New UN convention would let companies sell goods in transit using negotiable cargo documents

Speaker 1, presenter, opened a briefing about an international treaty proposal by saying, “Imagine a world where trade is faster, safer, and more accessible. A world where goods in transit, regardless of their location, destination, and mode of transport, can be resold in just seconds with a few clicks, realizing their full value.”

The presentation described a proposed United Nations convention on negotiable cargo documents, or NCDs, that would create a negotiable document of title for goods transported by road, rail, air or sea. Speaker 1 said such documents would allow “the holder to claim the goods or transfer them to another party while they are en route,” extending a capability long associated with maritime bills of lading to multimodal and inland transport.

The proposal…