The Bill of Lading (B/L) is the fundamental document in international maritime transport. It has three distinct legal functions: 1) Proof of the transport contract between the shipper and the maritime carrier; 2) Receipt for the shipped goods, confirming the carrier has taken charge of the described goods; 3) Document of title — the holder of the original B/L has the right to collect the goods at the destination port. This distinguishes it from all other transport documents. Types: straight B/L (non-transferable, named consignee); order B/L (transferable by endorsement, used in letter of credit operations); bearer B/L; clean B/L (no reservations noted by the carrier — required by banks for L/C); claused B/L (carrier has noted reservations); through B/L (covers door-to-door multimodal transport); combined transport B/L (sea plus road/rail). Issued in 3 originals and non-negotiable copies. For Switzerland: in sea imports (from Asia, Americas, Africa), the B/L is the key document for customs clearance at the European discharge port (Genoa, Rotterdam, Hamburg) before onward transport to Switzerland.