Working Group VI: Negotiable Cargo Documents

UNCITRAL Working Group VI is currently developing a new instrument on negotiable cargo documents. While bills of lading have been widely used as documents of title in the maritime sector, transport documents issued by rail, road and air carriers (often known as “consignment notes”), which are typically non-negotiable, cannot serve that function. The new instrument intends to create a new type of document of title entitled “negotiable cargo document”, which could perform an analogous function as a maritime bill of lading for the carriage of goods for any mode of transport in a multimodal or unimodal context.The new instrument also provides a legal framework for the recognition and use of negotiable electronic cargo records.

For more information, see "Fact sheet: UNCITRAL project on negotiable cargo documents (updated)" (A/CN.9/WG.VI/WP.113)

46 th session, 17-21 March 2025, New York

Side Event (in English only, without interpretation)

• A/CN.9/1205 - Report of Working Group VI (Negotiable Cargo Documents) on the work of its forty-sixth session (Advance copy)
• A/CN.9/WG.VI/WP.112 - Annotated provisional agenda
• A/CN.9/WG.VI/WP.113 - Fact sheet: UNCITRAL project on negotiable cargo documents
• A/CN.9/WG.VI/WP.114 - Negotiable Cargo Documents
• A/CN.9/WG.VI/WP.115 - Interaction between draft convention on negotiable cargo documents and existing international transport law conventions
• A/CN.9/WG.VI/WP.116/Rev.1 - Compilation of comments from organizations

45 th session, 9-13 December 2024, Vienna

Side Events (in English only, without interpretation)

• A/CN.9/1199 - Report of Working Group VI (Negotiable Cargo Documents) on the work of its forty-fifth session
• A/CN.9/WG.VI/WP.105 - Annotated provisional agenda
• A/CN.9/WG.VI/WP.106 - Fact sheet: UNCITRAL project on negotiable cargo documents
• A/CN.9/WG.VI/WP.107 - Negotiable Cargo Documents
• A/CN.9/WG.VI/WP.108 - Submission from the Comité Maritime International
• A/CN.9/WG.VI/WP.109 - Submission from the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations
• A/CN.9/WG.VI/WP.110 - Submission from the International Chamber of Commerce Global Banking Commission
• A/CN.9/WG.VI/WP.111 - Submission from the Global Shippers Forum

44 th session, 6-10 May 2024, New York

Side Events (in English only, without interpretation)

• A/CN.9/1170 - Report of Working Group VI (Negotiable Cargo Documents) on the work of its forty-fourth session
• A/CN.9/WG.VI/WP.101 - Annotated provisional agenda
• A/CN.9/WG.VI/WP.102 - Fact sheet: UNCITRAL project on negotiable cargo documents
• A/CN.9/WG.VI/WP.103 - Negotiable Cargo Documents
• A/CN.9/WG.VI/WP.104 - Submission from the Government of Singapore

43 rd session, 27 November-1 December 2023, Vienna

• A/CN.9/1164 - Report of Working Group VI (Negotiable Cargo Documents) on the work of its forty-third session
• A/CN.9/WG.VI/WP.99 - Annotated provisional agenda
• A/CN.9/WG.VI/WP.100 - Negotiable Cargo Documents

42 nd session, 8-12 May 2023, New York

• A/CN.9/1134 - Report of Working Group VI (Negotiable Multimodal Transport Documents) on the work of its forty-second session
• A/CN.9/WG.VI/WP.97 - Annotated provisional agenda
• A/CN.9/WG.VI/WP.98 - Negotiable Cargo Documents

41 st session, 28 November - 2 December 2022, Vienna

• A/CN.9/1127 - Report of Working Group VI (Negotiable Multimodal Transport Documents) on the work of its forty-first session
• A/CN.9/WG.VI/WP.95 - Annotated provisional agenda
• A/CN.9/WG.VI/WP.96 - Negotiable Multimodal Transport Documents