International agreement on contracts of carriage by road

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Member states of the CMR

The CMR Convention (= CMR of French C onvention relative au contrat de transport international de m archandises par r oute , Convention on the contract of carriage in international road transport ') is an International Treaty on international transports on the Landtransportweg (eg B. with trucks ). The CMR was signed in 1956 and is valid throughout Europe.

CMR consignment note for international long-distance freight transport

The CMR is only binding in the contract languages ​​English and French.

Details and legal consequences of the CMR contract

scope of application

  • If (at least) the country of departure or destination of the goods is a CMR member state, the agreement must be applied by the contracting parties to the freight contract . The regulations of the CMR supersede the national transport law in the member states of the CMR and are mandatory in the contractual relationship between the sender and the carrier ; Agreements contrary to the CMR are void (Article 41 CMR). Only insofar as the CMR does not regulate certain facts can the national law still to be determined in individual cases and applicable to the freight contract also intervene.
  • Another prerequisite for the implementation is that the CMR is only valid when road vehicles are loaded. This means that containers or swap bodies are not considered vehicles on their own, but only in combination with the corresponding vehicle.
  • The CMR does not apply to the transport of mail (which is carried out in accordance with the provisions of international postal conventions), removal goods or corpses.
  • If the goods are not reloaded, i.e. the entire vehicle and goods are transported, the CMR also applies exceptionally for special transport routes (e.g. piggyback transport by rail, ferry transport) (Article 2 CMR).

Contract type

According to the prevailing opinion, the CMR transport contract is also a consensual contract with an obligation to perform ( work contract ).

Obligations of the contracting parties

  • The sender commissions the carrier to transport goods across borders for a fee.
  • The sender has to pay the agreed freight. In addition, unless otherwise agreed, he has to pack the goods safely for transport. The obligation to load and / or unload or stow is not expressly regulated in the CMR. The sender must provide the carrier with all the necessary information about the goods (especially in the case of dangerous goods ) in good time and hand over the necessary (freight) papers. As a rule, the sender has the right of disposal over the goods (unless otherwise agreed and recorded accordingly in the consignment note ) (Article 12 CMR). As a rule, the right of disposal is transferred to the recipient upon delivery.
  • The carrier must ensure safe and timely transport and deliver the goods to the agreed unloading location.
  • In principle, there is a ban on reloading the goods; however, this can be contractually agreed or, in exceptional cases, instructed by the sender.
  • In principle, the recipient is not a party to the transport contract, but is usually the beneficiary of the same. According to Article 13 CMR, however, he can request the carrier to hand over the second copy of the consignment note upon arrival and to deliver the goods to him. In return, he then has to pay the freight. The amount of the freight to be paid results from the value details in the consignment note; the costs incurred during the transport must be added (e.g. freight surcharges, demurrage, customs duties, import sales tax). In addition, he has to issue the carrier a confirmation of receipt (receipt).

CMR consignment note

A CMR consignment note can be issued for the transport (Article 4 CMR). If the consignment note is missing, this does not automatically affect the validity of the freight contract.

  • The CMR consignment note is issued in three original copies; all three copies must be signed by both the carrier and the sender (Article 5 CMR). So far, the issuing of an electronic CMR consignment note according to h. M. not possible.
  • The information to be entered in the consignment note is described in more detail in Article 6 of the CMR.
  • If the consignment note is signed by both the sender and the carrier, the CMR consignment note has the evidential effects of Article 9 CMR. If one of the two signatures is missing, the comprehensive evidential effect of Article 9 CMR does not come into play, but according to the supplementary applicable national evidencing law, there can still be a presumption of evidence for certain facts.
  • When accepting the goods in accordance with Article 8 CMR, the carrier is responsible for inspection
  • As a rule, a CMR clause is indicated on the CMR consignment note, which states that the transport shown is subject to the provisions of the CMR in case of doubt, despite an agreement to the contrary. The clause is intended to underline the mandatory validity of the CMR. Deviating regulations are void. The clause is intended to “secure the agreement of the provisions of the CMR also before courts outside the contracting states by giving this character to contractual agreements between the parties”.
  • The CMR consignment note automatically contains a blocking function. The sender can only dispose if he can present his copy of the waybill (the first of the three originals). The right to subsequent disposal expires with the delivery of the goods. This means that payment can be made against the first original of the CMR consignment note.

liability

Basics of liability according to the CMR

  • Liability in the CMR is largely designed as strict liability . The carrier is responsible for the damage incurred during the custody period regardless of fault, cf. for this purpose custody . In contrast to fault-based liability (for intent and negligence), the fault is un -based liability in value limited, as it would be unfair and difficult to insure if the carrier despite the absence of negligence unlimited liable should.
  • The carrier is also responsible for the misconduct of the people he employs (employees and subcontractors) (Article 3 CMR).
  • The limitation of liability is intended to be lifted if the damage was caused by the carrier or his people through qualified negligence (see Article 29 CMR).
  • As a rule, however, the carrier is not liable if the damage is based on one of the incidents listed in Article 17, Paragraph 4 of the CMR, or if the damage is based on the behavior of the person entitled to dispose (usually the sender) on which the carrier is responsible could not exert any influence (Article 17 (2) CMR).
  • Several carrier are liable rule as joint debtor in respect of losses (Article 34 CMR).
  • In turn, the sender is liable to the carrier for damage caused by the sender's misconduct (e.g. through incorrect declaration of the goods, Article 7 CMR)

Liability for loss of or damage to the goods

  • In the event of damage to goods, liability is limited to 8.33 SDRs (special drawing right) per kg gross gross weight (i.e. including packaging) as strict liability (Article 23 Paragraph 1, 2 CMR). The decisive factor is the value of the goods at the location and at the time of acceptance of the goods (Article 23 Paragraph 1 CMR).
  • An extension of liability is possible in exceptional cases if a declaration of value , i.e. H. the indication of the value of the goods and the amount of the particular interest in the delivery entered in the consignment note. (Article 24, 26 CMR) By entering the declaration, the freight charge for the freight is usually increased.

Liability for exceeding delivery times

  • Liability in the event that the delivery period is exceeded is limited in the CMR to the simple amount of the freight paid (Article 23, Paragraph 5 of the CMR).
  • An extension of liability is possible in exceptional cases if a declaration of value , i.e. H. the indication of the value of the goods and the amount of the particular interest in the delivery entered in the consignment note. (Article 24, 26 CMR) By entering the declaration, the freight charge for the freight is usually increased.

freight charges

Freight costs, customs duties, etc. are replaced separately for the respective minimum liability (Article 23 Paragraph 4 CMR).

(Goods) consequential damage

Consequential damage to goods (e.g. loss of profit, loss of earnings, loss of business, etc.) will not be compensated according to the CMR, but can possibly be indirectly covered by a corresponding interest in delivery, i.e. an entry of the delivery value (i.e. entry of the value of the goods + gap in coverage) in the consignment note. Pecuniary loss that occurred independently of the property loss as damage caused by delay is limited to the amount of the freight (Article 23 Paragraph 5 CMR). However, in individual cases, such consequential liability can possibly be derived from additional applicable national law.

Deadlines for complaints and statute of limitations

Deadlines for complaints

The deadlines for complaints are regulated in accordance with Article 30 CMR (for externally visible damage due to loss or damage to the goods at the latest when the goods are delivered; for externally not visible damage at the latest within 7 days - excluding Sundays and public holidays - after delivery; for delivery deadlines that are exceeded within 21 days from provision to the recipient). The complaints must be made in writing.

Statute of limitations

The claims from the CMR contract usually expire in one year, in cases of willful or intentional negligence in three years (for more details, see Article 32, Paragraph 1 of the CMR). The claim is suspended by a written complaint up to the day on which the carrier rejects the complaint in writing and sends back the enclosed documents. (Article 32 para. 2 CMR)

CMR member states

Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Greece, Great Britain, Iran, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Croatia, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Morocco, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Syria, Tajikistan, Czech Republic, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Ukraine, Hungary, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Cyprus. As of November 13, 2008.

Individual references / footnotes

  1. Art 1 Para. 4 CMR.
  2. Wieske: Transport law recorded quickly. 2nd edition, 2008, p. 204.
  3. Note: This is not expressly stated in the CMR, but results from the other regulations of the CMR.
  4. Rather, the express individual agreements made in this respect or the rules of the national law to be used as a supplement are to be applied. According to German freight law, the duty to load and unload - unless otherwise contractually regulated - is assigned to the sender (cf. § 412 HGB ). Compare with Koller: Transportrecht. Comment. 7th edition, 2010, before Article 1 ff. CMR, Rn. 8th.
  5. Note: If reloading is taking place, it may also be combined transport . Since this may be subject to different regulations in some cases, this must be checked in each specific case.
  6. cf. in German transport law: § 435 HGB
  7. Note: in German freight law: three times the freight.
  8. ^ Hartenstein, Reuschle: Handbook of the specialist lawyer for transport and forwarding law. 1st edition, 2010, chap. 11 G: Liability system of the CMR , p. 420.
  9. ^ Legal instruments in the field of transport. Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR) Geneva, May 19, 1956. In: unece.org. Retrieved April 25, 2019 .

literature

  • Olaf Hartenstein, Fabian Reuschle (ed.): Handbook of the specialist lawyer for transport and forwarding law. 3rd edition, Carl Heymanns, Cologne 2014 (including International Road Transport (CMR))
  • Ingo Koller: Transport law. Comment. 9th edition, CH Beck, Munich 2016.
  • Ingo Koller: Loss prevention and cross-subsidies at CMR from a German perspective. Considerations on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the CMR. In: Transport Law. 2006, 413 (published inter alia on the website of the "German Society for Transport Law eV") ( PDF; 116 kB )
  • Munich Commentary on the Commercial Code . 3. Edition. tape 7 : Transport law. Beck, Munich October 2014 (with comments on ADSp, CMR , MÜ, CMNI, COTIF and the new German maritime trade law).
  • Karl-Heinz Thume (Ed.): CMR. Comment. 3rd edition, Frankfurt 2013.
  • Thomas Wieske: Transport law recorded quickly. 3rd edition, Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg 2012.

Web links