Sweden signs Rotterdam Rules
The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) said that Sweden has become the 24th country to signed the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea, known as the Rotterdam Rules, at U.N. headquarters in New York on July 20.
The Rotterdam Rules were adopted by the U.N. General Assembly on Dec. 11, 2008 to establish a uniform and modern global legal regime for maritime trade.
The rules provide a legal framework that accounts for the many technological and commercial developments that have taken place in maritime transport since the adoption of the earlier conventions, including the growth of containerization, the need for door-to-door transport under a single contract of carriage and the development of electronic commerce.
The rules will enter into force on the first day of the month following the expiration of one year after the date of deposit of the twentieth instrument of ratification or accession. However, only one country, Spain, has ratified the rules.