Thomas Miller Americas were the hosts for the UK Club's seminar on Bills of Lading and Sanctions which took place on October 17 at the TMA offices in New Jersey.

An opening presentation by William Juska of Freehill Hogan & Mahar on trade sanctions preceded a wider panel discussion on bills of lading.

Andrew Johnson of Hill Dickinson in London, and Wayne Meehan of Freehill Hogan & Mahar in New York, gave the UK and U.S. perspectives on numerous issues facing owners and charterers related to transportation under bills of lading.

As well as an overview on the various types of bills of lading and the different legal regimes, the seminar delved into the details of who can be sued and the entitlement to sue. The impact of various changes to documentation e.g. clausing bills of lading, mate's receipts and the amendments to bills in conjunction with letters of indemnity was also discussed.

Questions relating to multimodalism such as Carmack Amendment vs. COGSA, the role of intermediaries and NVOCCS and the selection and enforcement of jurisdiction were compared with similar issues for door-to-door or port-to-port bills.

Over thirty executives from UK Club members attended the event which concluded with a cocktail reception nearby.