UK hovers on Rotterdam Rules as Canada, Europe drag feet

BRITAIN is still considering whether to sign up the Rotterdam Rules, the new UN-sponsored liability legislation.

"Her Majesty's government will continue its work with business leaders and the legal the profession, ensuring that all relevant industrial sectors are involved in the consultation process on whether or not the UK signs or ratifies the new rules," said Malcolm Blake-Lawson from the UK's Department for Transport (DfT).

Last week, 15 countries signed up to the rules, still shy of the 20 states needed before the United Nations officially recognises them.

The Rotterdam Rules will replace the Hague-Visby and Hamburg rules.

They cover transport from door-to-door rather than port-to-port, reducing the need to use more than one liability convention for international transport. Unlike current conventions, they also recognise electronic transport documents.

But of the signatories, only five are members of the European Union (EU), indicating a growing concern among governments that these rules are not the panacea that supporters of the convention suggest.

Nicolette van der Jagt, secretary general of the European Shippers' Council (ESC), said: "I believe that one of the reasons that so few governments have signed could be that there are still so many unanswered questions.

"Canada has also indicated that they are not ready to sign because of concerns among a number of Canadian stakeholders and that they wanted more time to consult with them. This could be what other EU member states are thinking," he said.

ESC feels that the Rotterdam Rules fall far short of providing an acceptable mechanism for dealing with multimodal transport in the 21st Century.

Source: schednet