NIT League eyes early support of Rotterdam Rules

NIT League eyes early support of Rotterdam Rules    The National Industrial Transportation League said Friday that initial support for a new international cargo liability convention, more commonly known as the Rotterdam Rules, is stronger than is being portrayed by opponents of the rules.
   The United States was joined by 15 other nations in signing the convention on Sept. 23 in Rotterdam. Other signatories were Congo, Denmark, France, Gabon, Ghana, Greece, Guinea, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, Senegal, Spain, Switzerland and Toga.
   The rules have been developed over the past 10 years through a United Nations working group known as the U.N. Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).
   'Contrary to erroneous reports of limited support for the new convention, the U.N. said this 'opening day' signing is officially UNCITRAL’s greatest success in terms of obtaining signatures of countries on the first day of any of its previous so-called 'private law' conventions,' the NIT League said in a statement. 'The new convention will remain open for additional signatories. The U.N. added that the percentage of world trade covered by the 16 original signatures is 25.76 percent, which is significantly higher than the previous liability convention known at the Hamburg Rules.'
   Signing the treaty does not mean that a country has adopted it, American Shipper reported Sept. 24. The individual governments in each country must approve it, and it would not take effect until one year after 20 countries adopt it, and then only in those countries.
   The NIT League, one of the new rules' biggest supporters, said it 'applauds the growing support of countries.'

Carlton

   'The support of the signing countries evidences the need to adopt a modern liability regime which effectively reflects today’s shipping practices,' said NIT League President Bruce Carlton. 'Clearly this would not have been possible without the input of all industry sectors working together to identify the principles which could be incorporated into an international convention.”
   Work began on the Rotterdam Rules over 10 years ago when it became evident that earlier liability regimes — such as the Hague Rules, approved in 1924 and ratified in the United States in 1936 as the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act (COGSA), as well as those adopted by other countries — were no longer adequate to take into account today’s shipping practices, including containerization, door-to-door transport contracts and the use of electronic documents, the NIT League said.