Protocol insurance
Page 37
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I REFER to the news item (CM, January 3) and to Junior Transport Minister Kenneth Clarke's reported statement that the change from the 25 gold francs in the CMR convention to 8.33 special drawing rights "would establish with certainty liability under the convention".
While I welcome the Protocol for the reason that it disposes of the argument about the conversion to sterling of the gold franc (convert at par value or convert at the price of gold as a commodity?), the "certainty" of the maximum liability per ton is, perhaps, not quite so certain.
SDRs vary in value daily. Had the Protocol been in force since 1978, the following maximum liability figures would have emerged: April 30, 1978 — £5,725 per ton; January 1, 1979 — £5,468 per ton; October 6, 1980 — £4,660 per ton; November 10, 1980 — £4,450 per ton; January 7, 1981 — £4,488 per ton As sterling strengthens internationally, the British hauliers' limit per ton decreases; as the pound weakens, the limit increases. The point is of importance to those hauliers involved in CMR, either internationally or domestically, who should ensure that their goods in transit insurance policies contain adequate limits.
A. E. DONALD Ernest A. Notcutt & Co Ltd Beckenham, Kent