Legal Instrument

The United Nations Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea (Hamburg Rules) establishes a uniform legal regime governing the rights and obligations of shippers, carriers and consignees under a contract of carriage of goods by sea. Under both the Hague Rules and the Hamburg Rules, the carrier must issue a bill of lading if the shipper requests one. The Hamburg Rules specifically modernize documentation processes by addressing contemporary documentation techniques.

Key paperless trade provisions found in the Explanatory note by the UNCITRAL secretariat, Section B, point 11 on "Transport documents" include:

• Electronic signatures for bills of lading
• Mechanical signature methods
• Electronic documentation processing
• Digital authentication systems
• Alternative signature formats
• Electronic records management
• Cross-border document exchange
• Digital verification methods
• Document modernization protocols
• Automated documentation handling