Notify party

The notify party receives the arrival notice so that someone acts promptly when the vessel or flight arrives. It is often the buyer, the buyer's customs broker or the forwarder's destination agent. The field matters most when the consignee is a bank or the bill is made out “to order”, because then the carrier has no other way of knowing who is actually waiting for the goods.

Being named as notify party gives no rights to the cargo. Delivery goes to the consignee, or to the holder of the original bill of lading; the notify party may be the same company, but only that other role entitles it to collect. Many documents simply state “same as consignee” in the notify field, and some provide a second notify party, for example the importer's customs broker.

Carriers usually treat the arrival notice as a courtesy, so wrong or outdated notify party details mean nobody hears about the arrival until storage or demurrage has already started. Forwarders confirm a current company name, address, phone number and email for the notify party when drafting the bill of lading. On imports, naming the customs broker who will clear the goods can shorten the time between arrival and release.