Exercise 14 a) Read the information about rail transport documents

International carriage of freight by rail is governed by two main sets of rules:

- the CIM Uniform Rules (in Western and Central Europe, Near East and North Africa), and

- the SMGS (in Eastern Europe and Asia).

When transporting goods, operator should have the appropriate document such as the consignment note which confirms that the rail carrier has received the goods and that a contract of carriage exists between trader and carrier. And it doesn’t give its holder rights of ownership or possession of the goods. Key details to be provided in the note include: description and nature of the goods, method of packing, number of packages and their weight, special marks, the agreed transit period, the agreed route, the names and addresses of the consigner, carrier and consignee, etc. Consignment notes are made out for each consignment.

Consignment notes may be of several types: CIM consignment note (накладна ЦИМ)¹, SMGS consignment note (накладна СМГС)², CIM/SMGS consignment note (єдина накладна ЦИМ/СМГС) and consignment notes established under bilateral or multilateral arrangements.

Another document of importance in transportation is the certificate of origin which is issued by the Chamber of Commerce as proof of where the goods were produced. There are two reasons why a certificate of origin might be necessary:

- When there is a trade agreement between the exporting and importing countries. In this case, if it can be proved that the goods were made in the exporting country, duty is charged at a lower rate or possibly not charged at all.

- For political reasons, to prove that importers aren’t importing goods from countries with which trading relations are not desired.

In the case of multimodal transport such documents as Multimodal Bill of Lading and Rail Waybill can be used.

¹CIM – ЦИМ (єдині правові накази до договору а міжнародному залізничному перевезенні вантажів)

²SMGS – ЦМГС (угода о міжнародному залізничному вантажному сполученні_