Whenever there is any talk of agreement in shipping then one question comes that what does CMR mean in transport?
CMR: CMR is the acronym for the “Convention Merchandise Router”. It is an international agreement for contracts of transport in road transport.
The agreement governs the attribution of order as well as its progress, the responsibility in the event of a delay, loss, or damage of goods.
The contract includes the rules regarding complaints and in the case of successive carriers. The presentation of the facts via the CMR is framed and corresponds to the law of the country.
The agreement relates exclusively to the loading of road vehicles. The containers or swap bodies alone do not correspond to the vehicles described by the CMR.
For this type of international transport, there is a standard CMR consignment note.
Historical: The agreement came into being in 1956 under the auspices of the United Nations. It was signed first by ten countries.
The founding CMR members were Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland.
In the Federal Republic of Germany, the agreement was ratified in 1961 and in the German Democratic Republic in 1974.
Now all European countries have joined the CMR, two African countries (Morocco and Tunisia) as well as several states. Central Asian and Middle Eastern.
The concept: The concept CMR describes the agreement itself but is misused when used to describe the consignment note for the CMR.
This standard form is only obligatory for transport crossing borders when the country sending or receiving the goods is a member of CMR.
In everyday transport, it is also frequently used in national transport.
In simple words, CMR allows monitoring and regulation of the loading, of the entire transport process, and of the delivery of goods between several countries.
It takes the place of a contract and applies to any service of transport of goods by road against payment by means of vehicles, only in the case of international delivery, that is to say when the place of a pick-up in charge and delivery are located in two different countries.
First of all, it is important to remember that a CMR must always be completed before taking over the goods.
It can be written by any party, although most of the time it is the transporter who performs this assignment.
Many models of consignment notes exist, but their drafting is left free.
A CMR must contain a certain number of mandatory information:
- The date of issue of the letter.
- The name, address, and Unique Identification Number of each party.
- The date of the goods to taking charge.
- The estimated delivery date.
- The quantity and nature of the goods transported.
- Customs formalities.
The law does not impose a minimum quantity of copies to be possessed. We advise you to write it in at least three copies.
The carrier must always be able to present a copy of the CMR in the event of a road or customs check.
In the event of non-compliance with the formalities in force, or if the CMR is incorrectly completed, the vehicle may be immobilized by the authorities.
Dematerialized CMR is the new solution adopted by a large majority of companies. Indeed, it saves time and money!
Entirely online, it allows administrative costs to be divided by 3!
Its management is partially automated, the invoicing process is accelerated and you have better visibility on all your incoming and outgoing goods flows.
E-CMRs are generally better filled out, contain fewer errors, are clearer, and therefore limit the number of disputes.
But above all, this saving of time allows carriers to focus on the heart of their activity: transporting more goods and in better conditions.
It, therefore, makes it possible to achieve productivity and competitiveness gains simply and at no real additional cost for all the players concerned.
Faced with the exponential growth of international trade, companies no longer have a choice: equipping themselves with new digital and innovative solutions is a condition of their sustainability.
Finally, they contribute to a CSR waste reduction policy by limiting your paper consumption.
Ultimately, they contribute to directly improving the quality of service provided to your customers, and the performance of your business
Liability of the Carrier:
The responsibility for a total or partial loss, or any damage would be of the carrier, which occurs between the time of taking charge of the goods and that of delivery, as well as delay in delivery.
The carrier is discharged from this responsibility if the loss, damage, or delay was caused by a fault of the entitled person, an order of the latter not resulting from a fault of the carrier, an inherent defect.
The carrier is relieved of his responsibility in the following cases:
- Use of open vehicles not covered.
- Absence or defective packaging.
- Handling by the sender or the addressee.
- Nature of some of the goods.
- Insufficiency or imperfections of the marks or the parcel numbers.
- Transport of live animals.
Limitation of liability in the context of international transport:
- The value of the goods is determined according to the stock market price or, failing that, according to the current market price or, in the absence of one or the other, according to the usual value goods of the same nature and quality.
- However, the compensation cannot exceed 8.33 SDR (Special Drawing Right), per kilogram of the missing gross weight.
The DTS (in English the SDR; SPECIAL DRAWING RIGHT) is a value determined on the stock exchange.
It is indexed to that of gold. If this compensation is not sufficient to cover the real value of the goods, the customer can request comprehensive insurance (article 24).
- The sender may declare under the contract, against payment of a price supplement to be agreed, a value of the goods exceeding the limit mentioned in paragraph 3 of article 23.
In this case, the declared amount overrides this limit. Customers are therefore advised to check the limit of liability, and if necessary, to request the ‘Comprehensive insurance’ option.
Idowaz signed the CMR agreement so for more information, you may visit its official website. This is all about CMR.
