CHAPTER XI

TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS

B

Road Traffic11Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR)Geneva, 19 May 1956Entry into force2 July 1961, in accordance with article 43.Registration2 July 1961, No. 5742StatusSignatories9Parties55TextUnited Nations, <i>Treaty Series </i>, vol. 399, p. 189.

ParticipantSignatureRatification, Accession(a), Succession(d)Albania20 Jul 2006 aArmenia 9 Jun 2006 aAustria19 May 1956 18 Jul 1960 Azerbaijan18 Sep 2006 aBelarus 5 Apr 1993 aBelgium19 May 1956 18 Sep 1962 Bosnia and Herzegovina<superscript>1</superscript> 1 Sep 1993 dBulgaria20 Oct 1977 aCroatia<superscript>1</superscript> 3 Aug 1992 dCyprus 2 Jul 2003 aCzech Republic<superscript>2</superscript> 2 Jun 1993 dDenmark28 Jun 1965 aEstonia 3 May 1993 aFinland27 Jun 1973 aFrance19 May 1956 20 May 1959 Georgia 4 Aug 1999 aGermany<superscript>3,4</superscript>19 May 1956 7 Nov 1961 Greece24 May 1977 aHungary29 Apr 1970 aIran (Islamic Republic of)17 Sep 1998 aIreland31 Jan 1991 aItaly 3 Apr 1961 aJordan13 Nov 2008 aKazakhstan17 Jul 1995 aKyrgyzstan 2 Apr 1998 aLatvia14 Jan 1994 aLebanon22 Mar 2006 aLithuania17 Mar 1993 aLuxembourg19 May 1956 20 Apr 1964 Malta21 Dec 2007 aMongolia18 Sep 2003 aMontenegro<superscript>5</superscript>23 Oct 2006 dMorocco23 Feb 1995 aNetherlands<superscript>6</superscript>19 May 1956 27 Sep 1960 Norway 1 Jul 1969 aPoland19 May 1956 13 Jun 1962 Portugal22 Sep 1969 aRepublic of Moldova26 May 1993 aRomania23 Jan 1973 aRussian Federation 2 Sep 1983 aSerbia<superscript>1</superscript>12 Mar 2001 dSlovakia<superscript>2</superscript>28 May 1993 dSlovenia<superscript>1</superscript> 6 Jul 1992 dSpain12 Feb 1974 aSweden19 May 1956 2 Apr 1969 Switzerland19 May 1956 27 Feb 1970 Syrian Arab Republic10 Sep 2008 aTajikistan11 Sep 1996 aThe former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia<superscript>1</superscript>20 Jun 1997 dTunisia24 Jan 1994 aTurkey 2 Aug 1995 aTurkmenistan18 Sep 1996 aUkraine16 Feb 2007 aUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland21 Jul 1967 aUzbekistan28 Sep 1995 aBulgaria<superscript>7</superscript>Czech Republic<superscript>2</superscript>Hungary<superscript>8</superscript><i>Declaration: </i>"1. The Hungarian People's Republic deems it necessary to call attention to the discriminative character of article 42 of the Convention by which a number of States are debarred from accession to the Convention. The matters regulated by the Convention concern the interests of all States, and therefore, in conformity with the principle of the sovereign equality of States, no State should be prevented from becoming a Party to such a Convention."2. The Hungarian People's Republic points out that the provisions of article 46 of the Convention are contrary to the principle of international law recording the self-determination of peoples as well as to United Nations General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960 on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples."Ireland<i>Declaration: </i>"Accession does not imply acceptance of the term `Republic of' used in the first paragraph [of the Protocol of Signature to the Convention]."Morocco<i>Reservation: </i>Pursuant to article 48 of the said Convention, the Kingdom of Morocco does not consider itself bound by the provisions of article 47 of the Convention, under which any dispute between two or more Parties relating to the interpretation or application of the present Convention which is not settled by negotiation or other means may, at the request of anyone of the Contracting Parties concerned, be referred for settlement to the International Court of Justice.The Kingdom of Morocco declares that in order for a dispute between two or more Parties to be referred to the International Court of Justice, it is necessary to have the consent of all States Parties to the dispute in each individual case.Poland<superscript>9</superscript>Romania<i>Reservation: </i>The Socialist Republic of Romania declares, pursuant to article 48 of the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR), done at Geneva on 19 May 1956, that it does not consider itself as bound by article 47 of the Convention, under which any dispute between two or more Contracting Parties relating to the interpretation or application of the Convention which is not settled by negotiation or other means may, at the request of any one of the Contracting Parties concerned, be referred to the International Court of Justice.The Socialist Republic of Romania considers that such disputes may be referred to the International Court of Justice only with the consent of all parties to the dispute in each individual case.<i>Declaration: </i>The Council of State of the Socialist Republic of Romania declares that the provisions of article 42, paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Convention are not in keeping with the principle that multilateral international treaties must be open for participation by all States for which the aim and purpose of such treaties are of concern.The Council of State of the Socialist Republic of Romania declares that the maintenance of the dependent status of certain territories to which reference is made in article 46 of the Convention is not in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations and the documents adopted by the United Nations concerning the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples, including the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, unanimously adopted in 1970 by the General Assembly in its resolution 2625 (XXV), which solemnly proclaims the duty of States to promote realization of the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples in order to bring a speedy end to colonialism.Russian Federation<i>Declaration: </i>The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics declares that the provisions of article 46 of the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road, 1956, to the effect that Contracting Parties may extend the Convention to territories for the international relations of which they are responsible, are outmoded and at variance with Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples adopted by the United Nations General Assembly [resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960].<i>Reservation: </i>The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics does not consider itself bound by the provisions of article 47 of the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road, 1956, to the effect that disputes relating to the interpretation or application of the Convention may be referred to the International Court of Justice at the request of any one of the parties to the dispute, and states that the referral of such a dispute to the International Court of Justice must be subject to the agreement of all the parties to the dispute in each specific case.Slovakia<superscript>2</superscript>Turkey<i>Reservation: </i>"The Republic of Turkey does not consider itself bound by article 47 of the Convention, under which any dispute between two or more Contracting Parties relating to the interpretation or application of the Convention which is not settled by negotiation or other means may, at the request of any of the Contracting Parties concerned, be referred to the International Court of Justice."UkraineReservation:"Pursuant to paragraph 1 of Article 48 of the Convention Ukraine does not consider itself bound by the provisions of Article 47 of the Convention."

ParticipantDate of receipt of the notificationTerritories

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland<superscript>10</superscript>31 Oct 1968Gibraltar12 Nov 1969Isle of Man 3 Mar 1972Bailiwick of Guernsey1The former Yugoslavia had signed and ratified the Convention on 19 May 1956 and 22 October 1958, respectively. See also note 1 under “Bosnia and Herzegovina”, “Croatia”, “former Yugoslavia”, “Slovenia”, “The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” and “Yugoslavia” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.2Czechoslovakia had acceded to the Convention on 4 September 1974, with a reservation. Subsequently, on 26 April 1991, the Govern- ment of Czechoslovakia notified the Secretary-General of its decision to withdraw the reservation to article 47 made upon accession. For the text of the reservation, see United Nations, <i>Treaty Series </i>, vol. 948, p. 525. See also note 1 under “Czech Republic” and note 1 under “Slovakia” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.3The German Democratic Republic had acceded to the Convention, with a reservation, on 27 December 1973. For the text of the reservation, see United Nations, <i>Treaty Series </i>, vol. 905, p. 78. See also note 2 under “Germany” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.4See note 1 under “Germany” regarding Berlin (West) in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.5See note 1 under "Montenegro" in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume.6For the Kingdom in Europe.7In a notification received on 6 May 1994, the Government of Bulgaria notified the Secretary-General that it had decided to withdraw the reservation made upon accession with respect to article 47. For the text of the reservation, see United Nations, <i>Treaty Series </i>, vol. 1057, p. 328.8In a communication received on 8 December 1989, the Government of Hungary notified the Secretary-General that it had decided to withdraw its reservation with respect to article 47 of the Convention made upon accession. For the text of the reservation see United Nations, <i>Treaty Series </i>, vol. 725, p. 375.9On 16 October 1997, the Government of Poland notified the Secretary-General that it had decided to withdraw its reservation with regard to article 47 of the Convention made upon ratification. For the text of the reservation see United Nations, <i>Treaty Series </i>, vol. 430, p. 501.10The Government of Spain declared in its instrument of accession to the Convention that Spain did not consider itself bound by the United Kingdom communication notifying the extension of the Convention to Gibraltar, since it would not apply the Convention to Gibraltar by reason of the fact that article X of the Treaty of Utrecht signed on 13 July 1713 did not grant Gibraltar communication by land with Spain. In a subsequent communication, received on 12 February 1974, the Government of Spain stated that in making the above-quoted declaration its intention was not to formulate a reservation that might be covered by article 48 (3) of the Convention, but to place on record the fact that Spain did not consider itself bound by the communication from the Government of the United Kingdom, a communication which had no legal force whatever inasmuch as it was contrary to article X of the Treaty of Utrecht.Subsequently, on 11 September 1974, a communication was received from the Government of the United Kingdom to the effect that that Gov ernment did not accept the statements made by the Government of Spain in its instrument of accession and in the letter received by the Secretary-General on 12 February 1974, concerning the effect of article X of the Treaty of Utrecht and the legal force of the notification by the Government of the United Kingdom of the extension of the Convention to Gibraltar.