PROTOCOL OF 1979 AMENDING THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION FOR THEUNIFICATION OF CERTAIN RULES OF LAW RELATING TO BILLS OF LADING （ASAMENDED BY THE PROTOCOL OF 1968），1924

　　THE CONTRACTING PARTIES TO THE PRESENT PROTOCOL，

　　BEING PARTIES to the International Convention for the unification ofcertain rules of law relating to bills of lading， done at Brussels onAugust 25， 1924， as amended by the Protocol to amend that Convention doneat Brussels on February 23， 1968，

　　HAVE AGREED as follows：Article I

　　For the purpose of this Protocol， “Convention” means the InternationalConvention for the unification of certain rules of law relating to Billsof Lading and its Protocol of signature， done at Brussels on August 25，1924， as amended by the Protocol， done at Brussels on February 23， 1968.Article II

　　1. Article 4， paragraph 5（a） of the Convention is replaced by thefollowing：

　　“（a） Unless the nature and value of such goods have been declaredby the shipper before shipment and inserted in the Bill of Lading， neitherthe carrier nor the ship shall in any event be or become liable for anyloss or damage to or in connection with the goods in an amount exceeding666.67 units of account per package or unit or 2 units of account perkilogramme of gross weight of the goods lost or damaged， whichever is thehigher.”

　　2. Article 4， paragraph 5（d） of the Convention is replaced by thefollowing：

　　“（d） The unit of account mentioned in this Article is the SpecialDrawing Right as defined by the International Monetary Fund. The amountsmentioned in subparagraph （a） of this paragraph shall be converted intonational currency on the basis of the value of that currency on the dateto be determined by the law of the Court seized of the case. The value ofthe national currency， in terms of the Special Drawing Right， of a Statewhich is a member of the International Monetary Fund， shall be calculatedin accordance with the method of valuation applied by the InternationalMonetary Fund in effect at the date in question for its operations andtransactions. The value of the national currency， in terms of the SpecialDrawing Right， of a State which is not a member of the InternationalMonetary Fund， shall be calculated in a manner determined by that State.

　　Nevertheless， a State which is not a member of the InternationalMonetary Fund and whose law does not permit the application of theprovisions of the preceding sentences may， at the time of notification ofthe Protocol of 1979 or accession thereto or at any time thereafter，declare that the limits of liability provided for in this Convention to beapplied in its territory shall be fixed as follows：

　　（i） in respect of the amount of 666.67 units of account mentionedin subparagraph （a） of paragraph 5 of this Article， 10，000 monetary units；

　　（ii） in respect of the amount of 2 units of account mentioned insubparagraph （a） of paragraph 5 of this Article， 30 monetary units.

　　The monetary unit referred to in the preceding sentence corresponds to65.5 milligrams of gold of millesimal fineness 900. The conversion of theamounts specified in that sentence into the national currency shall bemade according to the law of the State concerned. The calculation and theconversion mentioned in the preceding sentences shall be made in such amanner as to express in the national currency of that State as far aspossible the same real value for the amounts in subparagraph （a） ofparagraph 5 of this Article as is expressed there in units of account.

　　States shall communicate to the depositary the manner of calculationor the result of the conversion as the case may be， when depositing aninstrument of ratification of the Protocol of 1979 or of accession theretoand whenever there is a change in either.Article III

　　Any dispute between two or more Contracting Parties concerning theinterpretation or application of the present Protocol， which cannot besettled through negotiation， shall， at the request of one of them， besubmitted to arbitration. If within six months from the date of therequest for arbitration the Parties are unable to agree on theorganisation of the arbitration any one of those Parties may refer thedispute to the International Court of Justice by request in conformitywith the Statute of the Court.Article IV

　　（1） Each Contracting Party may at the time of signature orratification of this Protocol or of accession thereto， declare that itdoes not consider itself bound by Article III.

　　（2） Any Contracting Party having made a reservation in accordance withparagraph （1） may at any time withdraw this reservation by notificationto the Belgian Government.Article V

　　This Protocol shall be open for signature by the States which havesigned the Convention of 25 August 1924 or the Protocol of 23 February1968 or which are Parties to the Convention.Article VI

　　（1） This Protocol shall be ratified.

　　（2） Ratification of this Protocol by any State which is not a Party tothe Convention shall have the effect of ratification of the Convention.

　　（3） The instruments of ratification shall be deposited with theBelgian Government.Article VII

　　（1） States not referred to in Article V may accede to this Protocol.

　　（2） Accession to this Protocol shall have the effect of accession tothe Convention.

　　（3） The instruments of accession shall be deposited with the BelgianGovernment.Article VIII

　　（1） This Protocol shall come into force three months after the date ofthe deposit of five instruments of ratification or accession.

　　（2） For each State which ratifies this Protocol or accedes theretoafter the fifth deposit， this Protocol shall come into force three monthsafter the deposit of its instrument of ratification or accession.Article IX

　　（1） Any Contracting Party may denounce this Protocol by notificationto the Belgian Government.

　　（2） The denunciation shall take effect one year after the date onwhich the notification has been received by the Belgian Government.Article X

　　（1） Each State may at the time of signature， ratification or accessionor at any time thereafter declare by written notification to the BelgianGovernment which among the territories for whose international relationsit is responsible， are those to which the present Protocol applies. TheProtocol shall three months after the date of the receipt of suchnotification by the Belgian Government extend to the territories namedtherein， but not before the date of the coming into force of the Protocolin respect of such State.

　　（2） This extension also shall apply to the Convention if the latter isnot yet applicable to these territories.

　　（3） Any Contracting Party which has made a declaration under paragraph（1） of this Article may at any time thereafter declare by notificationgiven to the Belgian Government that the Protocol shall cease to extend tosuch territories. This denunciation shall take effect one year after thedate on which notification thereof has been received by the BelgianGovernment.Article XI

　　The Belgian Government shall notify the signatory and acceding Statesof the following：

　　1. the signatures， ratifications and accessions received in accordancewith Articles V， VI and VII.

　　2. the date on which the present Protocol will come into force inaccordance with Article VIII.

　　3. the notifications with regard to the territorial application inaccordance with Article X.

　　4. the declarations and communications made in accordance with ArticleII.

　　5. the declarations made in accordance with Article IV.

　　6. the denunciations received in accordance with Article IX.