On 23 September 2009, in Rotterdam, the signing ceremony opens for the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea — the “Rotterdam Rules”, adopted by the General Assembly on 11 December 2008 (A/RES/63/122).

The convention modernises the Hague / Hague-Visby / Hamburg framework for multimodal carriage with a sea leg: door-to-door liability, electronic documents, elimination of the nautical-fault defence, higher liability limits and due diligence throughout the voyage.

The depositary is the UN Secretary-General. Entry into force: one year after twenty ratifications; only five parties so far, so it is not yet in force. On the ceremony day signatories included the United States, the Netherlands, Spain and France.

The text is published by UNCITRAL.

For carriage-of-goods law, 23 September 2009 marks the Rotterdam signatures.

The document is available on uncitral.un.org and in the UN Treaty Collection.

The Rotterdam Rules of 23 September 2009 remain the modernisation milestone for sea-carriage contracts.

Image: Rotterdam / port; Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Rotterdam Rules. Treaty text: UNCITRAL — Rotterdam Rules.