Abstract:
This article examines the US law that governs the shipment of dangerous goods. The early cases imposed the risk of loss or damage caused by dangerous goods on the shipper, the underlying rationale being that a shipper is in the best position to know the characteristics of the cargo that it ships and should either warn the carrier of the nature of the goods or take steps to eliminate the danger. Some doubt was cast on this view when some courts seemed to adopt a fault-based liability approach. An overview of cases, nevertheless, shows that a majority impose strict liability. This view is supported by the US adoption of the Hague Rules in the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act. More recently the adoption of international standards such as in the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code identifies dangerous goods and provides instructions that specify requirements for packaging, labelling, stowage, etc. This Code is supplemented by national legislation in some countries, such as the US. The article concludes with a discussion of the impact of the Code and national legislation on the allocation of risk between shipper and carrier.