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Not only the goods, but the documents themselves can also be rejected under certain circumstances. Where the defect in the documents is discovered before paying for them, the buyer is entitled to reject them.32 Furthermore, assuming the documents tendered were in conformity, but the goods shipped are defective and that certain defects or non-conformity in the goods would not have been apparent on the face of the documents, under this circumstance, although the buyer is not allowed to reject the documents after the discharge of goods, he is allowed to claim damage to the difference between the value of the goods at the time of delivery and the value of the goods if they had been conforming. It seems the buyer can recover his position as if he had been allowed to reject the documents, so some author think it is yet another argument why the CIF contract is a sale of goods rather than a sale of documents contract.33
IV. Conclusion
It seems during current international commercial practice, delivery of the goods themselves into the hands of the buyer is not of the same importance in a CIF sale as under a FOB sale or other relevant condition, and the demands arising from international finance also exaggerate the documentary characteristic of a CIF sale, which have tended to blur the relative positions of the goods and the documents and led to the apparent current confusion. However, based on the analysis of the real intention of parties in a CIF contract, and the conditional and symbolic function of bill of lading, it can be concluded that in its historic, legal and economic context, a CIF contract is a contract for sale of goods rather than sale of documents.
【注释】 1. 2 K.B. 379 at 388.
2. See Holland Colombo Trading Society Ltd v Segu Mohamed Khaja Alawedeen 2 Lloyd''s Rep. 45.
3. 1 K.B. 198.
4. Devlin J. Kwei Tek Chao v British Traders & Shippers Ltd , 2 Q.B. 459.
5. See Hindley & Co v East India Produce Co, 2 Lloyd''s Rep. 515.
6. See Orient Co Ltd v Brekke, 1 KB 531.
7. 2 Lloyd''s Rep 45 (PC).
8. 1 All ER 501.
9. 1 KB 198.
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