Study On Volume Contract Rules In Rotterdam Rule

In order to prevent the carrier from forcing the shipper to sign unfair treaties by virtue of its dominant position,thus affecting the development of international trade,the three traditional conventions on the carriage of goods by sea set mandatory clauses for the carrier,namely the basic responsibilities and obligations that the carrier should undertake in the course of transport.The contract parties cannot deviate from the content of the mandatory terms,but can only determine the content of matters other than the mandatory terms through negotiation.With the deepening of globalization,the development of international trade has reached a new height.In this context,the shipowner and the shipowner tend to reach a long-term and stable cooperative relationship.The shipowner is willing to offer the shipowner lower freight,and the shipowner is willing to let the shipowner have lower responsibility,so the batch contract came into being.Traditional international conventions do not provide for Volume contracts,and many Volume contracts in shipping practice are formulated based on the domestic laws of some countries,which is not conducive to the development and unification of international shipping undertakings.In order to unify the practice of the shipping industry,the Rotterdam Rules include Volume contracts and set a series of rules for them,including definition clauses,jurisdiction clauses,arbitration clauses and special rules clauses.The main purpose of defining terms is to clarify the constitutive elements and nature of Volume contract.The jurisdiction clause mainly enforces the parties to the contract to decide the exclusive jurisdiction court through consultation.This clause shows the freedom of contract in the batch contract,but the exclusive jurisdiction may damage the judicial sovereignty of the country.The content of the arbitration clause is basically similar to the content of the jurisdiction clause.It continues to promote the freedom of contract in the field of arbitration,but the Convention does not impose any restrictions on the place of arbitration that can be agreed.Therefore,the uncertainty of the place of arbitration will affect the application of the arbitration clause in practice.Finally,it is also the core content of Volume contract rules--special rule clauses,which allow both parties of Volume contract to deviate from the mandatory rules of traditional maritime convention.At the same time,in order to prevent one party from abusing this clause to improperly exempt its main responsibility,the convention sets strict conditions for departure.The original intention of setting special rules is to protect the contract freedom of the parties to the maximum extent,but the convention lacks consideration for small and medium-sized enterprises,so in practice,small and medium-sized enterprises will face great challenges.Although there are more or less defects in the Volume contract rules of Rotterdam Rules,some shipping parties have started to apply the rules in practice,and have a certain impact on the carriers and shippers involved in international maritime transport in China.Under such a background,China should actively explore countermeasures.In practice,small and medium-sized enterprises should expand their development scale and strengthen cooperation with international freight forwarders to avoid being in a disadvantaged position in the negotiation process.At the same time,they should also pay attention to strengthening the awareness of legal risk prevention.In terms of rules,there is no need to introduce Volume contract rules in the Maritime Law of China.Even if it is necessary to introduce Volume contract rules in the later stage,we should pay attention to some problems,such as the application of jurisdiction clause to the third party and the definition of Volume contract.