A Study On Legal Issues About Volume Contract

With the development of cargo shipping,a new kind of contract of carriage of goods by sea emerges in the field of cargo shipping,other than liner shipping contract and charter party.This contract,which is concluded by carrier and shipper according to their respective interests,can provide sufficient carrying capacity to the shipper and ensure enough supply of goods and profits to the carrier during the contract period.The new kind of contract is used widely in the field of cargo shipping.However,nowadays, there are no special rules regulating this contract in the international conventions and the national laws passed by most countries.Therefore,it's not beneficial to avoid disputes arising from performance of the contract and protect the relevant parties.So it's proposed that some rules should be laid down to regulate such contract.And the new international convention on the carriage of goods by sea,United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea(hereinafter referred to the Rotterdam Rules),firstly incorporates this contract as volume contract into its scope of application.According to the studies on the basic theory about volume contract,including development,main contents,features and characters of volume contract,this thesis makes a definition of volume contract.Then this thesis introduces some provisions regarding volume contract in the current laws on contracts of carriage of goods by sea.On the basis of the above-mentioned studies,this thesis looks in depth into the special rules for volume contract in the Rotterdam Rules.The rules break through the tradition that the international conventions on carriage of goods by sea limit the freedom of contract strictly,and reflects the moderate restoration of contractual freedom in common shipping.Furthermore,this thesis studies the influence of the rules on our country and the measures which should be taken in future.In the last part of the thesis,considering volume contract is a kind of contract of carriage of goods by sea,the author suggests that a section need to be contained in Chapterâ…£of Maritime Code of the People's Republic of China similar to Section 7 Special Provisions Regarding Voyage Charter Party to regulate the issues of volume contracts.The author is of the view that the provisions about volume contract in Maritime Code of the People's Republic of China should adhere to the principle of freedom of contract.And the responsibilities relating to public interest should be mandatory,whereas other provisions regarding the rights and obligations of the parties to the contract could be negotiated by them,and statutory provisions could be applicable only in the absence of relevant provisions or in the absence of provisions differing therefrom in the volume contract.