Freight forwarder association FIATA has called for a delay to amendments to the IATA Direct Air Waybill (DAWB) framework to allow for a proper review to be carried out.
FIATA exercised its formal right under the Cargo Agency Conference (CAC) Resolution 801c to request a review of the proposed changes to the DAWB but said that it has not been possible to complete the process in time for the 1 July implementation date.
The association has therefore requested that the effective date be postponed until 1 October to allow the review process to be completed.
“Despite repeated requests by Fiata, the review process has not been capable of being completed before the scheduled date of effectiveness,” the association said in a press release.
“Despite Fiata’s repeated requests that the IATA-FIATA Consultative Council (IFCC) be convened as a matter of urgency, the IFCC has not been convened in sufficient time to formulate its recommendation to the CAC before the amendments are due to take effect.”
FIATA added that it has also written to airlines worldwide seeking “urgent clarification” as to whether they intend to implement the changes in practice as of 1 July and how the changes will be implemented, including the processes that freight forwarders will be expected to follow before tendering cargo for carriage.
There have already been indications that implementation may differ between airlines, with some reportedly not intending to implement the revised framework from 1 July.
“The review mechanism exists for an important reason: to ensure that significant changes affecting the rights, responsibilities and liabilities of all affected market players – including freight forwarders, shippers and airlines – are properly considered before they take effect”, said FIATA director general Stéphane Graber.
“That critical procedural safeguard has not been respected before the scheduled implementation date. In the absence of a meaningful review, airlines should provide complete transparency regarding the contractual framework they intend to apply from 1 July.
“Freight forwarders cannot reasonably be expected to assume significant new contractual obligations or liabilities outside of their function without legal certainty or a proper opportunity to assess the resulting operational and insurance implications.”
IATA argues that under DAWBs, which are largely used for high-risk shipments, forwarders tender cargo to the airlines on behalf of the shipper, meaning they are acting as agents of the shippers and not agents of the airlines.
“Airlines have essentially entered into a contract with an entity they do not know and have not performed due diligence, anti-money laundering or sanctions and embargo compliance checks,” said Carlos Tornero, IATA’s director of legal services, in an article on the topic.
“Importantly, they have not negotiated a rate prior to having a shipment land on their warehouse floor.”
DAWB implies that forwarders are merely the shipper’s agent, and so if things go wrong, such as a lithium battery fire, airlines must seek recourse against the original shipper — effectively, an unknown party, IATA argues
Meanwhile, forwarders are concerned that under the changes to the DAWB framework, freight forwarders could become liable for the shipment even when they are acting as a shipper’s agent and are not the named shipper on the air waybill.
According to Australia’s Freight & Trade Alliance, there are particular concerns that the changes may also transfer responsibility and liability for Dangerous Goods shipments to the freight forwarder, even when operational control, documentation, cargo declarations and packaging information sit with other parties in the supply chain.
FIATA said that aspects of the current proposed framework may create legal uncertainty and an unintended misalignment between liability, operational control and insurable risk.
