On a forwarder's or customs broker's desk, the shipping bill is the gate every export consignment must clear before it can be laden, so the standing decision is when each declaration is complete and accurate enough to file ahead of the carrier's cutoff. An unassessed or held shipping bill means the box does not make the vessel, and because the exporter subscribes to a truth-of-contents declaration, the desk owns the risk on the commodity, value, and prohibition data feeding the filing. A shipping bill is not a bill of lading: the shipping bill is a customs filing made with the government on the export side, while the bill of lading is the carrier's transport document and the document of title to the goods. They are different instruments serving different parties and are never substitutes for each other.
Glossary
Shipping Bill (India)
A shipping bill is the export goods declaration that an exporter or broker files with Indian Customs, electronically through ICEGATE, and that Customs must assess and pass before export cargo can be cleared and loaded, making it the export counterpart of the bill of entry.