Amendment addresses plight of innocent carrier

The new amendment to the Counterfeit Goods Act (CGA) from the Maritime Law Association (MLA) has a motivation which clearly addresses the plight of the innocent carrier and clearing and forwarding (c&f) agent. According to the amendment “The carrier (generally represented by a ships agent) is quite simply the transporter of the goods – and, in the case of a shipping line, will be the owner/charterer of a vessel. “The carrier contracts with the shipper/consignee by the way of a contract of carriage – termed a Bill of Lading (BoL). It is an essential term of the contract of carriage in respect of the container that the container is sealed and not tampered with. The bill of lading merely contains a general description of the goods and neither the carrier nor the ships agents for the carrier have any way of knowing whether the goods are accurately described.” Meantime, the motivation added, shipping agents include c&f agents who represent cargo interests. “A clearing agent generally will take delivery of goods on behalf of the consignee, enter those goods for duty purposes, pay the duty on behalf of the consignee and then arrange transport of the goods to their final destination. “A clearing agent will not ordinarily be in a position to determine whether the goods in question are counterfeit. “A freight forwarder generally acts on behalf of a consignor for the purposes of exporting goods from the Republic and performs services in relation to such exportation. A forwarding agent, generally, will not take physical possession or control of the goods for which exportation is being arranged. “A freight forwarder will generally not be in a position to ascertain whether the goods in question are counterfeit.”