Air freight is the fastest way to deliver goods today. And time is extremely important for business. Fast transportation enables safe goods, such as food, flowers, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals in a proper condition. And thanks to such opportunities businesses can grow. However, it is not that easy to transport your cargo by air.
Air freight requires a lot of documents to prepare, make sure that all containers are quality, that carriers will take the best care of your goods. Professionals from Globalink Logistics are always ready to help with everything and can guarantee that your cargo will be delivered securely. In this article, we will tell you what you need to know about all the rules for international air freight.
Basic Provisions of International Rules of Carriage of Goods by Air
There are international documents that regulate international cargo and the rights of the parties of such transportation. The main are:
- The Warsaw Convention of 1929;
- The Hague Protocol of 1955;
- The Montreal Convention of 1999.
These three conventions particularly address the international carrying of cargo by air and make reference to conditions relating to obligations, liabilities, documents, etc.
To transport goods by air you need to prepare a lot of documents. Here is the list of them:
- Commercial Invoice;
- Packing List;
- Export/Import Customs Declaration;
- Bill of Lading & Sea Waybill;
- Certificates (production, vessel, phytosanitary);
- Air or Rail Waybill;
- Arrival Notice;
- Certificate of Origin;
- Letter of Credit.
After preparing all these documents, the contract between the owner or consignor of the products and the carrier, under which the latter is required to deliver the goods to the consignor at the destination. The carrier may be an airline or an international transportation firm.
Rights and Obligations of the Parties for Cargo Transportation by Air
There are two participants of the contract about air freight: the owner of the cargo and the carrier.
The carrier’s liability under the air carriage contract is to accept the provisions, convey them by air to the agreed-upon location and time, and deliver the goods to the consignee in the same condition they were received.
The actual transportation of the items requires the provision of a suitable vehicle and the completion of the transfer within the predetermined window of time.
Also, carrier have an oblication to care and preserve carriage goods throughout transit. The consignor must give this information and include it in all pertinent paperwork when transferring the goods to the carrier in order for the carrier to fulfill this fundamental requirement.
The consignor is required to provide all documentation related to the cargo necessary to comply with local customs broker, health permits (if necessary), and other requirements. These documents include any information regarding the precautions needed for the care and preservation of the goods being delivered, clearance, and characteristics of the goods.
Features of domestic and international carriage of goods
Domestic carriage of goods by air requires, in fact, almost the same amount of documents as an international carriage. The benefit of domestic carriage is that it is easier to reach an agreement about the time of transportation. It will be easier for you to find an appropriate time for packaging, and shipping.
Apart from that, sometimes all documents are prepared and signed faster for domestic carriage, because of less time for delivery and the same laws.
Conclusion
Needless to say that preparation for air carriage of goods is the most time and resources consuming among all other ways to deliver products. But at the same time, it is the fastest way to deliver your goods to the needed location. It helps to safe products in good condition. So all the long preparation is usually worth the result you will get. International transport companies such as Globalink Logistics always can ease your preparation for transportation and take care of the documents and goods.
