An interactive session on a proposal to develop a single transport document (STrD) to promote global supply chain sustainability

1. Global Partnership
for Sustainable Transport
First Meeting of the Expert
Group on Development of the
Single Transport Document (STrD)
For Sustainable Global Value Chains
April 19th, 2016
By Juliette Passer, Esq.

2. Multimodal Transport Definition
Multimodal transport is the carriage of goods by at least two
different modes of transport on the basis of a multimodal transport
contract.
Comparing to the unimodal, through or other types of contract for
the carriage of goods, the basic features of a multimodal transport
are: (1) two or more modes of transport are used for the carriage of
goods; (2) the entire carriage is under one single contract which
does not exclude the existence of any subcontracts; (3) one party,
usually called multimodal transport operator, is responsible for the
entire carriage.
The definition is from the UN Convention on
International Multimodal Transport of Goods

3. Single Transport Document
Low Predictability and High Litigation Costs
CARGO-
CLAIMANT
CARRIER

4. Historic Overview
The Comité Maritime International (CMI) and a
“Convention on Combined Transport – Tokyo Rules” was
drafted in 1969
The “Uniform Rules for the Combined Transport
Document” of the International Chamber of Commerce
(ICC)
The United Nations “Convention on International
Multimodal Transport of Goods” was adopted (the MT
Convention) 1980.

5. Overview con’t
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
(UNCTAD) secretariat established a joint working with the
ICC to elaborate model provisions for multimodal transport
documents.
The Joint Working Group completed the preparation of the
UNCTAD/ICC Rules for Multimodal Transport Documents in
1991, and the Rules were entered into force in 1992.
The UNCTAD/ICC Rules have widely been accepted by the
industry. Standard forms of contract such as the FIATA Bill
of Lading 1992 and MULTIDOC- 95 incorporated them.

6. Rules To Govern Carriage Of Goods
The Hague Rules of 1924 (formally the "International Convention for the
Unification of Certain Rules of Law relating to Bills of Lading, and Protocol of
Signature")[1] is an international convention to impose minimum standards upon
commercial carriers of goods by sea.
The Hague–Visby Rules is a set of international rules for the international
carriage of goods by sea, amended in 1968 .
.[2]The Hamburg Rules are a set of rules governing the international shipment of
goods, resulting from the United Nations International Convention on the Carriage
of Goods by Sea adopted in Hamburg on 31 March 1978.The Convention was an
attempt to form a uniform legal base for the transportation of goods on oceangoing
ships. A driving force behind the convention was the attempt of developing
countries' to level the playing field. It came into force on 1 November 1992.

7. Limits of Liability
for Cargo Claims
By sea – Hague Visby rules:
£1.81 per kg (SDR 2.00 per kg)
£603.26 per package (SDR 666.67 per package)
By road – CMR:
£7.54 per kg (SDR 8.33 per kg)
By air – Montreal Convention:
£17.19 per kg (SDR 19.00 per kg)
By air – Warsaw Convention:
£15.38 per kg (SDR 17.00 per kg)
Key:
CMR - Carriage of Goods by Road Act
STC - Standard Trading Conditions
SDR – Special Drawing Rights
(based on the value of 1 SDR at £0.904887, which stood at
according to the International Monetary Fund website on
12 June 2015)

8. Liability Systems
The uniform liability and the network liability
system
The limited network or maritime-plus:
the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the
International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea
(the “Rotterdam Rules”)

9. Multimodal Transport Court Cases
Quantum Corp. Inc. v. Plane Trucking Ltd., 1 ALLER
comm. 916 (2001)
Hartford Fire Ins. Co. v. Orient Overseas Containers
Lines (UK) Ltd., 230 F.3d 549, 555-56, 2001 AMC 25
(2d Cir. 2000)

10. A single document would generate overall positive economic
effects for all parties involved in multimodal transport, as it will
simplify and reduce the costs and delays of administrative
procedures and bureaucracy, decreasing friction costs deriving
from the modal switch and establishing single lability regime,
thus removing barriers to seamless, streamlined, flexible and
sustainable multimodal freight transport globally.
Thank you
© Global Partnership for Sustainable Transport, 2016