrier
Company ID	The UUID provided for the relevant Consignor, Consignee, Trader, End Receiver, Inspector, Bank, and/or Vessel/Line/NVOCC involved in a transaction.
Consignor / Shipper	The party identified as the Consignor on the eBoL.
Consignee	The party identified as the Consignee on the eBoL.
DSUA	The legal framework that must be signed before using CargoDocs, as it ensures the validity of original electronic bills of lading across companies and countries.
DSUA	DSUA stands for Développement Social et Urbain de l'Agglomération de Montpellier. TThis is a legal framework that must be signed before using CargoDocs, as it ensures the validity of original eBoLs across companies and countries
eSet	a set of electronic documents made up of an eBoL or eWW and the support documents required to be delivered to the Consignee/buyer under the relevant sales contract; there is typically one eSet per parcel/lot.
Exchange	aka DocEx, is the CargoDocs module that enables signing and transferring original electronic documents, presenting them to banks, and otherwise managing eBoLs through their lifecycle.
Issuing Bank	The importer’s bank.
Line	A container line that issues an electronic Ocean BoL (eOBL).
MFA Token	A software token, required to CargoDocs web interface or to action eDocs within CargoDocs via the API.
Negotiable BoL	a BoL that can be endorsed to a new holder; typically a Negotiable BoL will be made out to the legal name of the Consignee or their order (or equivalent wording) or To Bearer.
NVOCC	NVOCC stands for Non-Vessel Owning Common Carrier. A non-vessel-owning cargo carrier that issues an electronic House BoL (eHBL). NVOCC operation comprises sales, stuffing, and transport of the containers to gateway ports. The bill of lading issue and overseas distribution is taken care of by the agents of NVOCC.
Non-Negotiable Copy	A copy of a BoL that is marked Non-Negotiable.
Official Copy	Output that has been pre-accepted by Import Customs Authorities, with some form of stamp that demonstrates it is not an original negotiable, such as For Customs Purposes Only.
Parcel	A specific amount of cargo of a specific grade + type, for a specific buyer; likely there will be more than one Parcel in any one shipment.
Parcel ID	The UUID is associated with a set/eSet of documents for the relevant Parcel.
Seller	The purchaser of goods, and typically the shipper on the bill of lading.
Set-id	The UUID associated with a set/eSet of documents
Ship Owner / Operator	The company that owns or operates the tramp Vessel, i.e., tanker of dry bulker.
Shipment Type	CargoDocs separates shipments into Liner (for containerized shipments), bulker (for all bulk shipments, including tanker and dry bulk), and Warehouse; for the purposes of this API the Type is Bulker.
Seawaybill (SWB)	A non-negotiable transport document
Transaction-id	UUID for the Set at a particular point in time.
Teams	Origin and Destination teams will be setup to ensure that eBoLs/SWBs are only displayed to the relevant team relating to the duties.
Vessel	The ship involved in shipping the cargo, or in a container movement the first ship carrying the cargo that is not a feeder's vessel.
Vessel UUID	The IMO number of the vessel.