A Study On Legal Issues About Volume Contract

With the development of cargo shipping, volume contract emerges in the field of cargo shipping as a new kind of contract of carriage of goods by sea. Volume contract is concluded by carrier and shipper. According to this contract, the carrier is responsible for carriage of a specified quantity of goods in a series of shipments during an agreed period of time, the shipper is responsible for payment of freight and other costs. Volume contract has significant advantage compared to traditional contracts of carriage, it can not only ensure enough supply of goods and profits to the carrier but also provide sufficient carrying capacity and low prices to the shipper. Therefore, volume contract is widely used by both carrier and shipper in the field of cargo shipping. United Nations Convention on the Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea (hereinafter referred to the Rotterdam Rules) firstly incorporates volume contract into its scope of application and clearly defines volume contract at the level of international convention on the carriage of goods by sea.This thesis starts with the basic theory about volume contract, including development, definition, features and characters of volume contract, and comparison between volume contract and other similar contracts of carriage of goods. 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 allow contractual freedom between the parties to volume contract and break through the tradition that the international conventions on carriage of goods by sea limit the freedom of contract strictly. Furthermore, this thesis discusses main clauses in volume contract and involved legal issues in order that the parties to the contract can understand and know volume contract well and they can benefit from the this contract. In the last part of the thesis, the author suggests that a section need to be contained in Chapterâ…£of Maritime Code of the People's Republic of China 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. The obligations and liabilities 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.