--- title: "What Is a Consignee?" url: https://www.uncap.com/glossary/consignee author: "Denis Dyli" published: 2026-10-28 updated: 2026-10-28 summary: "A consignee is the party named in a bill of lading to receive a shipment: the person to which, or to whose order, the carrier promises delivery. The consignor is the party the goods are received from for shipment. In export filings, the ultimate consignee is the party abroad that finally receives the goods." --- # What Is a Consignee? > A consignee is the party named in a bill of lading to receive a shipment: the person to which, or to whose order, the carrier promises delivery. The consignor is the party the goods are received from for shipment. In export filings, the ultimate consignee is the party abroad that finally receives the goods. **Consignee**: A consignee is the party named in a bill of lading to receive a shipment: the person to which, or to whose order, the carrier promises delivery. The consignor is the party the goods are received from for shipment. In export filings, the ultimate consignee is the party abroad that finally receives the goods. ## How it works The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) defines both sides of a shipment in section 7-102: - Consignee: a person named in a bill of lading to which or to whose order the bill promises delivery. - Consignor: a person named in a bill of lading as the person from which the goods have been received for shipment. - Carrier: a person that issues a bill of lading. For motor carriers, federal rules make the consignee a required field. Under 49 CFR 373.101, every for-hire, non-exempt motor carrier must issue a receipt or bill of lading for property tendered for transportation in interstate or foreign commerce that contains the names of the consignor and consignee, the origin and destination points, the number of packages, a description of the freight, and its weight, volume or measurement where that applies to the rating. How the consignee is named matters. The International Trade Administration describes two common types of ocean bill of lading: a straight bill of lading, which is non-negotiable, and a negotiable, or shipper's order, bill of lading, which can be used to buy, sell or trade the goods while in transit. The customer usually needs an original bill of lading as proof of ownership to take possession of the goods from the ocean carrier. The [bill of lading](/glossary/bill-of-lading) entry covers the document itself. The consignee can also owe the freight. In the uniform bill of lading terms for rail and water carriers in 49 CFR part 1035, the owner or consignee shall pay the freight and all other lawful charges accruing on the property. ## Consignee in exports US export rules split the receiving side in two. Under the Foreign Trade Regulations (15 CFR 30.1): - Ultimate consignee: the person located abroad who ultimately receives the export shipment, as known at the time of export. It may be the buyer, the end user or the foreign principal party in interest, but not a foreign forwarding agent or intermediate consignee. - Intermediate consignee: the person abroad who acts as an agent for the principal party in interest and takes physical possession of the goods to deliver them to the ultimate consignee. The buyer and the ultimate consignee may be the same, but they do not have to be. ## Consignee in consignment selling The word has a second meaning. In a consignment, the UCC (section 9-102) uses consignee for a merchant to which goods are delivered for the purpose of sale. That is the [consignment inventory](/glossary/consignment-inventory) sense. On a bill of lading, the consignee is simply the receiver of the shipment. ## Example A building products distributor gets one order for 300 cases of fasteners from a contractor with two sites: 180 cases go to the contractor's yard and 120 to a job site, so 180 + 120 = 300. The distributor books two shipments. Each bill of lading names the distributor as consignor and the contractor's receiving site as consignee, with its own destination point and package count. ## On Shopify In Shopify B2B, the ship-to details sit on the company location. A company location is the business you're selling to, and each location can have its own shipping address, billing address, payment terms and contacts. A company with several sites can keep them as separate locations under one company profile. You can also allow B2B customers to ship to a new one-time address at checkout, outside their shipping address on file, by selecting Allow customers to ship to any one-time address. A customer with Location admin permission can update the shipping and billing addresses for the location. ## How Uncap helps Uncap's [wholesale dog supplies](/industry/dog-supplies) page shows why the receiving record matters: for animal food with a hazard requiring a preventive control, 21 CFR 507.38 asks for a recall plan with steps to directly notify direct consignees. A lookup that lists every retailer, groomer and kennel that received a given lot, ready for that notice, is built during implementation from your order and lot data. ## Related terms - Freight forwarder - LTL freight - Commercial invoice - Packing slip - Certificate of origin ## Sources - UCC 7-102: Definitions and Index of Definitions (Legal Information Institute) - eCFR: 49 CFR 373.101, For-hire, non-exempt motor carrier bills of lading - eCFR: 15 CFR 30.1, Purpose and definitions ## Frequently asked questions ### What is a consignee vs shipper? The shipper, or consignor, is the party named in the bill of lading as the one the carrier received the goods from for shipment. The consignee is the party named to receive them: the person to which, or to whose order, the bill promises delivery. ### What is another common name for a consignor? Shipper. Federal regulations use the two together: in 27 CFR 53.11, for example, the exporter is the person named as shipper or consignor in the export bill of lading.