Fifteen nations sign Rotterdam Rules, but 20 needed

FIFTEEN nations have declared support for the UN convention called the Rotterdam Rules, which set out rights and obligations in the maritime carriage, announced the Port of City of Rotterdam where the signing took place this week.

But the convention does not take effect until a year after 20 nations ratify it, and recent debate has revealed doubts whether its advantages outweigh its disadvantages, reports the British International Forwarders Association (BIFA) newsletter.

The British government remains neutral, but UK stakeholders are divided. A decision on whether or not to sign will be the subject of a full consultation will be published early next year, said BIFA.

But the United States, Norway, Greece and the Netherlands signed the rules, which they say will bring clarity to who is responsible for what, when, where and to what extent. Other signatories this week were the Congo, Denmark, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, Poland, Senegal, Spain, Switzerland and Togo.

"The Rotterdam Rules will give world trade a boost, considering that 80 per cent of world trade is conducted by sea. If the same law applies all over the world, this will promote international trade and make it more efficient and clearer, said the joint statement from the port and the municipality that gave the convention its name.

The rules are the result of inter-governmental negotiations that took place between 2002 and 2009 within the UN Commission for International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). Last December, the UN General Assembly adopted the convention, formally called "United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea".

The European Union executive, the European Commission (EC), has faulted the convention because it is not in line with wider EU transport policy which seeks to ease the complexity of shipping.

The EC's delegate from the energy and transport directorate, Pawel Stelmaszczyk, told the European Shippers' Council (ESC) seminar in Antwerp in June that the rules did "not conform to the European multimodal expectations".

The European Shippers Council agreed with EC conclusion, which supported their own, that the rules were too complex and would discourage short-sea and coastal shipping in an intra-European, door-to-door logistics setting.

But Marco Sorgetti, director general of the European Freight Forwarders Association (CLECAT), warned of a multitude of different regimes, even national variants might now emerge, blowing a hole in attempts to bring much needed harmonisation. Maersk delegate Kaare Kristoffersen endorsed this view.

The World Shipping Council, the liner lobby, and America's National Industrial Transportation League, have supported the Rotterdam Rules as has the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce.

(Source: www.schednet.com)