On 5 January 2021, the Multimodal Transport Bill (“Bill“) was passed by the Parliament of Singapore. The Bill facilitates Singapore’s anticipated ratification of the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Multimodal Transport (“Agreement“), which should take place later this year.
By way of background, the Agreement was signed by Singapore on 17 November 2005, and will provide a single, unified framework for the multimodal transport of goods within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (“ASEAN“) once it has been ratified by all ASEAN member countries. This will facilitate market access for Singapore logistics operators to operate in other ASEAN member countries under a set of regionally aligned standards.
The Bill will apply to the carriage of goods via more than one transport mode, whether through air, land or sea. These goods are carried by a multimodal transport operator registered with the Competent National Body (“CNB“) established in each ASEAN member state, under a single multimodal transport contract (“MT contract“) where the origin or destination of the goods is in an ASEAN member country.
The Bill, which will come into effect on a date yet to be specified, covers five key areas:
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- Registration with the Singapore CNB;
- Issuance of multimodal transport documents (“MTDs“);
- Liabilities of multimodal transport operators (“MTOs“);
- Duties and liabilities of consignors; and
- Miscellaneous matters.
In this Update, we set out the overarching framework of the Bill and examine its implications in the sectors of shipping and trade.
For more information, click here to read the full Legal Update.
