UN agency advances proposed cargo reform towards General Assembly approval

A Proposed United Nations standard shipping treaty will now do the rounds of member governments ahead of being submitted to the annual meeting of the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) in June before it is brought to the General Assembly for approval later in the year.

If passed, reported the American Shipper, the UN treaty will likely bring amendment to national shipping laws which are passed based on previous international agreements. For example, the US Carriage of Goods at Sea Act, is based on the old Hague Rules, though other countries use a different form called the Hague-Visby rules and still others, have adopted the so-called Hamburg Rules.

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