The Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods (CMR) was adopted in 1956 in Geneva and entered into force in 1961, while the SDR Protocol to the Convention was adopted in 1978. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Convention has been applied since September 1, 1993, on the basis of the succession of laws and international agreements adopted in the former SFR Yugoslavia, while the Decision on the Ratification of the Protocol to the Convention on the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR) was published in the “Official Gazette of BiH – International Agreements”, number 9/20, on July 16, 2020.
This Convention applies to any contract for the carriage of goods by road on vehicles, which includes certain compensation, provided that the place of collection and the place of the destination, as determined by the contract, are located in two different countries and that at least one of the parties has acceded to the CMR Convention, regardless of the place of headquarters and nationalities of the parties. For the purpose of this Convention, “vehicles” means motor vehicles, articulated vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is a signatory to a considerable number of international conventions and multilateral and bilateral agreements that regulate issues in the domain of international traffic, while in internal law the issue of transportation is regulated by the provisions of the Law on Contracts and Torts of the Republic of Srpska and the Law on Contracts and Torts of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The primary objective of the CMR Convention is to define the obligations of the carrier and the documents that must be carried out in a vehicle transporting the goods between two countries, at least one of which is a signatory to the CMR Convention. In addition, the Convention further defines certain responsibilities of the sender and recipient of goods, and according to these conditions, the liability insurance of the carrier (the insured) is carried out towards the user of the transport of consignments accepted for transport on the basis of the concluded transport contract and in accordance with the provisions of the Convention.
According to the above, the subject of insurance cannot be liability:
- For transportation performed without a concluded transportation contract,
- For transport performed for own needs,
- For free transportation (freight is not calculated),
- For the transportation of postal items, valuable items (coins, paper money, securities, documents, and deeds) and works of art (paintings, sculptures, etc.).
According to the text of the Convention, the carrier is responsible for all losses and damages, except for those for which liability is excluded. The carrier is responsible, according to the rules of objective liability, for loss, damage, and late delivery. The insurer is obliged to compensate the insured (the user of the transport) for all amounts that have been grounded and which the insured should pay in relation to the carrier’s liability, if the damage occurred as a direct consequence of a traffic accident of the means of transport, fire and/or explosion (except for the damage caused as a result of self-ignition or explosion of the goods themselves), burglary, robbery, or theft of the entire vehicle with goods (proven theft).
The CMR Convention applies with regard to:
- Territory — to contracts for the carriage of goods in road traffic if the place of shipment and destination are located in different countries, at least one of which is a signatory to the CMR Convention, regardless of the domicile and nationality of the parties,
- Personality — the road carrier is not only responsible for his own omissions and mistakes but also for those of his representatives, employees, and other involved persons.
- Subject — responsibility for total or partial physical loss or damage to the goods that occurs from the time of collection to delivery, as well as for delays in delivery.
The contract of carriage shall be confirmed by the making out of a consignment note with CMR markings. The consignment note contains all the details related to the terms of cooperation, while the Convention applies regardless of any clause to the contrary. Claims arising from the application of the Convention expire within one year and relate to loss, damage, and late delivery by the carrier, which should be considered when initiating court proceedings.
Insurance against the liability of the road carrier is extremely significant primarily for the purpose of protecting the sender but also the carriers themselves. This importance is evidenced by a considerable number of sources of law, the enormous importance of the CMR Convention, along with the fact that it has been ratified by a large number of countries in Europe, as well as the fact that it is always applied when at least one of the contracting parties is a signatory to the Convention. With this, we can conclude that the goal of the CMR Convention and its provisions is to be applied in most cases of international transport of goods by road, as well as to influence the signatory countries to harmonize their national regulations with the provisions of the convention.
| Author: | |
| Nataša Škrbić Banjac Milica Crnic | E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] |
