THE STATES PARTIES TO THIS CONVENTION，
RECOGNIZING：

（a）That international multimodal transport is one means offacilitating the orderly expansion of world trade；

（b）The need to stimulate the development of smooth，economic andefficient multimodal transport services adequate to the requirements of the trade concerned；

（c）The desirability of ensuring the orderly development ofinternational multimodal transport in the interest of all countries andthe need to consider the special problems of transit countries；

（d）The desirability of determining certain rules relating to thecarriage of goods by international multimodal transport contracts，including equitable provisions concerning the liability of multimodaltransport operators；

（e）The need that this Convention should not affect the application ofany international convention or national law relating to the regulationand control of transport operations；

（f）The right of each State to regulate and control at the nationallevel multimodal transport operators and operations；

（g）The need to have regard to the special interest and problems ofdeveloping countries， for example，as regards introduction of newtechnologies， participation in multimodal services of their nationalcarriers and operators， cost efficiency thereof and maximum use of locallabour and insurance；

（h）The need to ensure a balance of interests between suppliers andusers of multimodal transport services；

（i）The need to facilitate customs procedures with due considerationto the problems of transit countries；

AGREEING to the following basic principles：

（a）That a fair balance of interests between developed and developingcountries should be established and an equitable distribution ofactivities between these groups of countries should be attained ininternational multimodal transport；

（b）That consultation should take place on terms and conditions ofservice，both before and after the introduction of any new technology in the multimodal transport of goods，between the multimodal transportoperator， shippers， shippers' organizations and appropriate nationalauthorities；

（c）The freedom for shippers to choose between multimodal andsegmented transport services；

（d）That the liability of the multimodal transport operator under thisConvention should be based on the principle of presumed fault or neglect；