Articles
Chinese Court Hands Down First Judgment on a Rail Bill of Lading
Ik Wei Chong + Christian Liu, Clyde + Co, Shanghai On 30 June 2020, the Liangjiang New District People's Court, Chongqing ("the Court") handed down a judgment following legal proceedings over the ownership of goods filed by the holder of a Rail Bill of Lading ("Rail...
Appeal judgment in CMR: burden of proof (Art 29), breakthrough limit (Art 23)
Charlotte J. van Steenderen, Van Steenderen Mainport Lawyers, Rotterdam On 24 March 2020 the Court of Appeal in Den Bosch (Bois-le-duc) handed down a judgment in a CMR road transport case where several parcels appeared to have been gone missing, most probably during...
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Aprile SPA v Elin Maritime Ltd [2019]- Deck Cargo Exclusion
John Habergham, Myton Law, Hull U.K. A number of claimants all named as ‘shipper’ on a bill of lading for a shipment of 201 packages of cargo described to be in ‘apparent good order and condition’ at the time of inspection, collectively brought a claim against the...
COVID-19: The Impact of Supply Chain disruption on Businesses – The Way Forward
Frazer Hunt, Mills Oakley, Australia For many years, organizations have relied on global, inter-connected and lean supply chains to improve their margins through increased supply chain efficiency. However, the disruptions caused by the coronavirus have exposed...
VCK Logistics Oceanfreight B.V. vs Marlo Expeditie B.V.
Arnold Van Steenderen, Van Steenderen Mainport Lawyers, Rotterdam Ref: Rotterdam District Court, judgment of 22 January 2020 1.CMR case. Jurisdiction. Arbitration clause in article 23 Dutch Forwarding Conditions (‘Fenex Conditions’) Article 1022 DCCP. Article 1021...
Silence is Golden – The MV NORTRADER
John Habergham, Myton Law, Hull U.K. The recent Commercial Court judgement, MVV Environment Devonport Limited v NTO Shipping GmbH and Co KG was a challenge to a final arbitration award but really it was all about who is a party to a bill of lading contract. The case...
FIATA moves 2020 World Congress to 2022
FIATA and the Korea International Freight Forwarders Association (KIFFA) jointly announced today the cancellation and rescheduling of the FIATA World Congress 2020, which will now take place in Busan in 2022. The World Congress will be held in Panama City, Panama, in...
APL England – Protect your rights in cargo interests
Maurice Lynce + Tom Mangan, Mills Oakley, Australia RECENTLY, MV “APL England” lost more than 50 containers overboard off the coast of NSW during poor weather and another 80 have been damaged on board the ship. Notably, a similar incident impacted the very same...
The Final Word on Detention and Demurrage in the United States?
Pauline Davies, Fee Langstone, New Zealand The Federal Maritime Commission[1] recently released its final interpretive rule concerning the reasonableness of detention and demurrage charges. The FMC’s announcement is a response to complaints of shippers, freight...
US FMC issues Interpretive Rule on Carrier Billing Practices
The US Federal Maritime Commission's Interpretive Rule on Carrier Billing Practices (85 FR 29638, 46 CFR 545, Docket No. 19-05) came into force today. The purpose of the rule is to establish, observe, and enforce just and reasonable regulations and practices relating...
Limited liability of carrier’s bodies in case of loss of deck cargo
Felix Goebel, Dr. Marco Remiorz, Arnecke Sibeth Dabelstein, Germany On 8 November 2018 the Hamburg Higher Regional Court had to rule on a damages claim arising from the loss of deck cargo during a sea voyage (6 U 222/16). The court ruled this case differently from a...
New Zealand Covid-19 Update
Pauline Davies, Fee Langstone, New Zealand As of 1pm on 20 April 2020, New Zealand had had only five new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, continuing a solid downwards trend. In total, 13 deaths have been reported. The government has therefore announced that...
Canada Covid-19 Update
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada All provinces in Canada continue on "lock-down", with most non-essential businesses closed and most provincial governments taking measures to enforce social distancing rules. The US-Canada border...
Warehouse Keeper successfully invokes Force Majeure
Warehouse Keeper successfully invokes Force Majeure for Malfunctioning Foam Fire Extinguishing System Arnold Van Steenderen, Van Steenderen Mainport Lawyers, Rotterdam Warehousing. Spontaneous release of foam by fire extinguishing installation. Damage to goods stored....
Measures for COVID-19 in Mexico
María Elena Sierra Díaz, AS Consultores, Mexico The situation in Mexico is comparable to the measures taken in the rest of the world. The first recorded case of Coronavirus was the last week of February 2020, today the government has issued a series of recommendations...
Covid-19: South Africa
William Fullard, Fullard Mayer Morrison, South Africa State of disaster On 15 March 2020, the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs declared a national state of disaster in terms of section 27 (2) of the Disaster Management Act No 57 of 2002, as a...
Covid-19: France
Florent Vigny, Causidicor, France France is officially for two months in “a state of health emergency” (JORF n°0072 du 24 mars 2020 texte n° 2. LOI n° 2020-290 du 23 mars 2020 d'urgence pour faire face à l'épidémie de covid-19). This special Law was enacted to...
Covid-19: New Zealand
Pauline Davies, Fee Langstone, New Zealand New Zealand went into full lockdown at 11.59pm on Wednesday, 25 March. Everyone is required to stay at the address where they spent the night of 25 March for the next four weeks, with the government indicating that the...
Covid 19 : Port of Rotterdam
Which processes and occupations in the port are considered vital? In response to the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, the Dutch government has identified a number of crucial occupations and vital processes in the Netherlands that need to be maintained. Which...
Covid-19 : Belgium
Adry Poelmans, Van Doosselaere Avocaten, Belgium The situation in Belgium is comparable to the measures taken in the rest of the world. On the 19thof March a lockdown in facts came into force. The Belgian government is reluctant on calling the current situation a full...
Covid-19 : UAE and Middle East:
Jean-Michel Moriniere, Al Aidarous Advocates, Abu Dhabi – Dubai I. Overall situation In the Middle East, the most impacted country so far is Iran (Ranking 6th in the world for positive cases and 4th by fatalities). In descending order of impact, but far behind Iran’s...
Covid-19: Canada
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada Please be advised that our office will be closed and all staff on reduced hours until further notice. Ontario Courts Partial Shutdown: The Ontario Superior Court and Provincial Courts are shutting...
CMA-CGM Libra – Defective Passage Planning and Unseaworthiness (II)
John Habergham, Myton Law, Hull U.K. The Court of Appeal has handed down its decision in this case. This was a case in which vessel owners sought general average contributions and a proportion of cargo interests declined – on the basis that there had been actionable...
Cancellation of FIATA HQ Meetings March 24-28
FIATA Director-General Dr. Stéphane Graber confirmed by email yesterday that the FIATA headquarters sessions scheduled for 24-28 March 2020 are being cancelled as a result of concerns over the spread of the novel COVID-19 coronavirus. According to the communiqué: This...
Implications arising from COVID-19
Ik Wei Chong, Clyde + Co, Shanghai Ed Note: the following summarizes the highlights of Clyde + Co.’s Coronavirus update for the international trade and transportation sector. The recent outbreak of a novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China has received worldwide attention...
A Technology Swiss Pickle – Freight Forwarder’s Reliance on Standard Terms
Maurice Lynch, Special Counsel, Mills Oakley, Australia Most freight forwarders have standard terms and conditions. Whether a freight forwarder can rely upon these standard terms and conditions as a defence in disputes depends upon: whether they have been incorporated...
Liability under Article 18(1) and (3) of the Montreal Convention
Arnold Van Steenderen, Van Steenderen Mainport Lawyers, Rotterdam 1. Ref: Ceva Freight LLC et al vs. China Airlines, Court of North Holland, Judgment of 4 December 2019. The facts 2.1. Ceva is a (part of) a globally operating logistic service provider, active among...
Inadmissible Charge of Demurrage
Adrián Guzmán Sánchez, AS Consultores, Mexico In the logistics world, the Freight Forwarder is the provider of specialized services that, acting as a third party between the user and the carrier, develops and coordinates logistics activities for the transportation of...
Ocean Prefect
John Habergham, Myton Law, Hull U.K. For the first time, the English High Court was asked to adjudicate on the inadmissibility of a MAIB report in a private and confidential arbitration. The rival contentions were - was the court’s permission required under Reg...
Gross negligence and limitation of liability in carriage of pharmaceuticals
Lars Rosenberg Overby and Mads Poulsen, IUNO Denmark Two cases recently decided by the Maritime and Commercial High Court both involved carriage of pharmaceuticals, and both centered on allegations of “gross negligence”, which would permit the plaintiff to avoid...
Proof of carrier’s qualified fault in case of partial loss of transported goods
Wassilis Thomas, Arnecke Sibeth Dabelstein, Germany The plaintiff's insured commissioned the defendant with a carriage by truck in Germany. In the written transport order the column "Shipment data" mentioned only "13.5 LDM" (ie, 13.5 loading metres). The consignment...
The Pith and Substance of Marine Engine Supply
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada A recent Supreme Court of Canada decision in respect of a claim by a shipping company against a supplier of marine engine parts turned on the question of whether or not Canadian Maritime Law or...
The ‘Baltic Klipper’
Arnold Van Steenderen, Van Steenderen Mainport Lawyers, Rotterdam Ref: District Court of Rotterdam judgment dated 10 October 2018; Etablissements Bargibant S.A., and Chubb Insurance Company of Australia Ltd v. Seatrade Group N.V. and Baltic Klipper Shipping Company...
Montreal Convention Limits Increase for 2020
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada Most international carriage of goods and passengers by air falls within the ambit of the the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, also known as the...
Incoterms 2020
John Habergham, Myton Law, Hull U.K. [Ed Note: the following is a summary of remarks made by John Habergham at a recent BIFA Regional Meeting] It is 10 years since the last revision of Incoterms, 2010, and I think that, although much anticipated, the new version...
Cargo claims against Chinese port operators – should carriers’ limitation of liability apply?
Ik Wei Chong, Clyde + Co, Shanghai In China, whilst it is usual practice for the cargo owners and insurers to lodge claims against ocean carriers for damage to and loss of cargo, claims against port operators are also increasing, especially when the accidents occurred...
Container Detention Charges: New Zealand
Pauline Davies, Fee Langstone, New Zealand New Zealand is a common law country that generally takes its lead in terms of case law, from the UK and other Commonwealth countries. The New Zealand courts have not, however, been bound by the decisions of any courts...
Forwarder’s liability for delivery of the goods without production of bill of lading
Felipe Arizon, Arizon Abogados SLP, Spain The Court of Appeal of Valencia handed down last 16 of January 2019 a judgment holding the freight forwarder responsible for the damages arising out of the delivery of the goods without production of the bill of lading. The...
Carriers Levy Large Fines for Misdeclared Cargo
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada CIFFA Members should be aware that several major carriers – including Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, HMM and OOCL – have recently moved to impose very large fines for misdeclared cargo. Maersk, one of the...
Foster Pepper and Garvey Schubert Barer Combine
Foster Pepper and Garvey Schubert Barer Combine to Create Mission-Driven Firm, Expand Reach and Services Foster Garvey PC, created by the combination of two legacy Pacific Northwest law firms, Foster Pepper PLLC and Garvey Schubert Barer, PC, officially launches on...
Court examines scope of multimodal transport
Karen Lorenz and Dr. Marco Remiorz, Arnecke Sibeth Dabelstein, Germany Facts The claimant had undertaken to transport a transformer overseas from a manufacturer's plant. The claimant entrusted part of the transport to the defendant. The latter took over the transport...
Liability for bunker fuel in bankruptcy
Arnold Van Steenderen, Van Steenderen Mainport Lawyers, Rotterdam A recent case in the Rotterdam Court raises questions in respect of: Bunkers; - Bankruptcy; - Delivery; - General conditions - NOVE (General Conditions of the Dutch Association of Independent Bunker...
FIATA publishes Prevention of Bribery guidelines
The Advisory Body - Legal Matters (ABLM) of FIATA has recently published a set of guidelines on the prevention of fraud and bribery in freight forwarding. According to the World Banks Logistics Performance Index (LPI), freight forwarding suffers from a lack of...
Container Detention Charges In Italian Case-Law
Claudio Perrella LS Lex, Italy Many contracts in the shipping industry provide free use for a certain period of the container, and provide for increasing daily charges after such a free time. The shipping line usually specifies a number of free days after which the...
Additional place of jurisdiction clause in German Freight Forwarders’ Standard Terms and Conditions
Felix Goebel, Dr. Marco Remiorz, Arnecke Sibeth Dabelstein, Germany The Freight Forwarders' Standard Terms and Conditions (ADSp) are general terms of service recommended by several trade associations. The recommendations are non-binding and contracting parties can...
Applicability of Hague-Visby limitations to undeclared on deck cargo
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada Ref: De Wolf Maritime Safety B.V. v. Traffic-Tech International Inc. 2017 FC 23 In this claim for loss of cargo en route from Canada to Europe, the defendant forwarder Traffic-Tech International...
The United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation
John Habergham, Myton Law, Hull U.K. This will provide for the enforcement of mediated settlement agreements across country borders. It is being seen as the counterpart to the New York Arbitration Convention. Aims Whilst in practice, non-compliance rates are low...
Interlegal lawyers recovered debt of 90,000 USD for bunkering company
Arthur A. Nitsevych, Interlegal Ukraine A foreign bunkering company filed a request to Interlegal on securing debt recovery for lubricant supply amounting to 90,000 USD, with payment delay for over half-year. To defend the Client’s interests, Interlegal lawyers...
China – Cargo Delivery by Port Authority – Dilemma Resolved
Ik Wei Chong, partner, Albert Huang, Associate, Clyde + Co Westlink JLV, Shanghai Liaoning High Court recently issued a judgment ending a six-year legal battle over a consignment of iron ore stored in Dalian Port. The judgment addressed a tricky issue: Where the...
The carrier’s liability for loss of goods and delay of delivery
Dr. Marco Remiorz, Katharina Schmidtke, Arnecke Sibeth Dabelstein, Germany The Regional Court of Verden has issued a decision on 19 January 2019 (case 9 O 20/16) in which it ruled on the liability of a carrier for the loss of goods and delay of delivery. The facts The...
Alize 1954 v Allianz Elementar Versicherungs AG
Paul Bugden, Bugden + Co., London Ref: Alize 1954 v Allianz Elementar Versicherungs AG [2019] EWHC 481 (Admlty) Teare J. Background This recent Admiralty case raises a number of interesting points of law and fact arising out of the grounding on 17th May 2011 of the...
Time-Bar incorporated through CIFFA STCs results in Summary Judgment
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada A recent decision of the Federal Court of Canada provides an important analysis and application of contractual time bars, as well as particular discussion in respect of the application of the CIFFA...
Trends in Logistics Investment
Richard Gluck, GSB Law, USA [Ed Note: the following is the text of remarks given by Richard Gluck as President of the Sino-American Logistics Council LLC on the occasion of the Tenth Sino-American Logistics Conference, Jinan, Shandong, China, on 16 June 2019] I am an...
The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug: Watch This Space
Pauline Davies, Fee Langstone, New Zealand The brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys) is a native of China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan and is a serious agricultural pest in all places where it has become established, including the USA and parts of Europe and...
Canada Passes BC Tanker Moratorium
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada On June 18th the Senate of Canada passed Bill C-48, “An Act respecting the regulation of vessels that transport crude oil or persistent oil to or from ports or marine installations located along...
Provision of land transportation services in Mexico
María Elena Sierra Díaz, AS Consultores, Mexico The Freight Forwarding Agent is a corporation established in accordance with the Mexican legislation and its corporate bylaws shall include the provision of services for the transportation of all kinds of personal...
ILWU begins limited work action at Vancouver Ports
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada Limited work actions by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) are planned to begin today at Deltaport and Vanterm, potentially affecting Canada's main west coast transportation hub....
Destruction of consignment by customs – question of liability
Dr. Marco Remiorz and Lars Kortländer, Arnecke Sibeth Dabelstein, Germany In a recently published decision of the Higher Regional Court (OLG) of Düsseldorf the Court held that if the sovereign act (here: destruction of the goods by customs) has been rendered null and...
Yantian Express Finally Calls at Halifax
As Stan Rogers might have said, it’s been six long months since she sailed away, but she just made Halifax yesterday. Hapag-Lloyd’s Yantian Express sailed from Columbo, Sri Lanka, in December 2018, but in January the ship was struck by fire while at sea on 2 January...
FIATA Publishes Best Practices on Quality of Containers
In April 2019 the FIATA Working Group Sea Transport published a guide outlining problems and best practices in "Container Shipping and Quality of Containers". This follows on their guide for best practices in respect of demurrage and detention on containers,...
“Weight and quantity unknown clause” in Bills of Lading – is it effective in China?
Ik Wei Chong, Clyde + Co, Shanghai A "weight and quantity unknown clause" in the Bill of Lading for container cargo is rather common in the marine industry but its effectiveness under Chinese law is always a highly arguable issue. Previous practice shows that such a...
Bumbled Burden or Brilliant Clarity: Burden of Proof and the Hague Visby Rules
Maurice Lynch, Mills Oakley, Australia The recent decision of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in Volcafe Ltd v Compania Sud Americana De Vapores SA [2018] UKSC 61, is the first authoritative analysis on burden of proof in the Hague Visby Rules. The Court held...
China – Release of Cargo without Production of the Original Bill of Lading in Brazil – a Successful Defence
Christian Liu and Ik Wei Chong, Clyde + Co, Shanghai Under the Chinese Maritime Code, a carrier is strictly obliged to deliver cargo against the production of the original Bill of Lading, and it is, therefore, usually very difficult to defend a claim lodged by the...
Air Safety Recommendations for Freight Forwarders
María Elena Sierra Díaz, AS Consultores, Mexico The stages and processes involved in the handling of international air freight are as follows: Internal processes. Processes before the authorities. Processes with correspondents. Internal processes Separated by...
Hard Brexit – liability risk for EU carriers
Dr. Marco Remiorz and Steffen Maelicke, Arnecke Sibeth Dabelstein, Germany On 29 March 2017 the United Kingdom submitted its Article 50 withdrawal notification to the European Union. This gave the United Kingdom and the European Union until 29 March 2019 to negotiate...
URGENT – Standard Form Transport and Storage Contract Exclusions Clauses are at Risk!
By Frazer Hunt, Partner, and Maurice Lynch, Special Counsel, Mills Oakley, Australia On 1 April 2019, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission accepted a court enforceable undertaking from Hutchison Ports Australia Pty Ltd in respect of its standard form...
English law and implied terms
English law and implied terms – when does the court step in and imply terms into a contract? John Habergham, Myton Law, Hull U.K. Introduction As might be apparent, implied terms are terms that have not been expressly agreed by the parties, the latter being stated...
Welcome AS Consultores to Forwarderlaw
Forwarderlaw is pleased to welcome AS Consultores, Mexico, a firm specialized in trading and focused on the national and international marketing of products, to the Forwarderlaw network. AS Consultores is represented by María Elena Sierra Díaz, who has deep experience...
No common law rule against set-off in freight forwarding contracts
John Habergham, Myton Law, Hull U.K. In the recent case Globalink Transportation and Logistics Worldwide LLP v DHL Project & Chartering Limited [2019] the Commercial Court has further defined the limits of the common-law rule against set-off from freight. The rule...
Can Standard Terms apply when not expressly agreed?
Does the General Conditions of Danske Havnevirksomheder (DHAB) apply where the terms have not been expressly agreed between the parties? This was the question in a case recently considered by the Danish Maritime and Commercial High Court. Henrik Thal...
Extreme Caution regarding Letters of Undertaking: A Binding Agreement to Agree
Helen Noble, Noble Shipping Law, Ireland Following a recent decision of the High Court in Ireland, insurers should exercise extreme caution when offering a Letter of Undertaking (LOU) in principle as security to prevent a vessel from being arrested. In the cases of...
Court Rejects Request to Delay Release of Cargo without Original BLs
Adv. Gill Nadel, Adv. Dave Zeitoun, Adv. Shirly Strezhevsky, Goldfarb Seligman, Israel Background: In the following article we will review the ruling of the Haifa Magistrate Court regarding F.A.Y. Com Ltd.'s request to delay the release of marine cargo which reached...
‘Secret Commissions’ and fiduciary duties of agents
Paul Bugden, Bugden + Co., London Ref: Medsted Associates Ltd v Canaccord Genuity Wealth (International) Ltd [2019] EWCA Civ 83. In modern trade practice freight forwarders, as is well known, often assume by the express or implied terms of their contract with their...
Interlegal successfully defends interests of Thyssenkrupp
Interlegal defended interests of thyssenkrupp Materials Trading GmbH – creditor under the court proceedings against the Ukrainian company – debtor. Кiev Court of Appeal left in force the ICAC at the UCCI Award on debt recovery for goods supply. Interlegal lawyers...
The Right of Action of the Freight Forwarder under Belgian law
Adry Poelmans, Van Doosselaere Avocaten, Belgium In Belgian jurisprudence, controversy has arisen recently as to the question whether a forwarding agent is “presumed” and also “entitled” to initiate, continue and maintain legal proceedings, or halt them if he has not...
Spanish Supreme Court Upholds Environmental Liability for Ship Agent
Ref: Spanish Supreme Court decision dated 18th July 2018 Shipping transport and related activities have an impact on the environment, like many other industries, and may give rise to claims in tort by third parties adversely affected by the vessel’s operation. In a...
Multimodal Transport with Air transportation
María Elena Sierra Díaz, General Director, AS Consultoria, Mexico The present analysis allows determining the ideal document for multimodal transport, where part of the trip is transported by air. Due to the nature of the bill of lading and its conditions, it is...
Carrier’s liability for implementing safety instructions
Dr. Marco Remiorz, Arnecke Sibeth Dabelstein, Germany The Bremen Regional Court recently held a road carrier liable for loss of goods under Article 29 of the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR). According to the court, the...
Dutch reawaken interest in The Rotterdam Rules
John Habergham, Myton Law, Hull U.K. The Dutch Government has incorporated the ‘Rotterdam Rules’ into its civil code, a move seen as an attempt to reignite interest in an internationally accepted code for the multimodal carriage of goods. John Habergham of shipping,...
New Danish Standard Cargo Insurance Clauses
Henrik Jantzen, Hafnia Law, Denmark Cargo insurance for goods imported to Denmark and domestic carriage in Denmark is normally taken out on Danish standard clauses, adopted by the Trade Association of Danish Insurance Companies, (IPD). These standard terms include all...
Admiralty Jurisdiction for On-Carriage?
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada Re: Elroumi v. Shenzhen Top China Imp & Exp Co., Ltd China, 2018 FC 633 A recent decision of the Federal Court of Canada centered on the question of whether the Court had specific jurisdiction...
Volcafe Ltd v Compania Sud Americana De Vapores SA
Ref: Volcafe Ltd v Compania Sud Americana De Vapores SA (CSAV) [2018] UKSC 61 Paul Bugden, Bugden + Co., London This important recent decision of the Supreme Court (as found in a single judgment delivered by Lord Sumption with whom Lords Reed, Wilson, Hodge and...
Protection of subrogation rights under Chinese Insurance Law
Ik Wei Chong, Clyde + Co, Shanghai China adopts a civil law system and there is no concept of binding case precedent. Judicial Interpretations, in particular those made by the Chinese Supreme Court, are important legal documents which must be referred by all lower...
Alert on Ukrainian martial law
What happened? Martial law was imposed in Ukraine for 30 days as president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko warned of the “extremely serious” threat of a Russian land invasion. The parliament voted in favour of the measure on Monday night in response to the capture...
Blockchain comes to Town
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada Last week CargoX launched its CargoX Smart B/L™ blockchain product to the international transportation industry, marking the first practical commercial application of the technology in the industry....
Value Added Tax (VAT) for Cargo Agents in Mexico
María Elena Sierra Díaz, General Director, AS Consultores, Mexico Cargo agents, consolidators or Freight Forwarders are socially recognized companies. They can perform in two ways to render their services as specialized companies in logistics. As an agent for third...
Forwarders Face Increased Risk from Switch Bills
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada Several organizations, including WCA and iContainers, have warned forwarders about the increased risks associated with issuing "switch" bills of lading. Switch bills are obtained from the carrier on...
The evolution continues: FMC accommodates NVOCC contracting
OCTOBER 2018 LEGAL LOOKOUT ARTICLE: The evolution continues: FMC accommodates NVOCC contracting by revising regs governing NSAs and NRAs. Can you believe it’s been 20 years since President Clinton signed the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998 (OSRA) into law? You can...
Carrier not liable for delay after late loading
Dr. Marco Remiorz, Arnecke Sibeth Dabelstein, Germany Facts In its capacity as a court for inland navigation, the Mannheim District Court settled a dispute between an inland waterway carrier (the claimant) and a sender (the defendant). The sender had instructed the...
NVOCC Held Liable for Vessel Fire
By: Andrew R. Spector, Esq. and Spencer J. Wellborn, Esq. The Southern District of New York entered a noteworthy decision holding a manufacturer and non-vessel operating common carrier (“NVOCC”) liable for an explosion and fire on a vessel that resulted in...
FIATA Proposes Best Practices in Demurrage and Detention
The Working Group - Sea Transport of the Fédération Internationale des Associations de Transitaires et Assimilés (FIATA) announced the publication of a Best Practices guide for Demurrage and Detention charges in Container Shipping. The absence of regulatory action...
Interlegal cancelled unlawful State Ecological Inspection Order
A foreign company-shipowner filed a request to Interlegal on defending rights and interests under the dispute with State Ecological Inspection on bringing vessel master to administrative liability. Vessel master was brought to administrative liability allegedly due to...
Importance of the performance audit in international trade and logistics
María Elena Sierra Díaz, General Director, AS Consultores There is a pain within the business sector regarding the imports or exports of products, commodities and inputs as well as for the companies who provide customs and transportation services to foreign trade...
Interlegal client returned USD$65,000 for bunker supply
Alexey Remeslo, Mikhail Selivanov, Interlegal A large bunkering company applied to Interlegal for legal assistance due to debt recovery for bunker supply. Case analysis resulted in the decision on ship arrest as maritime claim security as soon as possible, since the...
China establishes International Commercial Courts
Ik Wei Chong, Clyde + Co, Shanghai China establishes International Commercial Courts to resolve International Commercial Disputes China's Belt & Road Initiative (BRI), launched in 2013, is well underway in increasing China's regional connectivity and stimulating...
FMC Interim Report on Detention + Demurrage
Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada On 5 March 2018 the FMC announced a fact-finding investigation number 28 entitled “Conditions and Practices relating to Detention, Demurrage, and Free Time in International Oceanborne Commerce”...
The Netherlands take first steps towards ratification of Rotterdam Rules
Charlotte van Steenderen, Van Steenderen Mainport Lawyers, Rotterdam The Rotterdam Rules have been introduced almost ten years ago, but have not been embraced just yet. The Netherlands recently took the first steps towards ratification and implementation of the...
PRC – Judicial Interpretation on Time Limitation on Actions
PRC judicial interpretation on the application of time limit under the General Provisions of Civil Law – What is the key impact? Ik Wei Chong, Clyde + Co, Shanghai Introduction The Supreme People's Court (SPC) has on 2 July 2018 issued the Interpretation on Several...
Current Issues in Freight Forwarding: Chapter Summaries
Simone Lamont-Black, Scotland, Simone.Lamont-Black@ed.ac.uk Edited by Dr. Simone Lamont-Black and Professor D Rhidian Thomas, and including contribution by a number of Forwarderlaw Members, this new book features 17 expert contributions on the topic of freight...
Current Issues in Freight Forwarding: law and logistics
Simone Lamont-Black, Scotland, Simone.Lamont-Black@ed.ac.uk This book is based on selected papers presented at conferences in Edinburgh[1] and Antwerp[2] on contemporary issues in freight forwarding. It illustrates the legal minefield that encircles the business of...