Events 2009
Ambassador Fay Hartog Levin signs the Rotterdam Rules on behalf of the United States
September 23 U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands Fay Hartog Levin signed on behalf of the United States the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods, Wholly or Partly by Sea in an elaborate ceremony at the Van Nelle Design Factory in Rotterdam. The Convention modernizes and harmonizes the legal regimes that currently govern contracts for maritime shipments. The Convention promotes greater predictability and uniformity, thus making shipping more efficient and fueling economic growth.
The United States played a leading role in the six year negotiation process for the Convention and strongly backs its full implementation.
Photo: State Department lawyer Mary Helen Carlson and University of Texas law professor Michael Sturley stand behind Ambassador Levin while Arancha Hinojal, the deputy director of the U.N. Treaty Section in New York, looks on.