Commentary on sections of the Act Section 2: Definition of "electronic trade document" Reading or viewing a document
Section 2(4) provides that reading or viewing a trade document in electronic form does not, without more, constitute "use" of the document for the purposes of the Act. Reading or viewing a trade document could arise both where a person does not otherwise have factual control of the document (and therefore the ability to exercise control), and where they do. For example, a person could have read-only access to a document, allowing them to view and read the document but nothing more. Such a person does not have the ability to use that document for the purposes of the Act. This means that they do not have control (or the ability to exercise control). For example, a stevedoring service provider (who loads and offloads cargo to or from a ship) might need to check the information in a bill of lading in the course of unloading the goods. If the service provider is only given access to the document over the system for this limited purpose, and simply views the document, this does not constitute "use" of the document for the purposes of the Act.
	In other cases, a person who has the ability to use, transfer or otherwise dispose of the document (and therefore the ability to exercise control) would ordinarily also be able to access the document to read or view it. If, however, the person only reads or views the document in a particular instance, that does not constitute "use" of the document and, as such, the person cannot be said to be exercising control of the document for the purposes of the Act. This is the case notwithstanding the fact that the person would otherwise have control of the document that they could exercise (because, for example, they could transfer or otherwise dispose of it). In theory, this means that someone could exercise control of a document while another party with control is simply reading or viewing it.
	To "use" a trade document in electronic form is, therefore, to utilise or retain the document to achieve a particular purpose. It includes causing something to happen (or preventing something from happening) to the document. Merely reading or viewing the document does not, in and of itself, constitute "use" of the document in a particular instance.