The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA) have released a joint position paper calling for states to ratify the Montreal Convention 1999 (MC99) treaty to promote trade facilitation.
At the World Trade Organization talks in Bali, 3-6 December, states have been urged to take steps to stimulate greater world trade, in order to promote growth in the global economy. For those states who have not yet done so, the ratification of MC99 would be an important step in helping improve the speed, security and efficiency of Air Cargo. MC99 provides the legal framework for the use of electronic data as a record of carriage in place of paper documents, thus paving the way for Freight Forwarders and airlines to use the electronic Air Waybill and other e-freight documents such as the electronic Cargo Security Declaration.
