Responsibilities of consignor
24.—(1)  The consignor of any goods that are the subject of a multimodal transport contract is deemed to have guaranteed to the multimodal transport operator of the contract that, at the time the goods were taken in charge by the multimodal transport operator, all of the following particulars specified in the multimodal transport document are accurate:
(a)the general nature of the goods;
(b)the marks, number, weight, volume and quantity of the goods;
(c)if applicable, the dangerous character of the goods as furnished by the consignor or on the consignor’s behalf for insertion in the multimodal transport document relating to the contract.
(2)  The consignor of any goods that are the subject of a multimodal transport contract must mark or label dangerous goods in accordance with any international conventions or laws applicable in the country in which the goods are taken in charge by the multimodal transport operator of the contract.
(3)  Where the consignor of any dangerous goods that are the subject of a multimodal transport contract hands over those goods to the multimodal transport operator of the contract, or any servant or agent of the multimodal transport operator, or other person acting on behalf of the multimodal transport operator, the consignor must inform the multimodal transport operator, servant, agent or person (as the case may be) of the dangerous character of the goods and, if necessary, the precautions to be taken.
(4)  If the consignor fails to so inform the multimodal transport operator, servant, agent or person, and the multimodal transport operator does not otherwise have knowledge of the dangerous character of the goods —
(a)the consignor is liable to the multimodal transport operator for any loss incurred by the multimodal transport operator in the course of the shipment of such goods and that is related to the dangerous character of the goods; and
(b)despite section 15, the goods may at any time during the international multimodal transport be unloaded, destroyed or rendered innocuous, as the circumstances may require, without payment of compensation to the consignor or any person to whom the multimodal transport operator is taken to have given an undertaking under section 14.
(5)  Subsection (4) does not apply if, during the international multimodal transport of the goods, the multimodal transport operator has taken in charge the goods with knowledge of the dangerous character of the goods.
(6)  If, in a case where subsection (4)(b) does not apply, the dangerous goods become an actual danger to life or property, they may (despite section 15) be unloaded, destroyed or rendered innocuous at any time during the international multimodal transport, as the circumstances may require, without payment of compensation to the consignor or any person to whom the multimodal transport operator is taken to have given an undertaking under section 14, except where —
(a)there is an obligation on the multimodal transport operator to contribute in general average; or
(b)the multimodal transport operator or the servant, agent or person for whose act or omission the multimodal transport operator is liable under section 13, failed to take all reasonable measures to prevent the dangerous goods becoming an actual danger.
(7)  The consignor of any goods that are the subject of a multimodal transport contract must indemnify the multimodal transport operator of the contract against any loss incurred by the multimodal transport operator resulting from any inadequacy or inaccuracy of any particulars or information provided by the consignor under subsection (1), (2) or (3), as the case may be.
(8)  The consignor of any goods that are the subject of a multimodal transport contract remains liable to indemnify the multimodal transport operator of the contract under subsection (7) even if the multimodal transport document relating to the contract has been transferred by the consignor.
(9)  The right of the multimodal transport operator of a multimodal transport contract to indemnity under subsection (7) does not limit the multimodal transport operator’s liability under the multimodal transport contract to any person other than the consignor of the goods.