CARRIAGE OF GOODS BY SEA (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read. 2.51 p.m.

The Minister for Trade and Industry (Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

The Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, which was enacted in 1972 and came into effect in 1978 governs the liabilities and responsibilities of carriers or shipowners with regard to the cargo onboard their vessels. When loss or damage occurs to the cargo, a carrier's liability is determined by the value as stated in the Bill of Lading. In the event that a shipper does not declare the nature and value of goods shipped in the Bill of Lading, paragraph 5(a) of Article IV and Article IV BIS of the Rules (as set out in the Schedule to the Act) provides for the carrier's limit of liability to be determined as 10,000 gold francs per unit or 30 gold francs per kilo of gross weight of the goods, whichever is higher. A gold franc is equivalent to 65.5 milligrammes of gold of millesimal fineness 900.

The limits of liability under paragraph 5(a) of Article IV and Article IV BIS of the Rules are ambiguous because the conversion of gold francs to local currency depends on the market price of gold which fluctuates from day to day. In addition, the Rules do not state whether the effective date of claim is the date of loss or damage, or the date of judgment on the claim.

The uncertainty of traders on the limits of liability in the Act as it stands today, is harmful to the development of our overall trade and commerce.

The present Bill will resolve this ambiguity by allowing the Minister for Trade and Industry to specify, from time to time, the limits of liability through a standard conversion from gold francs to Singapore dollars.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House.

The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. - [Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam].

Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed.