INTERNATIONAL RULES IN COGSA

RULE 1 ( The Hague Rules)

- the international convention to impose minimum standards upon commercial carriers
of goods by sea
- Introduced at the International Law association meeting in Brussels in 1921 and
adopted first as clauses in bills of lading and after 1923 as the Brussels Convention on
Limitation of Liability.
- Its objective of the Hague Rule was to establish a minimum mandatory liability of
carriers.

RULE 2 ( The Hague - Visby Rule )

- is a set of international carriage of goods by sea.
- slightly updated version of the original Hague Rules which were drafted in Brussels
in 1924

RULE 3 ( The Hamburg Rule )

- 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 transportation of goods on oceangoing ships.

RULE 4 ( The Rotterdam Rule )

- Is a treaty proposing new international rules to revise the legal framework for
maritime affreightment and carriage of goods by sea
- Primarily address the legal relationship between carriers and cargo-owners.

COMPARISON
The Hague Rule
1. Rules are silent

The Hague - Visby Rule

1. B/L (Bills of lading) issued in a contracting state
2. Carriage from contracting state
3. Contract of carriage expressly applies rules

The Hamburg Rule

1. B/L (Bills of lading) issued in a contracting state
2. Carriage from contracting state
3. Carriage to contracting state
4. B/L (Bills of lading) provides Rules to apply

The Rotterdam Rule

- if according to contract
1. Place of receipt; or
2. Port of loading; or
3. Place of delivery; or

WHO IS THE CARRIER?

The Hague Rules
- Owner of charterer “who enters into contract of carriage with a
shipper”

The Hague - Visby Rule

- Owner of charterer “who enters into contract of carriage with a
shipper”

The Hamburg Rule

- “any person by whom or in whose name a contract of carriage
has been concluded with a shipper”.
- Covers “actual” and “contractual” carrier.

The Rotterdam Rule

- “a person that enters into a contract of carriage with a shipper”.
But the obligations extend to “performing parties” acting at the
carrier’s request or under the carrier’s supervision or control.