International Conventions

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The three international conventions which are directly related to the carriage of goods by sea are as follows:-

1) First international convention on carriage of goods by sea adopted in 1924 is known as The Hague Rules (International Convention for the Unification of certain Rules of Law relating to Bills of Lading).

2) The protocol to amend the Hague Rules to a limited extend which was adopted in 1968 and which entered into force on 23 June 1977: these amendments are known as the Hague-Visby Rules (The protocol to amend the Brussels International Convention for Unification of certain Rules of Law relating to Bills of Lading).

3) A United Nations sponsored convention to replace the Hague/Hague-Visby rules known as Hamburg Rules (The United Nations Convention on the carriage of goods by sea, 1978). This has yet to be enforced.

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