Shipper’s Load, Stow and Count (SLAC) and Said to Contain: What the Bill of Lading Clause Means

Look closely at the face of almost any bill of lading for a full container load and you will find a short phrase in the goods description box: “Shipper’s load, stow and count”, often abbreviated SLAC or SLSC, and next to it “said to contain” (STC). Most importers never notice these words until something goes wrong — the container arrives at Chattogram with the seal intact, the doors are opened, and there are fewer cartons than the bill of lading lists, or the wrong goods entirely.

At that point, those few words decide who is responsible. This guide explains what the clauses mean, why carriers use them, how they affect cargo claims, insurance and letters of credit, and what an importer can do to protect themselves when the carrier never sees inside the box.

What the clauses actually say

In a full container load (FCL) shipment, the shipper — in China, usually the factory or its forwarder — loads the container at its own premises, closes the doors and applies a seal. The shipping line then receives a sealed box. It has no way to count the cartons or inspect the goods without breaking the seal, which it will not do.

So the carrier describes the contents on the bill of lading only as the shipper declared them, and qualifies that description:

• Shipper’s load, stow and count — the shipper loaded the container, arranged the cargo inside it, and counted the packages. The carrier did none of these things.
• Said to contain — the description of contents is what the shipper said is inside, not something the carrier verified.
• Shipper’s weight — similar wording is often used for declared weights, although the container’s verified gross mass is now a separate requirement. See our guide on VGM.

The carrier’s responsibility, in practical terms, is for one sealed container, received in apparent good order and delivered with the seal intact. What is inside is the shipper’s declaration.

Why this matters for FCL but much less for LCL

The clauses make sense only because of how FCL works. In a less-than-container load (LCL) shipment, your cartons are delivered to the forwarder’s consolidation warehouse, where they are received, counted and loaded by the forwarder alongside other shippers’ goods. The forwarder issues its own house bill of lading and is in a position to say how many cartons it received and in what condition.

Question	FCL (shipper-loaded)	LCL (consolidated)
Who counts the packages?	The shipper	The forwarder at the CFS
Who sees the goods before sailing?	Only the shipper, unless you arrange inspection	The consolidator’s warehouse staff
What does the carrier vouch for?	One sealed container	The number of packages received
Typical wording on the BL	Shipper’s load, stow and count; said to contain	Package count, sometimes with remarks on condition

If you are choosing between the two for a mid-sized shipment, this difference in verification is part of the decision; our guide on LCL vs FCL covers the cost side.

Shortage with the seal intact: a worked example

Consider how a typical dispute unfolds. The bill of lading states 1,200 cartons, marked “shipper’s load, stow and count”. At the off-dock depot in Chattogram, the container is opened for customs examination and only 1,080 cartons are found. The seal number matches the number on the bill of lading, and the seal shows no sign of tampering.

Who is liable? In most cases, not the shipping line. An intact seal matching the documents is strong evidence that the container was not opened in transit, which points to the cartons never having been loaded. Because the carrier only acknowledged receipt of a sealed container “said to contain” 1,200 cartons, a claim against the carrier for the missing 120 is very unlikely to succeed. The claim lies against the supplier.

Now change one fact: the seal number at arrival does not match the bill of lading, or the seal has been cut and replaced. The picture is completely different. A mismatched or damaged seal suggests the container may have been opened after it left the shipper’s control, and a claim against the carrier or others in the chain becomes possible. This is why recording the seal number and its condition at every handover matters so much; see our guide on container bolt seals.

Insurance and customs consequences

The same clause affects your cargo insurance. Marine cargo policies generally cover loss or damage from insured perils during transit, but a shortage that existed before the goods were loaded is not a transit loss. If the evidence shows the cartons were never put in the container, the insurer is likely to decline. Our guide to marine cargo insurance ICC A, B and C explains what each level covers.

Customs brings a separate problem. Your bill of entry is based on the invoice and packing list. If physical examination finds fewer packages, or different goods, the declaration no longer matches the cargo. A shortage has to be recorded properly so that you are not assessed duty on goods you never received; different goods can raise questions of misdeclaration. Deal with this through your C&F agent at the examination stage, with the examination report as evidence, rather than trying to correct it afterwards.

Letters of credit and the SLAC clause

Importers paying by letter of credit sometimes ask whether they can refuse a bill of lading with SLAC or STC wording. Under UCP 600, Article 26, banks will accept a transport document bearing clauses such as “shipper’s load and count” and “said by shipper to contain”. In other words, this wording is not a discrepancy, and demanding its removal is not realistic for FCL cargo — no carrier will vouch for the contents of a box it did not pack.

What an LC can do is require other documents that give you the verification the bill of lading cannot. That is covered in our guide to LC discrepancies, and it leads directly to the practical protections below.

How importers protect themselves

Because the carrier will not verify contents, the verification has to happen before the doors close in China. The main tools are:

• Pre-shipment inspection. An inspector checks quantity, quality and packing against your order before the goods are released for loading. See pre-shipment inspection.
• Container loading supervision. An inspector watches the container being loaded, counts cartons going in, photographs the process and records the seal number as it is applied. This is the most direct answer to the SLAC problem; see container loading supervision.
• Balance payment after loading evidence. Structuring payment so that the balance is released only after you receive the inspection or loading report gives the supplier a reason to load correctly.
• Consistent documents. The seal number on the bill of lading, the packing list and the loading report should all match. Ask for photos of the seal on the closed doors.
• Checks on arrival. Record the seal number and condition when the container is received at the depot or your warehouse, before it is opened.

None of this has a single standard price — the cost of inspection or loading supervision depends on location, product and scope. For higher-value FCL shipments, it is usually small compared with the value at risk. Ask us for a quote built around your order.

Common mistakes

• Assuming the bill of lading proves what was shipped. For FCL, it proves what the shipper declared.
• Paying the full balance on a copy of the BL alone. You have paid for a declaration, not for verified goods.
• Not recording the seal at arrival. Without it, you cannot show whether the container was opened in transit.
• Filing a claim against the wrong party. Time spent chasing the carrier for a pre-loading shortage is time lost pursuing the supplier.

Talk to DE International

DE International arranges inspection, container loading supervision, freight and customs clearance for FCL and LCL shipments from China to Bangladesh. See our China sourcing and buying agent service, browse our shop, or contact us.