Carriage of Goods By Sea Act 1992

The Carriage of Goods By Sea Act 1992 is a UK Statute that repeals the Bills of Lading Act 1855 and makes new provisions.

The Bills of Lading Act 1855 was commendably brief and proved useful, but as time went by certain defects became apparent. The English courts devised some ways round the problem: in Brandt v Liverpool 1924 the concept of implied contracts was developed. Nevertheless, there were difficulties relating to passing of property and passing of risk.

The Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission addressed the issue in a report, "Rights of Suit in respect of Carriage of Goods by Sea". The Report contained a draft bill which Parliament adopted in full without amendment.

The statute makes provision for Bills of Lading and other documents of carriage, as follows:

A bill of lading serves three main functions:

Although the term "bill of lading" is well-known and well-understood, it may become obsolete. Articles 1:15 & 1:16 of the Rotterdam Rules create the new term "transport document"; but (assuming the Rules come into force) it remains to be seen whether shippers, carriers and "maritime performing parties" (another new Rotterdam Rules coinage) will abandon the long-established and familiar term, "bill of lading".

The Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971 incorporates the Hague-Visby Rules into English Law. These rules require (where the Article X invokes the Rules) that, on demand, the carrier must provide the shipper with a bill of lading that meets the requiirements of Article III. Although CoGSA 1992 cannot amend the Hague-Visby Rules, which are an International Convention, s.4 of the 1992 Act (above) upgrades the status of a bill of lading to be conclusive evidence of receipt for shipment.

...
Wikipedia