国际商会官方案例意见学习笔记- Document 470/TA.796rev
安特卫普属于北欧港口吗？
一、背景与问题
信用证规定货物从“ANY NORTH EUROPEAN PORT”（任何北欧港口）起运，要求的运输单据为提单。
指定银行收到的提单表明货物从安特卫普（Antwerp）起运。信用证中没有定义北欧地理范围，指定银行认为安特卫普属于北欧的范围。
但开证行以安特卫普不在信用证规定的地理范围内为由拒付。开证行进一步解释称比利时属于西欧而非北欧，并以www.mapsofworld.com网站的信息为证。
二、问题
开证行的拒付理由成立吗？
三、分析与结论
UCP600第14条a款要求银行应仅基于单据本身来审单。并非由国际商会银行委员会来定义或判断地理范围。信用证的要求模糊不清，依据ISBP745预先考虑事项中的第v段，应由开证申请人承担开立或修改信用证指示不明确所导致的风险。
再者，开证行应确保其所开立的任何信用证或修改书的条款或条件没有模糊不清，也不存在相互矛盾。无需引用外部资源来确定相关事实。
开证申请人和开证行应承担未能明确如何定义“任何北欧港口”的风险。在本案中，单据没有不符。
点评意见：
ISBP745第E6g段规定，如果信用证规定的装货港为某一地理区域或港口范围，提单须显示实际的装货港，且该港口须位于此地理区域或港口范围之内。
本案的问题在于信用证本身没有定义“北欧港口”的范围，含义模糊，界限不明。审单人员也无需参考外部资源来核实安特卫普到底是否北欧港口。根据“contra preferentem”（不利于起草人）原则，风险由开证申请人和开证行承担。
R799/TA770rev涉及类似问题，即香港是否属于中国港口。其结论是肯定的，审单人员无需了解或过问同属于中国范围内的香港与大陆之间可能的差异。同样，其可能的风险及后果亦由申请人和开证行承担。
四、涉及的惯例
NOTE:
ANALYSIS
The credit called for shipment from “ANY NORTH EUROPEAN PORT” and the transport document required in field 46a was: “FULL SET OF CLEAN ON BOARD BILL OF LADING”.
The bill of lading evidenced shipment from Antwerp. The nominated bank believed the documents to comply as the geographical area of North Europe was not defined in the
credit.
The issuing bank refused the documents arguing that Antwerp is not within the geographical area or range stated in the credit.
UCP 600 sub-article 14 (a) states that a bank must examine a presentation on the basis of the documents alone.
It is not a matter for the ICC Banking Commission to define or determine geographical areas or ranges. The requirement in the credit is vague and clearly ambiguous. In accordance with ISBP 745 Preliminary Considerations paragraph (v), the applicant bears the risk of any ambiguity in its instructions to issue or amend a credit.
Furthermore, an issuing bank should ensure that any credit or amendment it issues is not ambiguous or conflicting in its terms and conditions. It should not be necessary to refer to external resources in order to determine relevant facts.
CONCLUSION
The applicant and issuing bank must bear the risk of ambiguity for failing to express specifically how “Any North European Port”is to be defined.
推荐链接：国际商会官方案例意见学习笔记汇总
来源：国贸人的小菜园, ICC OPINION （侵删）
