Hamburg Rules

The Hamburg Rules are the 1978 United Nations Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea, a cargo-liability regime meant to replace the Hague and Hague-Visby Rules with terms more favorable to cargo interests. They drop the nautical-fault and fire defenses, base liability on presumed fault for loss, damage, or delay while the goods are in the carrier’s charge, and raise the limit to 835 SDR per package or 2.5 SDR per kilo. The convention entered force on 1 November 1992 but has been adopted mainly by smaller trading and developing states, so major carrying nations still apply Hague-Visby.