載貨證券為國際貿易倉庫開啟之鑰，其對國際貿易之整體運作具重要性影響。現今有效國際海上運送公約之海牙規則暨威士比規則，僅規定載貨證券或類此之物權證券，漢堡規則除就前揭載貨證券為規範，其他得作為運送契約之證明，與運送人收受貨物收據之運送單證亦包含在內。新近聯合國制定之鹿特丹規則則以運送單證（transport document）稱之，其包含可轉讓及不可轉讓之各式運送單證與電子運送紀錄。於我國海商法規定，亦如前揭海牙規則暨威士比規則，僅就載貨證券為規範，其他運送單證則未有適用餘地。就載貨證券記載事項之效力，於現行有效之國際公約與我國海商法有相當討論。就鹿特丹規則之規定觀察，可轉讓、不可轉讓電子載貨證券及其他運送單證記載事項，於不同持有人間，有複雜之效力規定。本文擬對鹿特丹規則所規定之運送單證及其效力規定進行探討，期可作為未來我國海商法修正之參考。

Bill of lading is the key toward the operation of international trade. The consignee who hold the original bill of lading is entitled to request the carrier for the delivery of the cargo. The Hague and Visby Rules merely rely for the application on the issuance of a “bill of lading” or any similar document of title. Whilst Article 18 of the Hamburg Rules, it provides that where a carrier issues a document other than a bill of lading to evidence the receipt of the goods to be carried, such a document is prima facie evidence of the conclusion of the contract of carriage by sea. It is noteworthy that the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea (The Rotterdam Rules) have new terminology of “transport documents”, and then this is categorized into “Negotiable transport document”, “Non-negotiable transport document” and “Electronic transport record”. As the above Hague and Visby Rules, there is only the provisions to “bill of lading” in our existing Maritime Act. Therefore, the legal issues has been leading up to the fact that the Rotterdam Rules contain far more about “transport documents”, transfer of documents and third parties than their predecessors. This paper reviews the current statutes of bill of lading and transport documents under the international conventions and our existing Maritime Act. By analysis of the relevant legal regimes in the Rotterdam Rules, this paper makes suggestions on transport documents for regulatory reform of our Maritime Act.