Modified Photo by Chensiyuan / licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

In order to take advantage of Singapore adopting the Model Law on electronic Transferable Records, essDOCS has updated its eDocs Services & Users Agreement (DSUA) which governs the validity of CargoDocs electronic title documents. 

The updated user agreement, DSUA 2021.1, has received the approval of the International Group of P&I Clubs, and will come into effect as effect as of 1 July 2021. The proposed changes have also been reviewed by our Legal Workgroup, who recommended that the changes be implemented in accordance with our standard amendment procedure.

The most significant change to the agreement is an update to reflect the recent amendment to Singapore’s Electronic Transactions Act (ETA) to enact UNCITRAL’s Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR), recognizing eB/Ls as the legal equivalent of paper B/Ls under Singapore Law. 

Additional changes include:

• The addition of Singapore as one of the jurisdictions for dispute resolution with essDOCS, or if all parties have agreed to Singapore as the location for dispute resolution
• Updates to data protection policies with respect to GDPR
• Replace references of our former name ‘ESS’ to ‘essDOCS’
   

The new, approved DSUA was sent to all CargoDocs administrators between 28 and 30 May 2021, alongside a memo explaining the updates to the contract.  

Each of the P&I Clubs in the International Group will shortly be issuing Circulars confirming the approval and we will make the links available on our website when issued.  

Please contact legal@essdocs.com if you have not received the updated DSUA and explanatory memo.