§ Mr. Formanasked the Minister of Transport when the protocol of 5 July 1978 to the CMR convention on the contract for the international carriage of goods by road, which changes the unit of account for the limit of liability from gold francs to the special drawing rights of the International Monetary Fund, will come into force; and what will be its effects.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe protocol will enter into force on 28 December 1980 and the Carriage by Air and Road Act 1979 (Commencement No 1) Order 1980 which brings into force on the same day the relevant provisions230W of that Act which amend the Carriage of Goods by Road Act 1965, and so enabled the United Kingdom to be the first country to ratify the protocol, was made by Her Majesty in Council on 17 December.
The principal effect is to change the limit of liability in the CMR convention from 25 gold francs to 8.33 special drawing rights of the International Monetary Fund. This change will assist all those concerned with the international carriage of goods by road since it will establish with certainty liability under the convention.