Best Trade Solution

A letter of credit is issued calling for shipment from Long Beach, CA, Partial Shipment allowed.An amendment is made changing the port of loading to Los Angeles, CA but curtailing the latest shipping date by a month. Which of the following is true ?
a) The beneficiary must now ship from Los Angeles
b) The beneficiary may continue to ship from Long Beach, but, if they do so, it will be deemed to constitute rejection of the amendment.
c) If the beneficiary may now ship from Los Angeles, but , if they do so, it will be deemed that they have accepted the amendments, including the earlier deadline for shipment.
d) The beneficiary may accept the change in ports and reject the change in the latest shipping date as long as they do an expressly either before or upon presentation of documents.
Answer : C, but why not "B" Please explain the reason

Hi Pal,

IMHO, beneficiary may present document as per originary l/c and accept the amendment later!

Other comments appreciated
Ciao

The beneficiary is not obliged to accept or reject an amendment and in the absence of express acceptance or rejection, the bank must decide on the basis of the presentation made as to the beneficiary's intention as regards the amendment. Partial acceptance or rejection of an amendment is also not allowed

In this case, the beneficiary may continue to ship in accordance with the original unamended terms of the LC from Long Beach for as long as they wish. This will not constitute a rejection of the amendment and the beneficiary can choose to avail itself of the amendment at a later stage. Therefore, as soon as a shipment is made from Los Angeles and document presented evidencing same, the bank is entitled to consider such action as deemed acceptance of the amendment and the LC becomes amended (including the constraint of the shorter presentation period).

From the above, it can be seen that the answer should be C and not B

Option B is correct. Option C would have been correct too, but the end part of it which says "acceptance of the earliest deadline' makes it incorrect.

Just to reemphasise, it has already been indicated in the original query that the correct answer is C and not B. I agree with this answer and the reasons are as stated in my earlier response.