MOZARD (HK) CO LTD V DACHSER HONG KONG LTD

[2018] HKDC 574, District Court of the HKSAR, Deputy District Judge W H Wong in Court, 21 May 2018

Carriage (air) - Cargo of garments delivered without production of the original air waybill - Delivery to buyer outside airport - Montreal Convention 1999 - Carriage by Air Ordinance (Cap 500) - Control of Exemption Clauses Ordinance (Cap 71)

The plaintiff was a garment exporter who had engaged the defendant in January 2015 for carriage by air of some 20 cartons of garments from Hong Kong to Lyon in France. Upon arrival, the cargo had been delivered to the buyer without presentation of the original air waybill, but the plaintiff had not been paid. This was its claim against the carrier for the price of the cargo. The defendant accepted that it was liable to pay, but asserted that its liability was subject to the limitations of the Montreal Convention, which applied by virtue of the Hong Kong Carriage by Air Ordinance (Cap 500) or contractually, or the incorporated HAFFA (Hong Kong Association of Freight Forwarding and Logistics) Standard Conditions. The air waybill contained a box which referred in capital printed letters to conditions printed on the back of the bill, which made international carriage subject to the Montreal Convention.