PART VI. SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISIONS

Article 28 Contractual Stipulations

1. Any stipulation in a multimodal transport contract or multimodaltransport document shall be null and void to the extent that it derogates，directly or indirectly， from the provisions of this Convention. Thenullity of such a stipulation shall not affect the validity of otherprovisions of the contract or document of which it forms a part. A clauseassigning benefit of insurance of the goods in favour of the multimodaltransport operator or any similar clause shall be null and void.

2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article， themultimodal transport operator may， with the agreement of the consignor，increase his responsibilities and obligations under this Convention.

3. The multimodal transport document shall contain a statement thatthe international multimodal transport is subject to the provisions ofthis Convention which nullify any stipulations derogating therefrom to thedetriment of the consignor or the consignee.

4. Where the claimant in respect of the goods has incurred loss as aresult of a stipulation which is null and void by virtue of the presentArticle， or as a result of the omission of the statement referred to inparagraph 3 of this Article， the multimodal transport operator must paycompensation to the extent required in order to give the claimantcompensation in accordance with the provisions of this Convention for anyloss of or damage to the goods as well as for delay in delivery. Themultimodal transport operator must， in addition， pay compensation forcosts incurred by the claimant for the purpose of exercising his right，provided that costs incurred in the action where the foregoing provisionis invoked are to be determined in accordance with the law of the Statewhere proceedings are instituted.

Article 29 General Average

1. Nothing in this Convention shall prevent the application ofprovisions in the multimodal transport contract or national law regardingthe adjustment of general average， if and to the extent applicable.

2. With the exception of Article 25， the provisions of this Conventionrelating to the liability of the multimodal transport operator for loss ofor damage to the goods shall also determine whether the consignee mayrefuse contribution in general average and the liability of the multimodaltransport operator to indemnify the consignee in respect of any suchcontribution made or any salvage paid.

Article 30 Other Conventions

1. This Convention does not modify the rights or duties provided forin the Brussels International Convention for the Unification of certainRules relating to the Limitation of the Liability of Owners of Sea-goingVessels of August 25， 1924； in the Brussels International Conventionrelating to the Limitation of the Liability of Owners of Sea-going Shipsof October 10， 1957； in the London Convention on Limitation of Liabilityfor Maritime Claims of November 19， 1976； and in the Geneva Conventionrelating to the Limitation of the Liability of Owners of Inland NavigationVessels （CLN） of March 1， 1973， including amendments to these Conventions，or national law relating to the limitation of liability of owners ofsea-going ships and inland navigation vessels.

2. The provisions of Articles 26 and 27 of this Convention do notprevent the application of the mandatory provisions of any otherinternational convention relating to matters dealt with in the saidArticles， provided that the dispute arises exclusively between partieshaving their principal place of business in States parties to such otherconvention. However， this paragraph does not affect the application ofparagraph 3 of Article 27 of this Convention.

3. No liability shall arise under the provisions of this Conventionfor damage caused by a nuclear incident if the operator of a nuclearinstallation is liable for such damage：

（a） Under either the Paris Convention of July 29， 1960 on Third PartyLiability in the Field of Nuclear Energy as amended by the AdditionalProtocol of January 28， 1964 or the Vienna Convention of May 21， 1963 onCivil Liability for Nuclear Damage， or amendments thereto； or

（b） By virtue of national law governing the liability for such damage，provided that such law is in all respects as favourable to persons who maysuffer damage as either the Paris or Vienna Convention.

4. Carriage of goods such as carriage of goods in accordance with theGeneva Convention of May 19， 1956 on the Contract for the InternationalCarriage of Goods by Road in Article 2， or the Berne Convention ofFebruary 7， 1970 concerning the Carriage of Goods by Rail， Article 2，shall not for States Parties to Conventions governing such carriage beconsidered as international multimodal transport within the meaning ofArticle 1， paragraph 1， of this Convention， in so far as such States arebound to apply the provisions of such Conventions to such carriage ofgoods.

Article 31 Unit of Account or Monetary Unit and Conversion

1. The unit of account referred to in Article 18 of this Convention isthe Special Drawing Right as defined by the International Monetary Fund.The amounts referred to in Article 18 shall be converted into the nationalcurrency of a State according to the value of such currency on the date ofthe judgement or award or the date agreed upon by the parties. The valueof a national currency， in terms of the Special Drawing Right， of aContracting State which is a member of the International Monetary Fund，shall be calculated in accordance with the method of valuation applied bythe International Monetary Fund， in effect on the date in question， forits operations and transactions. The value of a national currency in termsof the Special Drawing Right of a Contracting State which is not a memberof the International Monetary Fund shall be calculated in a mannerdetermined by that State.

2. Nevertheless， a State which is not a member of the InternationalMonetary Fund and whose law does not permit the application of theprovisions of paragraph 1 of this Article may， at the time of signature，ratification， acceptance， approval or accession， or at any timethereafter， declare that the limits of liability provided for in thisConvention to be applied in its territory shall be fixed as follows： withregard to the limits provided for in paragraph 1 of Article 18， to 13， 750monetary units per package or other shipping unit or 41.25 monetary unitsper kilogram of gross weight of the goods， and with regard to the limitprovided for in paragraph 3 of Article 18， to 124 monetary units.

3. The monetary unit referred to in paragraph 2 of this Articlecorresponds to sixty-five and a half milligrams of gold of millesimalfineness nine hundred. The convention of the amount referred to inparagraph 2 of this Article into national currency shall be made accordingto the law of the State concerned.

4. The calculation mentioned in the last sentence of paragraph 1 ofthis Article and the conversion referred to in paragraph 3 of this Articleshall be made in such a manner as to express in the national currency ofthe Contracting State as far as possible the same real value for theamounts in Article 18 as is expressed there in units of account.

5. Contracting States shall communicate to the depositary the mannerof calculation pursuant to the last sentence of paragraph 1 of thisArticle， or the result of the conversion pursuant to paragraph 3 of thisArticle， as the case may be， at the time of signature or when depositingtheir instruments of ratification， acceptance， approval or accession， orwhen availing themselves of the option provided for in paragraph 2 of thisArticle and whenever there is a change in the manner of such calculationor in the result of such conversion.

PART VII. CUSTOMS MATTERS

Article32 Customs Transit

1. Contracting States shall authorize the use of the procedure ofcustoms transit for international multimodal transport.

2. Subject to provisions of national law or regulations andintergovernmental agreements. the customs transit of goods ininternational multimodal transport shall be in accordance with the rulesand principles contained in Articles I to VI of the annex to thisConvention.

3. When introducing laws or regulations in respect of customs transitprocedures relating to multimodal transport of goods， Contracting Statesshould take into consideration Articles I to VI of the annex to thisConvention.

PART VIII. FINAL CLAUSES

Article 33 Depositary

The Secretary-General of the United Nations is hereby designated asthe depositary of this Convention.Article 34 Signature， Ratification， Acceptance， Approval and Accession

1. All States are entitled to become Parties to this Convention by：

（a） Signature not subject to ratification， acceptance or approval；or

（b） Signature subject to and followed by ratification， acceptanceor approval； or

（c） Accession.

2. This Convention shall be open for signature as from September 1，1980 until and including August 31， 1981 at the Headquarters of the UnitedNations in New York.

3. After August 31， 1981， this Convention shall be open for accessionby all State which are not signatory States.

4. Instruments of ratification， acceptance， approval and accession areto be deposited with the depositary.

5. Organizations for regional economic integration， constituted bysovereign States members of UNCTAD， and which have competence tonegotiate， conclude and apply international agreements in specific fieldscovered by this Convention， shall be similarly entitled to become Partiesto this Convention in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 to 4of this Article， thereby assuming in relation to other Parties to thisConvention the rights and duties under this Convention in the specificfields referred to above.

Article 35 Reservations

No reservation may be made to this Convention.

Article 36 Entry into Force

1. This Convention shall enter into force 12 months after theGovernments of 30 States have either signed it not subject toratification， acceptance or approval or have deposited instruments ofratification， acceptance， approval or accession with the depositary.

2. For each State which ratifies， accepts， approves or accedes to thisConvention after the requirements for entry into force given in paragraph1 of this Article have been met， the Convention shall enter into force 12months after the deposit by such State of the appropriate instrument.Article 37 Date of Application

Each Contracting State shall apply the provisions of this Conventionto multimodal transport contracts concluded on or after the date of entryinto force of this Convention in respect of that State.

Article 38 Rights and Obligations under Existing Conventions

If， according to Articles 26 or 27， judicial or arbitral proceedingsare brought in a Contracting State in a case relating to internationalmultimodal transport subject to this Convention which takes place betweentwo States of which only one is a Contracting State， and if both theseStates are at the time of entry into force of this Convention equallybound by another international convention， the court or arbitral tribunalmay， in accordance with the obligations under such convention， give effectto the provisions thereof.

Article 39 Revision and Amendments

1. At the request of not less than one-third of the ContractingStates， the Secretary-General of the United Nations shall， after the entryinto force of this Convention， convene a conference of the ContractingStates for revising or amending it. The Secretary-General of the UnitedNations shall circulate to all Contracting States the texts of anyproposals for amendments at least three months before the opening date ofthe conference.

2. Any decision by the revision conference， including amendments，shall be taken by a two-thirds majority of the States， present and voting.Amendments adopted by the conference shall be communicated by thedepositary to all the contracting States for acceptance and to all theState signatories of the Convention for information.

3. Subject to paragraph 4 below， any amendment adopted by theconference shall enter into force only for those Contracting States whichhave accepted it， on the first day of the month following one year afterits acceptance by two-thirds of the Contracting States. For any Stateaccepting an amendment after it has been accepted by two-thirds of theContracting States， the amendment shall enter into force on the first dayof the month following one year after its acceptance by that State.

4. Any amendment adopted by the conference altering the amountsspecified in Article 18 and paragraph 2 of Article 31 or substitutingeither or both the units defined in paragraphs 1 and 3 of Article 31 byother units shall enter into force on the first day of the month followingone year after its acceptance by two-thirds of the Contracting States.Contracting States which have accepted the altered amounts or thesubstituted units shall apply them in their relationship with allContracting States.

5. Acceptance of amendments shall be effected by the deposit of aformal instrument to that effect with the depositary.

6. Any instrument of ratification， acceptance， approval or accessiondeposited after the entry into force of any amendment adopted by theconference shall be deemed to apply to the Convention as amended.

Article 40 Denunciation

1. Each Contracting State may denounce this Convention at any timeafter the expiration of a period of two years from the date on which thisConvention has entered into force by means of a notification in writingaddressed to the depositary.

2. Such denunciation shall take effect on the first day of the monthfollowing the expiration of one year after the notification is received bythe depositary. Where a longer period is specified in the notification，the denunciation shall take effect upon the expiration of such longerperiod after the notification is received by the depositary.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned， being duly authorized thereto，have affixed their signatures hereunder on the dates indicated.

DONE at Geneva， this twenty-fourth day of May， one thousand ninehundred and eighty， in one original in the Arabic， Chinese， English，French， Russian， and Spanish languages， all texts being equallyauthentic.

ANNEX PROVISIONS ON CUSTOMS MATTERS RELATING TO INTERNATIONAL MUL-TIMODAL TRANSPORT OF GOODS

Article I

For the Purposes of this Convention：

“Customs transit procedure” means the customs procedure under whichgoods are transported under customs control from one customs office toanother.

“Customs office of destination” means any customs office at which acustoms transit operation is terminated.

“Import/export duties and taxes” means customs duties and all otherduties， taxes， fees or other charges which are collected on or inconnection with the import/export of goods， but not including fees andcharges which are limited in amount to the approximate cost of servicesrendered.

“Customs transit document” means a form containing the record of dataentries and information required for the customs transit operation.

Article II

1. Subject to the provisions of the law， regulations and internationalconventions in force in their territories， Contracting States shall grantfreedom of transit to goods in international multimodal transport.

2. Provided that the conditions laid down in the customs transitprocedure used for the transit operation are fulfilled to the satisfactionof the customs authorities， goods in international multimodal transport：

（a） Shall not， as a general rule， be subject to customs examinationduring the journey except to the extent deemed necessary to ensurecompliance with rules and regulations which the customs are responsiblefor enforcing. Flowing from this， the customs authorities shall normallyrestrict themselves to the control of customs seals and other securitymeasures at points of entry and exit；

（b） Without prejudice to the application of law and regulationsconcerning public or national security， public morality or public health，shall not be subject to any customs formalities or requirements additionalto those of the customs transit regime used for the transit operation.

Article III

In order to facilitate the transit of goods， each Contracting Stateshall：

（a） If it is the country of shipment， as far as practicable， take allmeasures to ensure the completeness and accuracy of the informationrequired for the subsequent transit operations；

（b） If it is the country of destination：

（i） Take all necessary measures to ensure that goods in customstransit shall be cleared， as a rule， at the customs office of destinationof the goods；

（ii） Endeavour to carry out the clearance of goods at a place asnear as is possible to the place of final destination of the goods，provided that national law and regulations do not require otherwise.

Article IV

1. Provided that the conditions laid down in the customs transitprocedure are fulfilled to the satisfaction of the customs authorities，the goods in international multimodal transport shall not be subject tothe payment of import/export duties and taxes or deposit in lieu thereofin transit countries.

2. The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall not preclude：

（a） The levy of fees and charges by virtue of national regulationson grounds of public security or public health；

（b） The levy of fees and charges， which are limited in amount tothe approximate cost of services rendered， provided they are imposed underconditions of equality.

Article V

1. Where a financial guarantee for the customs transit operation isrequired， it shall be furnished to the satisfaction of the customsauthorities of the transit country concerned in conformity with itsnational law and regulations and international conventions.

2. With a view to facilitating customs transit， the system of customsguarantee shall be simple， efficient， moderately priced and shall coverimport/export duties and taxes chargeable and， in countries where they arecovered by guarantees， any penalties due.

Article VI

1. Without prejudice to any other documents which may be required byvirtue of an international convention or national law and regulations，customs authorities of transit countries shall accept the multimodaltransport document as a descriptive part of the customs transit procedure.

2. With a view to facilitating customs transit， customs transitdocuments shall be aligned， as far as possible， with the layoutreproduced below.

[ The layout of Customs transit document Omitted-note by editor ofthis volume.]