A brief introduction of the responsibility period of the carrier

As the types and scope of services become more and more extensive, the role of freight forwarding companies has become closer to that of non-vessel operating commoncarriers, and is no longer just an agent in the traditional international trade industry.

Therefore, China's judicial authorities are more inclined to the carrier in determining the legal status of freight forwarding companies.

In view of this, we temporarily regard freight forwarding companies directly as a kind of carrier. Let's set aside the purely "proxy" role for now. In doing so, on the one hand, it can prevent conceptual confusion and help readers better understand freight forwarding companies; on the other hand, it can also more objectively reflect the facts of China's current judicial practice.

By understanding the responsibility period of the carrier, the freight forwarder can better define its obligations and responsibilities. The determination of the responsibility period of carrier under China's Maritime Law can be explained in the following two cases.

（1）The time period of the carrier's responsibility in the carriage of goods by sea.

In China's "Maritime Law", the determination of the carrier's liability time period is considered separately depending on whether the goods are shipped in containers. This item is stipulated in Article 46 of China's Maritime Law. This clause uses two meanings to explain how to determine the time period of the ocean carrier's responsibility.

First, the period of responsibility of the carrier for the goods shipped in the container is the entire period when the goods are under the control of the carrier from the time the goods are received at the port of loading to the time when the goods are delivered at the port of discharge. During the period of the carrier's responsibility, if the goods are lost or damaged, the carrier shall be liable for compensation, unless otherwise provided in this section. The period of responsibility of the carrier is longer when the goods are shipped in containers.The carrier and the shipper rarely agree in writing that the carrier will be liable for the goods even before receiving them at the port of loading, because the goods are still within the control of the shipper at that time.

Second, the liability period for non-containerized goods refers to the entire period when the goods are under the control of the carrier from the time the goods are loaded on the ship to the time they are unloaded from the ship.

During the period of the carrier's responsibility, if the goods are lost or damaged, the carrier shall be liable for compensation, unless otherwise provided in this section.

The so-called "from the time when the goods are loaded on the ship to the time when the ship is unloaded" refers to the time when the goods are hoisted at the loading port to the time when the goods are detached from the hook at the unloading port, that is, the "hook to hook" term.

Unless both parties expressly agree to adopt the "side to side" term, that is, when the goods pass the ship's side, the responsibility is transferred to the shipper.

The determination of the period of responsibility of the ocean carrier in the "Maritime Law" is not mandatory. If the carrier and the shipper have reached a supplementary agreement on the responsibilities of non-containerized goods before loading and after unloading, and the agreement is clear and accurate, the supplementary agreement should be applied.

But generally speaking, the carrier states in the terms of the bill of lading that it is not liable for the loss and damage of the goods before loading and after unloading.

Generally speaking, if the goods are damaged during the period of the carrier's responsibility, the carrier will be liable for compensation. The responsibility period has different regulations depending on whether it is "full container delivery" or "bulk cargo". Of course, the aforementioned provisions are the minimum standards of the law, and both parties to the contract can discuss the extension of this liability period. After an agreement is reached, the period of responsibility of the freight forwarding company as the carrier will also be changed accordingly, and the aforementioned legal provisions can no longer be used as a defense.

(2) The period of responsibility of the multimodal transport operator.

Multimodal transport means that the multimodal transport operator uses two or more different modes of transport, one of which is sea transport, to transport the goods from the receiving place to the destination and deliver them to the consignee, and charge the entire freight.

When the carrier is a multimodal transport operator, Article 103 of China's "Maritime Law" clearly stipulates that its liability period is "from the time of receiving the goods to the time of delivery of the goods".

The most common situation is that the freight forwarding company uses a trailer to pick up the goods from the customer or the designated place before transporting them.

In this case, the freight forwarding company is the multimodal transport operator, responsible for fulfilling or organizing the performance of the multimodal transport contract, and responsible for the entire transportation.

The multimodal transport operator and the carrier of each section of the multimodal transport may separately stipulate their mutual responsibilities in the contract for each section of the multimodal transport contract.

However, the agreement between them does not affect the responsibility of the multimodal transport operator for the whole transportation.

Usually, after accepting the entrustment of the shipper, the freight forwarding company contacts the towing company, picks up the goods from the shipper to the warehouse of the freight forwarding company, and then ships them to the destination by sea, which constitutes the simplest "multimodal transport".

If the goods are damaged during land transportation, the freight forwarding company can only seek compensation from the directly responsible party after paying the obligee, and cannot directly require the obligee to claim compensation from the directly responsible party.

But in reality, many freight forwarding companies provide "warehouse-to-warehouse" or even "door-to-door" logistics services. In this case, it is regarded as the expansion of the responsibility period of the freight forwarding company. This expansion does not violate the mandatory provisions of the law.

In other words, once the freight forwarding company provides "warehouse-to-warehouse" or even "door-to-door" logistics services, it must bear the responsibility for compensation for the shortage or damage of goods before the goods arrive at the warehouse or door.

However, it should be noted that the liability period in the above two cases is the minimum standard stipulated by law, and any agreement or contract clause cannot shorten it. Once the agreed liability period is shorter than the aforementioned legal provisions, it will lead to the invalidation of the agreement.

Zhai Dongwei International Trade & logistics Attorney team was founded in 2007. Its founder, Zhai Dongwei, is the founding partner of Guangdong Yingzun Law Firm. Focusing on International trade,maritime affairs, and supply chain cases for more than 16 years, the team currently has more than 30 professional logistics attorneys, of which more than 10 have overseas work and study experience, and can use Chinese, English and French to work and participate in business negotiations.