Travaux préparatoires United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea (New York, 2008) (the "Rotterdam Rules")

Drafts

During the sessions above, six consolidated drafts of the Convention were generated. Most of these drafts contain important references on the evolution of each article contained therein.

8 January 2002: A/CN.9/WG.III/WP.21 - Preliminary draft instrument on the carriage of goods by sea

4 September 2003: A/CN.9/WG.III/WP.32 - Draft instrument on the carriage of goods [wholly or partly] [by sea]

8 September 2005: A/CN.9/WG.III/WP.56 - Draft convention on the carriage of goods [wholly or partly] [by sea]

13 February 2007: A/CN.9/WG.III/WP.81 - Draft convention on the carriage of goods [wholly or partly] [by sea]

14 November 2007: A/CN.9/WG.III/WP.101 - Draft convention on the carriage of goods [wholly or partly] [by sea]

30 January 2008: A/CN.9/645 Annex 1: Draft convention on contracts for the international carriage of goods wholly or partly by sea

The final text of the Convention was adopted by the General Assembly on 11 December 2008.

Travaux Préparatoires

At its forty-second session in 2009, UNCITRAL requested the preparation of an article by article guide to the Convention's extensive travaux préparatoires.

A consolidation of the official reports of UNCITRAL and its Working Group III (Transport Law) on the preparation of the Rotterdam Rules from 2002 to 2008, excerpted on an article by article basis, has been created to provide a complete legislative history of the Convention, including on articles not included in the final text.

Additionally, an index, organized on an article by article basis, provides links to the reports of Working Group III, and the summary records and annual reports of the UNCITRAL session at which the Convention was considered. Further, the index contains some "see also" references, in chronological order, to documents prepared by States, intergovernmental organizations or non-governmental organizations that may provide further information on various articles. The index does not deal with articles not included in the final text.

To assist readers, a table of concordance is available. This table indicates how the numbering in the various iterations of the Convention** relates to the numbering in the final text. In the case of articles that were not included in the final text, the table shows the last version of the article prior to its deletion.