CMR Contract for the international carriage of goods by road

The CMR is the standard contract for transportation by road. It was established by the Geneva convention, under United Nations authority and firmed in 1956, on May the 19^th.

It does not apply to :

• carriage performed under the terms of any international postal convention
• funeral consignments
• furniture removal

The CMR confirms that the carrier has received the goods and that a contract of carriage exists between the trader and the carrier.

It does not necessarily give the carrier rights of ownership or possession of the goods.

The carrier is responsible for loss, damage or delay until the goods are delivered.

The trader is responsible for loss or damage the carrier suffers resulting from incorrect details having been provided in the CMR note.

The CMR must be filled by the trader or his freight forwarder and must contains the following information :

• date and place of emission
• name and address of the sender
• name and address of the carrier
• place and date of taking over of the goods and the place of delivery
• name and address of the consignee
• description of the nature of the goods and packaging, and, in case of dangerous goods, their description
• number of packages and their special marks and numbers
• gross weight of the goods or their quantity otherwise expressed
• charges relating to the carriage (carriage charges, customs duties incurred from the making of the contract to the time of delivery...)
• requisite instructions for Customs and other formalities
• a statement that the carriage is subject, notwithstanding any clause to the contrary, to the
• provisions of the convention

Where applicable, the consignment note shall also contain the following particulars:

• a statement that transshipment is not allowed
• charges which the sender undertakes to pay
• amount of "cash on delivery " charges
• declaration of the value of the goods and the amount representing special interest in delivery
• sender's instructions to the carrier regarding insurance of the goods
• agreed time limit within which the carriage is to be carried out
• list of the documents handed to the carrier

The carrier, as the responsible of the transported goods, will verify the exactitude of the CMR information, especially the number of packages and their identification, the visual aspect of the goods and their packaging.

If it is impossible to verify it, the carrier will precise corresponding detailed clauses on the CMR note, accepted by the trader.

Generally there will be three copies of a CMR note :

• 1 for the trader
• 1 for the consignee
• 1 that will travel with the goods all the way to their final destination

If the goods are loaded on more than one truck, or if there are several kind of goods, the carrier is in the right to resquest the establishment of several CMR notes.