§ 80104. — Form and requirements for negotiation.
[Laws in effect as of January 7, 2003]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 7, 2003 and December 19, 2003]
[CITE: 49USC80104]
TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
SUBTITLE X--MISCELLANEOUS
CHAPTER 801--BILLS OF LADING
Sec. 80104. Form and requirements for negotiation
(a) General Rules.--(1) A negotiable bill of lading may be
negotiated by indorsement. An indorsement may be made in blank or to a
specified person. If the goods are deliverable to the order of a
specified person, then the bill must be indorsed by that person.
(2) A negotiable bill of lading may be negotiated by delivery when
the common carrier, under the terms of the bill, undertakes to deliver
the goods to the order of a specified person and that person or a
subsequent indorsee has indorsed the bill in blank.
(3) A negotiable bill of lading may be negotiated by a person
possessing the bill, regardless of the way in which the person got
possession, if--
(A) a common carrier, under the terms of the bill, undertakes to
deliver the goods to that person; or
(B) when the bill is negotiated, it is in a form that allows it
to be negotiated by delivery.
(b) Validity Not Affected.--The validity of a negotiation of a bill
of lading is not affected by the negotiation having been a breach of
duty by the person making the negotiation, or by the owner of the bill
having been deprived of possession by fraud, accident, mistake, duress,
loss, theft, or conversion, if the person to whom the bill is
negotiated, or a person to whom the bill is subsequently negotiated,
gives value for the bill in good faith and without notice of the breach
of duty, fraud, accident, mistake, duress, loss, theft, or conversion.
(c) Negotiation by Seller, Mortgagor, or Pledgor to Person Without
Notice.--When goods for which a negotiable bill of lading has been
issued are in a common carrier's possession, and the person to whom the
bill has been issued retains possession of the bill after selling,
mortgaging, or pledging the goods or bill, the subsequent negotiation of
the bill by that person to another person receiving the bill for value,
in good faith, and without notice of the prior sale, mortgage, or pledge
has the same effect as if the first purchaser of the goods or bill had
expressly authorized the subsequent negotiation.
(Pub. L. 103-272, Sec. 1(e), July 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 1347.)
Historical and Revision Notes
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Revised Section Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at Large)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
80104(a)(1)........................... 49 App.:108. Aug. 29, 1916, ch. 415, Secs. 27, 28,
30, 37, 38, 39 Stat. 542, 543, 544.
80104(a)(2)........................... 49 App.:107.
80104(a)(3)........................... 49 App.:110.
80104(b).............................. 49 App.:117.
80104(c).............................. 49 App.:118.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In subsection (a)(1), the words ``If the goods are deliverable to
the order of a specified person'' are substituted for ``the person to
whose order the goods are deliverable by the tenor of the bill'' for
clarity. The text of 49 App.:108 (last sentence) is omitted as
unnecessary because of the restatement.
