Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill, 2025
Kartavya Desk Staff
Source: LM
Context: Parliament has passed the Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill, 2025, replacing the outdated Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, 1925.
About Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill, 2025:
• What Is It?
• A new legislation passed to modernise India’s maritime trade laws. It repeals the nearly 100-year-old Indian Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, 1925, a colonial-era law.
• A new legislation passed to modernise India’s maritime trade laws.
• It repeals the nearly 100-year-old Indian Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, 1925, a colonial-era law.
• Objectives:
• Align India’s shipping laws with global best practices such as the Hague–Visby Rules. Promote ease of doing business by simplifying legal language and reducing ambiguities. Enhance India’s competitiveness as a maritime trade hub. Empower India to swiftly adopt future international maritime conventions.
• Align India’s shipping laws with global best practices such as the Hague–Visby Rules.
• Promote ease of doing business by simplifying legal language and reducing ambiguities.
• Enhance India’s competitiveness as a maritime trade hub.
• Empower India to swiftly adopt future international maritime conventions.
• Key Features: Repeals Outdated Law: Replaces the Indian Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, 1925 to eliminate colonial-era legal remnants and modernize maritime law. Adopts Hague–Visby Rules: Aligns Indian law with international maritime standards for bills of lading and cargo liability. Codifies Carrier Responsibilities: Establishes clear rules on carrier liabilities, rights, and immunities to reduce disputes in cargo movement. Empowers Government for Global Alignment: Grants the Centre powers to quickly adopt emerging international maritime conventions via notifications. Supports Ease of Doing Business: Promotes legal simplicity and rationalization, facilitating maritime contracts and reducing compliance burdens. Parliamentary Oversight: Ensures executive decisions related to international adoption are accountable through legislative review. Future-Ready Legal Framework: Helps India adapt swiftly to global shipping trends and strengthens its position as a maritime trade hub.
• Repeals Outdated Law: Replaces the Indian Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, 1925 to eliminate colonial-era legal remnants and modernize maritime law.
• Adopts Hague–Visby Rules: Aligns Indian law with international maritime standards for bills of lading and cargo liability.
• Codifies Carrier Responsibilities: Establishes clear rules on carrier liabilities, rights, and immunities to reduce disputes in cargo movement.
• Empowers Government for Global Alignment: Grants the Centre powers to quickly adopt emerging international maritime conventions via notifications.
• Supports Ease of Doing Business: Promotes legal simplicity and rationalization, facilitating maritime contracts and reducing compliance burdens.
• Parliamentary Oversight: Ensures executive decisions related to international adoption are accountable through legislative review.
• Future-Ready Legal Framework: Helps India adapt swiftly to global shipping trends and strengthens its position as a maritime trade hub.
About Hague–Visby Rules:
• A set of international rules governing the carriage of goods by sea, framed under the 1924 Hague Rules, later updated in 1968 (Visby Protocol) and 1979 (SDR Protocol).
• Formally titled: “International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law Relating to Bills of Lading.”