Conventions for the international carriage of goods

This handbook seeks to bring greater clarity to the complex world of international carriage conventions. It offers a user-friendly guide to what conventions are in use in which countries, and describes the main provisions of each convention. The Handbook is designed specifically for transport managers who do not have a legal background, but who have to deal with claims and insurance for their companies. It features a quick cross-reference guide showing which conventions apply in which countries, and uses a standard question and answer format to analyse the provisions and requirements of each convention.

Introduction

This ‘Handbook on the International Carriage Conventions’ is part of a series of loss prevention guides published by the TT Club as part of its STOPLOSS initiative. The Handbook aims to explain, in straightforward terms, the core operation of the conventions relating to the international carriage of goods. The TT Club published the first edition of this ‘Handbook on Conventions for the International Carriage of Goods & Transport Conditions’ in 1999 in cooperation with Holman Fenwick Willan (London).

This second edition has been completely revised, but kept the original user-friendly format. It has, however, a narrowed focus, covering conventions and multimodal conditions only, while drawing in a broader jurisdictional perspective.

Part I on the Basics of cargo claims handling is based on the expertise gained by the TT Club’s Managers, Network Partners and Correspondents.

Part II now covers all modes of carriage (with a brief introduction to each mode) and includes new chapters on the Hamburg Rules 1978, CIM (COTIF) 1999, the Budapest Convention (CMNI) 2001 and the Montreal Convention 1999.

Part III provides web links to the list of Member States of each convention and a worldwide list of the carriage conventions in force in each country. Owing to the legal complexity of the international carriage conventions, this Handbook cannot offer comprehensive advice, but aims to address the most important questions under each convention. The TT Club hopes this Handbook will serve as a guide in helping you to prepare for claims that you will face under the international carriage conventions.