By Capt. Asim Iqbal
Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Govt of Pakistan is contemplating fine-tuning the bill duly amended by the protocol of carriage of goods by sea act bill and the carriage of shipping documents bill. With the support of port authorities and shipping industry stakeholders, the Ministry has started deliberating and making suggestions for approval from the cabinet and parliament. If approved, the previous bill of lading act 1856 would be repealed.
In this regard, a lengthy debate to discuss the draft bill with shipping industry experts was held at the KPT Auditorium. Capt. Asim Iqbal and others have addressed it. Karachi chamber of commerce, PIFFA, KPT, PSA, and other Government organisations attended the meeting.
The Private container terminal operators have declined to provide feedback and instead ask that matters be related to the carrier of goods, mainly shipping lines. However, Pakistan’s Shipping Agent Association, All Pakistan Shipping Association and Pakistan International Freight Forwarders Association have welcomed the move and looking forward to the new bills for which they have been striving since 2006.
Experts narrated that we are following “Hague Rule 1924” for the carriage of goods by sea; later, it was amended by Hague Visby Rules and then the SDR protocol of 1979.
Pakistan will now implement the Hague Rules, which protect cargo owners to some extent and restrict the carrier’s limiting liabilities.
The official title of the Hague Rules is the “International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law relating to Bills of Lading”. After being amended by the Brussels Amendments (officially the “Protocol to Amend the International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law Relating to Bills of Lading”) in 1968, the Rules became known colloquially as the Hague–Visby Rules.
A final amendment was made to the SDR Protocol in 1979. Many countries declined to adopt the Hague–Visby Rules and stayed with the 1924 Hague Rules.[2] Some other countries that upgraded to Hague-Visby failed to adopt the 1979 SDR protocol.
Under the Rules, the carrier’s main duties are to “properly and carefully load, handle, stow, carry, keep, care for, and discharge the goods carried” and to “exercise due diligence to … make the ship seaworthy” and to “… properly man, equip and supply the ship”.
The shipper has fewer obligations (mostly implicit), namely:
To pay the freight.
To have the goods ready for shipment as agreed. To pack the goods sufficiently for the journey.
To describe the goods honestly and accurately.
Only ship dangerous cargo if agreed by both parties).
Shipping industry experts are perturbed about whether the incumbent government would get it approved, as two successive governments’ previous attempts could not get it approved.