Carriage of goods

International sale of goods transactions

An international sale of goods transaction has three principal components:

1. •

   a contract of sale and purchase between the seller and buyer

2. •

   payment of the contract price by the buyer to the seller

3. •

   carriage of the goods, the subject matter of the contract of sale

Modes of carriage

Arranging the carriage of the goods will be the obligation of either the seller or the buyer, as specified in the contract of sale and purchase. For information on the contractual terms agreed between seller and buyer in respect of the carriage of goods, see Practice Note: Incoterms® 2020—introduction. That carriage will be provided via one or more modes:

1. •

   sea

2. •

   air

3. •

   land (rail and road)

4. •

   by a combination of those modes, thereby making the carriage either unimodal or multimodal

For more information on the law relating to carriage of goods by the various modes, this sub-topic contains a range of Practice Notes:

1. •

   sea:

   1. ◦

      Carriage of goods by sea—charterparties

   2. ◦

      Bills of lading and sea waybills

   3. ◦

      Carriage of goods by sea—the Hague-Visby Rules

   4. ◦

      Delivery