Opinion ID: 1688556
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: cogsa

Text: In 1936 Congress adopted the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act (COGSA). Ch. 229, § 3, 49 Stat. 1208 (1936) (codified at 46 U.S.C. app. §§ 1300-1315). COGSA was the domestic enactment of the 1924 International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law Relating to Bills of Lading, better known as the Hague Rules. Michael F. Sturley, Proposed Amendments to the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, 18 Hous. J. Int'l L. 609, 610 (1996). The Hague Rules and COGSA were intended to bring more balance to the merchant/shipper-carrier relationship and overcome some of the overly advantageous contract clauses in the bills of lading, which were traditionally drafted by the carriers. See Tessler Brothers (B.C.) Ltd. v. Italpacific Line, 494 F.2d 438, 444 (9th Cir.1974) (footnote and citation omitted) (recognizing that Congress passed COGSA and its predecessor statute to counteract the persistent efforts of carriers, who are the drafters of ocean bills of lading, to insert all embracing exceptions to liability). Indeed, the legislative history of COGSA reveals that one of its specific purposes was to obviate the necessity for a shipper to make a detailed study of the fine print clauses of a carrier's regular bill of lading on each occasion before shipping a package. Id. at 445. [3] Nevertheless, certain COGSA provisions, especially section 1303(6) (one-year statute of limitations for bringing a civil suit, beginning with the date the goods were delivered or should have been delivered), and section 1304(5) (limiting the carrier's and the ship's liability to no more than $500 per package or customary freight unit), clearly benefit carriers. [4]