The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) has approved a draft convention on “negotiable cargo documents,” which are standard forms that can serve as a universal bill of lading for any mode of transport.
The commission’s vote recommends the new standard for adoption by the United Nations General Assembly when it meets in late 2025.
According to the UN, bills of lading have been widely used as documents of title in the maritime sector, but the transport documents issued by rail, road, and air carriers (often known as “consignment notes”) cannot serve that function.
That legal gap has created cash flow problems for small businesses when goods are transported via inland routes, limited opportunities for businesses in landlocked regions to trade across borders, and hindered the development of seamless door-to-door transportation services.
To ease those challenges, the new format could function as a maritime bill of lading for the carriage of goods for any mode of transport in a multimodal or unimodal context.
“Today marks a pivotal moment for the future of global commerce,” Beate Czerwenka, Chair of Working Group VI, said in a release. “The Commission has finalized a text that bridges a long-standing legal gap, extending the proven benefits of negotiability to all forms of transport. This will empower small businesses to access finance, landlocked nations to participate more fully in global trade, and us all to build a more efficient, resilient, and digitalized trade ecosystem.”
