Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly
CMR—AN OUTLINE AND ITS HISTORY
Goods to and from the Continent
A. E. Donald
F.C.I.B.; Director, Ernest A. Notcutt & Co. Ltd., Lloyd’s Brokers; Chairman, R.H.A. Insurance Panel; Chairman, F.T.A. Insurance Panel; Member of the National Guild of Transport Managers.
The following article is a paper that was prepared by Mr. Donald for the Lloyd’s of London Press Seminar on Insurance and Legal Aspects of the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR) which was held at the London Press Centre on Friday, Sept. 26, 1975.
My approach, as an Insurance Broker, to CMR is two-fold but, in both cases, limited to the insurance aspects. My first duty is to ensure that my clients are aware of their potential liabilities and are adequately insured. My second duty is to persuade insurers that there is really nothing to be frightened of and nothing worthy of very much premium.
I have been asked to say something about the history of CMR. CMR seems to me to have a definite and useful purpose. The birth of CMR arose because the growth of the transport of goods by road vehicles internationally demanded that some standard rules be accepted, not only to settle the question of who pays if the goods are lost or damaged but also to set out operating procedures. This has, of course, happened before in our commercial history.
Maritime transport of goods internationally first breached frontiers—from which, in due course, emerged standard rules.
International post followed and we have the Postal Convention.
Rail transport of goods, internationally, next cracked insularity and, in due course, the CIM Convention arrived to codify conduct and liability.
International movement of goods by air followed, as did sets of rules to govern liability and activities.
A post-war development, accelerated as far as the United Kingdom is concerned by the growth of roll-on/roll-off ferries and hovercraft, has been the movement of goods internationally by road vehicles and, when this reached—as it did more quickly on the Continent—appreciable proportions, it was inevitable that a convention would follow.
The preamble to the Convention explains the matter well:—
“The Contracting Parties, having recognised the desirability of standardizing the conditions governing the contract for the international carriage of goods by road, particularly with respect to the documents used for such carriage and to the carrier’s liability have agreed as follows:—”
The Convention is called, in English, “The Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR)”.
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