Order 2010-3-2

Served: March 8, 2010 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

Action on IATA Agreement

Issued by the Department of Transportation

on the 3rd day of March, 2010

ORDER 

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has filed an agreement with the 

Department under section 41308 and 41309 of Title 49 of the United States Code (the 

Code) and Part 303 of the Department’s regulations. The agreement was adopted at the 

31st IATA Cargo Service Conference (CSC/31) held in Bangkok, March 5, 2009, and by 

mail vote.1

The agreement consists of amendments to Recommended Practice (RP) 1670 (Carriage 

of Cargo using Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)), related amendments to several 

existing resolutions involving cargo documentation, and a new Resolution 600i (Carriage 

Concluded and Evidenced by Electronic Means – Conditions of Contract).2

The agreement is a core component of IATA’s “e-freight”program, intended to replace paper 

documents with electronic transmissions, including an electronic shipment record that will 

record the contract of carriage and substitute for the paper air waybill.

RP 1670 sets forth a Model Agreement for Electronic Data Interchange between the shipper 

and carrier, and has been amended to include additional definitions, new provisions to cover 

the transition from paper, and three new technical annexes.

New Resolution 600i is virtually identical to Resolution 600b (Air Waybill Conditions of 

Contract), with the exception of recent changes to Resolution 600b that were adopted to 

reflect changes in the liability limits for loss of, damage or delay to cargo under Montreal 

 1 IATA memorandum CSC/2009/FAR/002, filed with the Department on October 23, 2009.

2 The resolutions and recommended practice are listed in the attached Appendix.

Agreement among member carriers 

of the International Air Transport 

Association concerning cargo services 

matters 

 

 Docket OST-2009-0269
2

Protocol No. 4 and under the Montreal Convention.3

 We approved the changes to 600b by 

Notice on December 17, 2009 (Docket OST-2009-0339).

By facilitating a transition from paper documentation to electronic interchange of required 

data, the agreement will increase efficiency, reduce costs for both carriers and shippers, and 

ease the flow of commerce. We will approve the agreement, subject to the condition that 

Resolution 600i, and Annex B of RP 1670 which contains similar language, are modified to 

conform to the relevant provisions of Resolution 600b concerning carrier liability. 

We find that, as conditioned, the resolutions incorporated in the above docket are not adverse 

to the public interest, in violation of the Code, or likely to lessen competition substantially. 

Furthermore, we conclude that the resolutions should be granted immunity from the 

operation of the antitrust laws to the extent necessary to permit their implementation. In 

general, they amend existing provisions already approved and immunized by the Department. 

Where new provisions are created, they perform facilitation functions similar to other 

resolutions that have been immunized and approved. As a result, none raises immunity 

issues not previously considered, and the conferral of immunity upon them is consistent with 

our policy of conferring immunity on amendments coextensively with the underlying 

agreements.

Pursuant to the authority duly assigned under the Department’s Regulations, 14 CFR 385.13: 

We do not find that the resolutions and recommended practice in the agreement in Docket 

OST-2009-0269, as set forth in the attached Appendix, are adverse to the public interest, in 

violation of the Act, or likely to lessen competition substantially, provided that approval is 

subject to conditions imposed herein.

ACCORDINGLY, 

We approve and grant antitrust immunity to the agreement in Docket OST-2009-0269, as 

listed in the attached Appendix, subject to conditions imposed herein.

Persons entitled to petition the Department for review of this order, under 14 CFR 385.30, 

may file such petitions within seven days after the date of service of this order. 

 3

 For example, Article 24 of the Convention provides for the periodic review by the International Civil 

Aviation Organization of the Convention’s liability limits in order to reflect inflation. The revised limits 

under the first such review became effective December 30, 2009, and in the case of cargo rose from 17 to 

19 SDRs per kilogram.
3

The order shall be effective and become the action of the Department of Transportation 

upon expiration of the above period, unless within such period a petition for review is 

filed or the Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs gives notice that 

she will review this order on her own motion.

By:

Paul L. Gretch

Director, Office of International Aviation

(SEAL)

An electronic version of this document is available on the World Wide Web at:

http://www.regulations.gov/
APPENDIX

IATA Expiry

Designation Title Date

CSC(31)600a Completion, Distribution and Transmission of 

the Air Waybill (amending)

Indefinite

CSC(31)600f Form and Use of the Shipment Record 

(amending)

Indefinite

CSC(31)600g Form and Use of the Receipt for the Cargo

(also known as the Cargo Receipt) (amending)

Indefinite

CSC(31)600h Consent of the Shipper to the Substitution of

the Air Waybill by Electronic Means 

(amending)

Indefinite

CSC(31)600i Carriage Concluded and Evidenced by 

Electronic Means -- Conditions of Contract 

(new)

Provided that provisions concerning the 

carrier’s liability conform to those contained in 

resolution 600b as set forth in Docket OST2009-0339

Indefinite

CSC(Mail S066)1670 Carriage of Cargo using Electronic Data

Interchange (EDI) (amending)

Provided that provisions concerning the 

carrier’s liability conform to those contained in 

resolution 600b as set forth in Docket OST2009-0339

Indefinite