Commenting on the amendments to the National Road Traffic Regulations 2000, Francine Hattingh, senior manager – marine liabilities at Eikos Risk Applications, said that the definition of ‘consignor’ under amended regulation 1, which includes a person “who has possession of or control over the goods immediately before the goods are transported by road”, is a wide definition which in her view may be deemed to cover freight operators as well as cargo owners, depending on the contracting arrangements of the parties. Thus the new regulation 330D whereby “a Consignor or Consignee of goods shall not transport goods on a public road or accept goods unless such transportation is fully insured for damages that can occur as a result of an incident” may be a duty often imposed upon freight forwarders and not only upon cargo interests. A freight forwarder is often the party who contracts with the haulier (or vehicle operator) on behalf of its cargo owning clients. Where the forwarder does not do so as an agent for the cargo owner, but contracts with the haulier in a principal capacity, it appears that the forwarder may be interpreted to be the ‘consignor’ and thus the onus would fall on it to ensure that “the transportation is fully insured”. Similarly it is possible that the freight forwarder may be denoted as the ‘consignee’, who also carries an obligation to ensure the cargo and transportation risks are fully insured. “Cargo owners or freight operators contracting in a principal capacity, which may be interpreted as the “Consignor” under the new regulations, should ensure that they have liability cover in place and not only marine/ cargo insurance which only covers the goods themselves,” she added. Her advice to hauliers, defined as “Operators” under the regulations, “is to ensure that they have a liability policy in place and not merely a GIT policy which only covers the goods and may have many exclusions. It is therefore wise to employ an insurance broker that can offer you a product that covers both requirements.” INSERT Hauliers should have a liability policy in place and not merely a GIT policy.
