Policy & Compliance
UN adopts draft convention on Negotiable Cargo Documents
The NCD Convention is set to be adopted later this year, introducing a harmonised legal framework recognising negotiable cargo documents of title for all modes of transport
O n 14 July, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) approved the draft Convention on Negotiable Cargo Documents (NCD), marking a signi fi cant milestone in the modernisation of international trade law. It also opened new opportunities for shippers, freight forwarders and trade fi nance institutions across both established and emerging trade corridors. The convention is expected to be adopted by the UN General Assembly later this year. Longstanding legal gap The NCD Convention introduces a harmonised, opt-in legal framework recognising negotiable cargo documents of title – in both paper and electronic form – for all modes of transport. This helps
address a longstanding legal gap in multimodal transport and paves the way for enhanced legal certainty, particularly in support of trade digitalisation. The convention incorporates provisions based on the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR), granting electronic negotiable documents the same legal validity as their paper counterparts. At the same time, the text preserves existing liability regimes and the responsibilities of carriers under current conventions. It focuses solely on the negotiability and legal recognition of documents of title, allowing commercial parties to opt in as needed.
The convention reinforces the role of freight forwarders and logistics service providers as contractual carriers issuing multimodal transport documents. It also enhances legal clarity across jurisdictions, enabling more reliable issuance and transfer of negotiable documents essential for trade finance, particularly for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. An explanatory video has been published by the United Nations and is accessible at https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=x-xXcWxW1w8 BIFA would like to thank CLECAT for permission to reproduce this article from its Newsletter.
“ The convention is expected to be adopted by the UN General Assembly later this year
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September 2025 | 19
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