Depositary
STATUS AS AT : 24-03-2023 09:15:46 EDT
CHAPTER XI
TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS
D. Water Transport
3. United Nations Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea, 1978
Hamburg, 31 March 1978
Entry into force
:
1 November 1992, in accordance with article 30(1).
Registration :
1 November 1992, No. 29215
Status :
Signatories : 28. Parties : 35
Text : Certified true copy
United Nations,  Treaty Series , vol. 1695, p.3.
Note :
The Convention was adopted on 30 March 1978 by the United Nations Conference on the Carriage of Goods by Sea, held in Hamburg, Federal Republic of Germany, from 6 to 31 March 1978.  The Conference had been convened by the Secretary-General of the United Nations in accordance with resolution 31/1001 adopted by the General Assembly on 15 December 1976.  The Convention was opened for signature at Hamburg on 31 March 1978 and remained open for signature by all States at the Headquarters of the United Nations, New York, until 30 April 1979.
Participant
 Signature, Succession to signature(d)
 Approval(AA), Acceptance(A), Accession(a), Ratification
Albania
   20 Jul 2006 a
Austria
 30 Apr 1979
29 Jul 1993
Barbados
    2 Feb 1981 a
Botswana
   16 Feb 1988 a
Brazil
 31 Mar 1978
 
Burkina Faso
   14 Aug 1989 a
Burundi
    4 Sep 1998 a
Cameroon
   21 Oct 1993 a
Chile
 31 Mar 1978
 9 Jul 1982
Czech Republic 2
 2 Jun 1993 d
 23 Jun 1995
Democratic Republic of the Congo
 19 Apr 1979
 
Denmark
 18 Apr 1979
 
Dominican Republic
   28 Sep 2007 a
Ecuador
 31 Mar 1978
 
Egypt
 31 Mar 1978
23 Apr 1979
Finland
 18 Apr 1979
 
France
 18 Apr 1979
 
Gambia
    7 Feb 1996 a
Georgia
   21 Mar 1996 a
Germany 3
31 Mar 1978
 
Ghana
 31 Mar 1978
 
Guinea
   23 Jan 1991 a
Holy See
 31 Mar 1978
 
Hungary
 23 Apr 1979
 5 Jul 1984
Jordan
   10 May 2001 a
Kazakhstan
   18 Jun 2008 a
Kenya
   31 Jul 1989 a
Lebanon
    4 Apr 1983 a
Lesotho
   26 Oct 1989 a
Liberia
   16 Sep 2005 a
Madagascar
 31 Mar 1978
 
Malawi
   18 Mar 1991 a
Mexico
 31 Mar 1978
 
Morocco
   12 Jun 1981 a
Nigeria
    7 Nov 1988 a
Norway
 18 Apr 1979
 
Pakistan
  8 Mar 1979
 
Panama
 31 Mar 1978
 
Paraguay
   19 Jul 2005 a
Peru
   25 Mar 2021 a
Philippines
 14 Jun 1978
 
Portugal
 31 Mar 1978
 
Romania
    7 Jan 1982 a
Senegal
 31 Mar 1978
17 Mar 1986
Sierra Leone
 15 Aug 1978
 7 Oct 1988
Singapore
 31 Mar 1978
 
Slovakia 2
28 May 1993 d
  
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
   12 Sep 2000 a
Sweden
 18 Apr 1979
 
Syrian Arab Republic
   16 Oct 2002 a
Tunisia
   15 Sep 1980 a
Uganda
    6 Jul 1979 a
United Republic of Tanzania
   24 Jul 1979 a
United States of America
 30 Apr 1979
 
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)
 31 Mar 1978
 
Zambia
    7 Oct 1991 a
Declarations and Reservations
(Unless otherwise indicated, the declarations and reservations were made
upon ratification, accession, acceptance or approval.)

Czech Republic 2
       "The Czech Republic declares that limits of carrier's liability in the territory of the Czech Republic adhere to the provision of article 6 of the Convention."
Slovakia 2

Syrian Arab Republic
       ... with the following reservation:  The accession of the Syrian Arab Republic to this Convention shall not in any way be construed to mean recognition of Israel and shall not lead to entry with it into any of the transactions regulated by the provisions of the Convention.
End Note
2

Czechoslovakia had signed the Convention on 6 March 1979 with the following declaration:

The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, upon signing the United Nations Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea of 1978, declares, in conformity with the provision of its article 26, that the conversion of the amounts of the limits of liability, referred to in paragraph 2 of that article, into the Czechoslovak currency is made in the ratio of 0.48 Czechoslovak crown /Kce/ to 1 monetary unit, defined in paragraph 3 of article 26 of the Convention, and the limits of liability provided for in this Convention to be applied in the territory of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic are fixed as follows: 6,000.–Kcs per package or other shipping unit, or 18.–Kcs per kilogramme of gross weight of the goods.

Subsequently, upon ratification, the Government of the Czech Republic declared that it "had decided to withdraw the declaration made by the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic upon signing the Convention on 6 March 1979."

See also note 1 under “Czech Republic” and note 1 under “Slovakia” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.
3

See note 2 under “Germany” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.
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