"Compliance between documents" (also known as "consistency among documents") is one of the core principles in letter of credit (L/C) settlement. It means that all documents submitted by the beneficiary must be consistent with one another in content, with no contradictions or conflicts. It usually works together with "compliance between documents and the credit" (consistency between documents and L/C terms) as the prerequisite for bank payment. It is mainly used when documents are presented for negotiation under an L/C, where the bank strictly examines whether the goods description, quantity, amount, date, shipping marks, and other information in the commercial invoice, bill of lading, insurance policy, packing list, certificate of origin, and other documents match one another. Points to note include: the goods descriptions in the documents should not contradict one another, though minor differences are allowed as long as they do not conflict with the L/C description; the shipment date on the bill of lading must not be later than the insurance policy date; the invoice amount must not exceed the L/C amount; and the shipping marks, weights, and number of packages in all documents must be consistent. The difference from "compliance between documents and the credit" is that compliance between documents focuses on horizontal consistency among documents, while compliance between documents and the credit focuses on vertical consistency between the documents and the L/C terms. In practice, banks treat discrepancies among documents as discrepancies, which may lead to refusal of payment or deductions, so documents must be checked repeatedly during preparation.
📝 Examples
1. When examining documents under an L/C, the bank found that the consignee on the bill of lading was shown as "TO ORDER," while the consignee on the commercial invoice was written as "ABC COMPANY." This is a typical case of documents not being consistent with one another, and the bank accordingly raised a discrepancy and refused payment. (Note: The consignee on the bill of lading and the invoice are inconsistent, violating the principle of compliance between documents.)
2. Before presenting documents, the exporter must check whether the gross weight on the packing list is consistent with the gross weight on the bill of lading; otherwise, discrepancies among documents may cause the issuing bank to refuse payment and affect the safety of foreign exchange collection. (Note: This emphasizes the need to ensure that weight data in all documents are consistent when preparing documents, so as to avoid discrepancies.)
💡 Foreign Trade Tips
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