MULTILATERAL

Protocol to the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR). Done at Geneva on 5 July 1978

Registered ex officio on 28 December 1980.

Volume 1208, I-19487

PROTOCOL TO THE CONVENTION ON THE CONTRACT FOR THE INTERNATIONAL CARRIAGE OF GOODS BY ROAD (CMR)

The Parties to this Protocol,

being Parties to the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR), done at Geneva on 19 May 1956,

have agreed as follows:

Article 1

For the purposes of this Protocol, the term “Convention” means the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR).

Article 2

Article 23 of the Convention is amended as follows:

1. Paragraph 3 is replaced by the following text:

“3. However, compensation may not exceed 8.33 units of account per kilogram of gross weight missing.”

1. At the end of this Article, the following paragraphs 7, 8 and 9 are added:

“7. The unit of account referred to in this Convention is the Special Drawing Right as defined by the International Monetary Fund. The amount mentioned in paragraph 3 of this Article shall be converted into the national currency of the State of the court seised of the case on the basis of the value of that currency on the date of the judgment or on the date agreed upon by the Parties. The value of the national currency in Special Drawing Rights for a State which is a member of the International Monetary Fund shall be calculated in accordance with the method of valuation applied by the International Monetary Fund at the relevant date for its operations and transactions. The value of the national currency in Special Drawing Rights for a State which is not a member of the International Monetary Fund shall be calculated in the manner determined by that State.

1. However, a State which is not a member of the International Monetary Fund and whose legislation does not permit the application of the provisions of paragraph 7 of this Article may, at the time of ratification of or accession to the Protocol to CMR or at any time thereafter, declare that the limit of liability provided for in paragraph 3 of this Article applicable in its territory shall be 25 monetary units. The monetary unit referred to in this paragraph corresponds to 10/31 of a gram of gold of a fineness of nine hundred thousandths. Conversion of the amount referred to in this paragraph into the national currency shall be made in accordance with the legislation of the State concerned.
2. The calculation referred to in the last sentence of paragraph 7 of this Article and the conversion referred to in paragraph 8 of this Article shall be made in such a manner that the national currency of the State expresses, as far as possible, the same real value of the amount referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article as is expressed therein in units of account. States shall communicate to the Secretary-General of the United Nations the method of calculation in accordance with paragraph 7 of this Article or the result of the conversion in accordance with paragraph 8 of this Article, as the case may be, at the time of depositing the instrument referred to in Article 3 of the Protocol to CMR, and also whenever a change occurs in either of them.”

FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 3

1. This Protocol shall be open for signature by States which have signed the Convention or acceded to it and are members of the European Economic Commission or have been admitted to that Commission with consultative status in accordance with paragraph 8 of its terms of reference.
2. This Protocol shall remain open for accession by any of the States referred to in paragraph 1 of this article, which are Parties to the Convention.
3. States which may participate in certain activities of the European Economic Commission in accordance with paragraph 11 of the terms of reference of that Commission and which have acceded to the Convention may become Contracting Parties to this Protocol by acceding thereto after its entry into force.
4. This Protocol shall be open for signature at Geneva from 1 September 1978 to 31 August 1979 inclusive. Thereafter it shall be open for accession.
5. This Protocol shall be subject to ratification after the State concerned has ratified or acceded to the Convention.
6. Ratification or accession shall be effected by the deposit of the relevant instrument with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
7. Any instrument of ratification or accession deposited after the entry into force of an amendment to this Protocol with respect to all Contracting Parties or after the completion of all measures required for the entry into force of the amendment with respect to all Contracting Parties shall be deemed to apply to the Protocol as amended by that amendment.

Article 4

1. This Protocol shall enter into force on the ninetieth day after five of the States referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of article 3 of this Protocol have deposited their instruments of ratification or accession.
2. For any State which ratifies or accedes to this Protocol after five States have deposited their instruments of ratification or accession, this Protocol shall enter into force on the ninetieth day after the deposit by such State of its instrument of ratification or accession.

Article 5

1. Any Contracting Party may denounce this Protocol by so notifying the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
2. Denunciation shall take effect twelve months after the date of receipt by the Secretary-General of the notification of denunciation.
3. Any Contracting Party which ceases to be a Party to the Convention shall on the same day cease to be a Party to this Protocol.

Article 6

If, after the entry into force of this Protocol, the number of Contracting Parties is reduced, as a result of denunciations, to less than five, this Protocol shall cease to be in force from the date on which the last of such denunciations takes effect. It shall also cease to be in force from the date on which the Convention ceases to be in force.

Article 7

1. Any State may, at the time of the deposit of its instrument of ratification or accession or at any time thereafter, declare by notification addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations that this Protocol shall extend to all or any of the territories for the international relations of which it is responsible and in respect of which it has made a declaration under article 46 of the Convention. This Protocol shall extend to the territory or territories named in the notification from the ninetieth day after its receipt by the Secretary-General or, if on that day the Protocol has not yet entered into force, from the time of its entry into force.
2. Any State which has made a declaration in accordance with the preceding paragraph extending this Protocol to any territory for whose international relations it is responsible may denounce the Protocol separately in respect of that territory in accordance with the provisions of article 5 above.

Article 8

Any dispute between two or more Contracting Parties concerning the interpretation or application of this Protocol which the Parties cannot settle by negotiation or by other means may, at the request of any of the interested Contracting Parties, be submitted to the International Court of Justice.

Article 9

1. Each Contracting Party may, at the time of signing, ratifying or acceding to this Protocol, declare by notification addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations that it does not consider itself bound by article 8 of this Protocol. The other Contracting Parties shall not be bound by article 8 of this Protocol in respect of any Contracting Party which has made such a reservation.
2. The declaration referred to in paragraph 1 of this article may be withdrawn at any time by notification addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
3. No other reservation to this Protocol shall be permitted.

Article 10

1. After this Protocol has been in force for three years, any Contracting Party may, by notification to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, request that a conference be convened for the purpose of reviewing this Protocol. The Secretary-General shall notify all Contracting Parties of such request, and a review conference shall be convened by the Secretary-General if, within four months from the date of the Secretary-General’s notification, not less than one fourth of the Contracting Parties notify him of their concurrence with the request.
2. If a conference is convened in accordance with the preceding paragraph, the Secretary-General shall notify all the Contracting Parties and invite them to submit, within three months, such proposals as they wish the Conference to consider. The Secretary-General shall circulate to all Contracting Parties the provisional agenda for the Conference, together with the texts of such proposals, at least three months before the date on which the Conference is to meet.
3. The Secretary-General shall invite to any conference convened in accordance with this article all States referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of article 3, and States which have become Contracting Parties in accordance with paragraph 3 of article 3 of this Protocol.

Article 11

Apart from the notifications provided for in article 10, the Secretary-General of the United Nations shall notify the States referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of article 3 of this Protocol, and States which have become Contracting Parties in accordance with paragraph 3 of article 3 of this Protocol, of:

1. ratifications and accessions in accordance with article 3;
2. the dates on which this Protocol enters into force in accordance with article 4;
3. notifications received in accordance with paragraph 2 of article 2;
4. denunciations in accordance with article 5;
5. the termination of this Protocol in accordance with article 6;
6. notifications received in accordance with article 7;
7. declarations and notifications received in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2 of article 9.

Article 12

After 31 August 1979, the original of this Protocol shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who shall transmit certified true copies to each of the States mentioned in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of article 3 of this Protocol.

DONE at Geneva on the fifth day of July, one thousand nine hundred and seventy-eight, in a single copy in the English and French languages, both texts being equally authentic.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, being duly authorized thereto, have signed this Protocol on behalf of:

Signatures

Albania — Albania

Austria — Austria

Belgium — Belgium

Bulgaria — Bulgaria

The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic — The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic

Canada — Canada

Cyprus — Cyprus

Czechoslovakia — Czechoslovakia

Denmark — Denmark: JOHANNES DAHL-HANSEN, 23 August 1979

Finland — Finland: VELI SUNDBÄCK, 17 August 1979, Subject to ratification — subject to ratification

France — France

The German Democratic Republic — The German Democratic Republic

The Federal Republic of Germany — The Federal Republic of Germany: PER FISCHER, 1 November 1978

Greece — Greece

Hungary — Hungary

Iceland — Iceland

Ireland — Ireland

Italy — Italy

Luxembourg — Luxembourg: JEAN RETTEL, 30 March 1979, subject to ratification

Malta — Malta

The Netherlands — The Netherlands

Norway — Norway

Poland — Poland

Portugal — Portugal

Romania — Romania: CONSTANTIN EHE, 28 August 1979, subject to the reservation concerning article 8 as stated in letter No. 750 of 27 August 1979 addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations — with the reservation concerning article 8 as stated in letter No. 750 of 27 August 1979 addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations

Spain — Spain

Sweden — Sweden

Switzerland — Switzerland

Turkey — Turkey

The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic — The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics — The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: K. F. BURNS, 25 September 1978, Subject to ratification — subject to ratification

The United States of America — The United States of America

Yugoslavia — Yugoslavia

STATEMENTS AND RESERVATIONS MADE AT THE TIME OF SIGNATURE

ROMANIA

[TRANSLATION]

Reservation:

The Socialist Republic of Romania declares, in accordance with article 9 of the Protocol to 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 bound by article 8 of the Protocol, according to which any dispute between two or more Contracting Parties relating to the interpretation or application of the Protocol, which the Parties cannot settle by negotiation or by other means, may, at the request of any 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.

Statements:

The Socialist Republic of Romania also declares that the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 of article 3 of the Protocol do not conform with the principle that multilateral international treaties should be open to participation by all States for which the aim and purpose of such treaties are of interest.

The Socialist Republic of Romania likewise declares that the maintenance of the dependent status of certain territories referred to in article 7 of the Protocol does not conform with the Charter of 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 Co-operation 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 the realization of the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples in order to bring a speedy end to colonialism.

Source (UN, official copy, English): Protocol to the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR).