CARRIAGE OF GOODS BY ROAD BILL (Hansard, 13 July 1965)

§ LORD CHESHAM

My Lords, the Title of the Bill that I am asking your Lordships to read a second time is perhaps a little misleading as to the importance and scope of the Bill itself. In fact, you have to turn to the Long Title, which explains that it is to give effect in this country to the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road, and to enable us to accede to that Convention. To begin with, the Bill has no effect at all on the internal carriage of goods in this country, or on international haulage on anyone's own account. It affects only international contract haulage, and your Lordships may wonder why, since it came into effect in 1961, we have not adhered to this Convention before. The answer is that the volume of this kind of trade has not been so great to and from this country, for obvious reasons, but is something which is now growing in importance and in volume, and the time has now come for us to accede to it.

I may say that our own road haulage industry accepts the requirements of the Convention and supports our accession to it. As a matter of fact, most of the countries in Europe, and in particular our immediate neighbours, Belgium, France and the Netherlands, have already acceded, and so really the Bill does not do a great deal more than preserve what is virtually the status quo. But, as I said, goods vehicles are being carried in increasing numbers between this country and the Continent, by sea, and to some extent by air. The total traffic is likely to grow, particularly if we have a Channel Tunnel, and it would be a good thing that the Civil Law rights and obligations of those engaged in it should be defined 109 on an internationally accepted basis. This the Convention sets out to do, and it is on the same lines as The Hague Rules for Transport by Sea, the Warsaw Convention for Air Transport, and the Berne Convention on Rail Transport, to all of which we are already a party.

So the Bill itself is in a form commonly adopted for putting international Conventions of this kind into effect, and the essential part of it is to be found in the Schedule, while the clauses in the body of the Bill are chiefly concerned with ancillary matters. Dealing, as it does, with matters of international contract, the Bill is of necessity rather technical and certainly legalistic in character, and therefore complex. I do not propose, therefore, to take your Lordships through it in detail, because if I did so I should have to speak at considerable length, which I hope to spare your Lordships, particularly in view of the Motion which is to be taken next. Instead, I will wait to see whether there are any points your Lordships wish to raise, in which case I will do my best to deal with them, and meanwhile will only remind your Lordships that the Bill is in the usual form for the circumstances. I cannot claim that it is the most important piece of legislation before Parliament at the present time, but it is a useful measure all the same, and as it is also one to which I think it is not likely that anyone will take exception, I ask your Lordships to give it a Second Reading. I beg to move.

§ THE PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT (LORD LINDGREN)

My Lords, I am sure your Lordships will be indebted to the noble Lord, Lord Chesham, for the lucid manner in which he has introduced this Bill. I welcome it on behalf of the Government because it will enable the United Kingdom to honour an undertaking given by the last Government to accede to the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road. The Convention defines the obligations and liabilities of international carriers to consignors and consignees. Without internationally regulated standards the law on, for example, liability in case of loss or damage to goods in international transit 110 may vary according to the country in which an action for recovery or compensation is brought. That is inconvenient for all concerned. The United Kingdom, as the noble Lord, Lord Chesham, has already said, is already party to similar conventions dealing with carriage by rail, by sea and by air. The Bill will complete the pattern and will make a small but useful contribution to the easier conduct of our trade with the Continent. I join the noble Lord, Lord Chesham, in the hope that your Lordships will give the Bill a smooth passage.