Proposed Convention on the International Combined Transport of Goods: Implications for International Civil Aviation

A significant increase in intermodal container transport led, during the period 1970–72, to intensive discussions in several international bodies concerning the proposed Convention on the International Combined Transport of Goods, known as the TCM Convention. Basically, the drafters of the convention aimed to establish a standard Combined Transport Contract (CT Document) and to provide for a new legal person called the Combined Transport operator (CTO). As the proposed convention could affect existing legal regimes that govern various modes of transporting cargo, it is not surprising that aviation interests, inter alia, carried out a searching and somewhat inconclusive examination of the implications of the proposed TCM Convention for international civil aviation.