Liability for loss or damage to cargo in multimodal transport agreements : an African perspective

Abstract

The absence of a harmonised legal regime that regulates the liability for loss or damage to cargo in the multimodal carriage of goods has been an international problem for quite some time. Like many other international and regional economic communities, SADC, COMESA and CEMAC have all tried to solve this problem by designing regulations of their own with the intention of regulating multimodal transport in their respective regions. It is these efforts at harmonisation that form the subject matter of this treatise. This research is an exploration into the regulation of multi modal transport with specific reference to liability for loss or damage to cargo in African multimodal transport as provided for in the SADC Protocol on Transport, Communication and Meteorology, the COMESA Charter and its attendant protocols and the CEMAC Interstate Multimodal Cargo Transport Convention. This paper thoroughly reviews the literature written on the selected treaties and this includes published and unpublished government reports, preparatory documents, books, journals and case law. The treaties are described and analysed in order to determine the manner in which they regulate liability for loss or damage to cargo in multimodal transport agreements if they do so at all. This research scrutinises the form and structure of each of the selected instruments in order to establish the extent to which they work together to form a truly harmonised regulatory regime in multimodal transport in Africa. Finally, this study utilises all the data it acquires on the regional treaties it focuses on to recommend the best method through which multimodal transport law, particularly on liability for or damage of cargo, may be harmonised in Africa.