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Parcel delay

CMR Convention — international carriage of goods by road (8.33 SDR per kilogram)

TreatyCMRRead off primary law

CMR Convention (treaty regime — international carriage of goods by road)

Rule id
parcel.cmr
Version
1.0.0
In force from
December 28, 1980
Last read against its sources
August 5, 2026
Countries bound
None listed — a treaty whose party states are set by accession

In plain language

What this regime says.

International carriage of goods by road is governed by the CMR Convention, which fixes the carrier's liability at 8.33 special drawing rights per kilogram of gross weight, refunds the carriage charges and duties in full on top, and makes void any clause in the carrier's terms that tries to go below that. Almost no consumer ever invokes it.

Who is covered

Anyone whose goods moved by road between two countries with a commercial carrier, where at least one country is a CMR contracting state. It does not cover shipments sent through a designated postal operator, which fall under the Universal Postal Convention.

What you get

The value of the goods at the place and time of acceptance, capped at 8.33 SDR per kilogram, plus carriage charges, customs duties and other charges in full on total loss. For delay: proven loss, capped at the carriage charges.

Where claims go wrong

  • Accepting the courier's own liability cap. Article 41 makes it void where it goes below the Convention.
  • Missing the twenty-one-day written reservation for delay, which is absolute.
  • Forgetting Article 23(4) — the carriage charges and duties come back separately and in full.
  • Assuming the notice bars apply to loss. They do not; only the one-year limitation period does.
  • Not asking for the gross weight, which is the whole of the calculation.
The official claim route

Authority

Every citation,
with its pinpoint.

A claim that cites “EU law” gets filed. A claim that cites Article 7(1)(c) gets answered. These are the exact coordinates this entry rests on.
  1. CMR Convention, Art. 23Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (Geneva, 19 May 1956), as amended by the Protocol of 5 July 1978URL verified 2026-08-05Art. 23(1)–(2) value at the place and time of acceptance; Art. 23(3) compensation shall not exceed 8.33 units of account per kilogram of gross weight short; Art. 23(4) carriage charges, customs duties and other charges refunded in full; Art. 23(5) delay — compensation not exceeding the carriage charges
  2. CMR Convention, Art. 30Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR)URL verified 2026-08-05Art. 30(1) reservations for apparent loss or damage at delivery, and within 7 days of delivery (Sundays and public holidays excluded) where the loss or damage is not apparent; Art. 30(3) no compensation for delay unless a written reservation is sent within 21 days of the goods being placed at the disposal of the consignee
  3. CMR Convention, Art. 29Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR)URL verified 2026-08-05Art. 29 — the carrier may not avail itself of the provisions which exclude or limit liability where the damage was caused by its wilful misconduct or by default equivalent to wilful misconduct under the law of the court seised
  4. CMR Convention, Art. 32Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR)URL verified 2026-08-05Art. 32(1) — the period of limitation for an action arising out of carriage under the Convention is one year, or three years in the case of wilful misconduct
  5. CMR Convention, Art. 41Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR)URL verified 2026-08-05Art. 41 — any stipulation which would directly or indirectly derogate from the provisions of the Convention shall be null and void

Sources

Where a figure is indexed, converted or published by a regulator rather than fixed in the instrument, the provenance is recorded separately. Anything marked as a modelled estimate is exactly that — a model, not a statutory number.

What it imposes

Clocks, defences and the ladder.

A rule module builds these while it evaluates, because a limitation period depends on which forum is open to you. What follows is the structure this regime produces — deliberately with no dates and no figures, because those belong to your facts rather than to the law.

Documents

What this regime can produce.

Every one of these is a document you send yourself, in your own name. Duesday never writes to anybody on your behalf and is never anyone’s agent.

The same claim type elsewhere

Hague-Visby Rules — international carriage of goods by seaHAGUEVISBYTreaty — party states varyHague-Visby Rules, Art. IV r. 5(a)Confidence: highMontreal Convention 1999 — international carriage of cargo by airMONTREALTreaty — party states varyMontreal Convention 1999, Art. 22(3)Confidence: highInternational postal items — Universal Postal Convention inquiry and indemnityUPUTreaty — party states varyUniversal Postal ConventionConfidence: lowEuropean Union — delivery rights on consumer sales (Directive 2011/83/EU, Art. 18)EUSupranational — 30 countriesDirective 2011/83/EU, Art. 18Confidence: mediumFrance — La Poste / Colissimo compensationFRNational — FranceCode des postes et des communications électroniques and La Poste’s conditions générales de venteConfidence: lowGermany — Deutsche Post DHL domestic parcelsDENational — GermanyPostgesetz and the DHL Allgemeine Geschäftsbedingungen Paket/PäckchenConfidence: lowDHL Express — service commitments and claimsDENational — GermanyDHL Express Terms and Conditions of CarriageConfidence: lowNetherlands — PostNL compensationNLNational — NetherlandsPostwet 2009 and PostNL’s algemene voorwaardenConfidence: low

Does this one reach your facts?

The engine runs every regime that could apply at once and reconciles them, rather than making you guess which page to read.

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Not a law firm. Not legal advice. You send it yourself. This page describes a law; it is not advice about your situation and no outcome is promised.