Buddy,

It is important to require the correct transport document to the Incoterm being used. For letters of credit, which transport document should be required for FCA? Would that be a Forwarder's Cargo Receipt? Consigned to whom?

AF

AF,

Ideally the documents a letter of credit calls for correlate exactly with the Incoterms.  Unfortunately, this is often not quite true.  FCA means that the seller's responsibility ends when the goods have been delivered to the carrier at the named place.  The forwarder is not the carrier so, technically, a forwarder's cargo receipt does not prove that the carrier has received the goods.  What buyers often ask for instead is a transport document issued by the carrier.  This is more than what the Incoterm calls for as it evidences receipt by the carrier but it furthermore signifies agreement to transport the goods on behalf of the buyer.  So one is not quite what the Incoterm would call for and the other is more. 

When the forwarder is working for the buyer, the seller should be concerned that the buyer could ask the forwarder not to arrange transportation right away, so the seller should not actually be responsible for the goods getting into the hands of the carrier.  Although the terms might be stated as FCA, if the buyer is using a forwarder, the expectation of the parties is probably that the seller will deliver the goods to the forwarder.  Thus, your answer is the appropriate one: an FCR is the appropriate document to evidence that the seller has fulfilled the contract.

But there are also cases where the buyer is not using a forwarder and wants the seller to deliver goods to the carrier at the named place.  If this is a port, I understand that the carrier might issue a Dock Receipt to evidence such delivery, but I can't recall ever seeing a letter of credit that called for a Dock Receipt.  In such cases, a “received-for-shipment” transport document may actually be the appropriate document, or at least the closest thing you can get.

As regards your question about whom an FCR should be consigned to, note that an FCR is not a title document and wouldn't actually be consigned to anyone, at least in the normal meaning.  Nonetheless, it seems that they often do have a box labeled "Consignee."  Different forwarders will say different things in the fine print, but it's my understanding that this is usually meant to reflect the instructions that the forwarder has received for how the transport document will eventually be issued.  A more appropriate bit of information would be, into whose control have the goods been placed?  I'm not sure how widely used it is, but the standard form designed by FIATA has a spot where the forwarder checks a box to indicate whether the consignee indicated on the form is being given control of the goods or is to be the consignee on the transport document.  (See http://www.letterofcredit.biz/images/FCR-Forwarders-Certificate-of-Receipt.jpg for an example.)  Failing such indication on most forms, however, I would look for the consignee to be whoever is going to be the consignee on the transport document.