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 TREATIES carrier as to the weight, and that the accuracy of the weight at the time of shipment shall not be deemed to have been guaranteed by the shipper; section 12 provides that nothing in the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act shall supersede any part of the Act of the United States entitled "An Act relating to navigation of vessels, bills of lading and to certain obligations, duties, and rights in connection with the carriage of property," approved February 13, 1893, (commonly known as "The Harter Act"), or of any other law which would be applicable in the absence of that Act, insofar as they relate to the duties, responsi- bilities and liabilities of the ship or carrier prior to the time when goods are loaded on or after the time they are discharged from the ship. By section 10 an amendment is made to section 25 of the Interstate Commerce Act by adding at the end of paragraph 4 thereof a proviso to the effect that insofar as any bill of lading authorized under that paragraph relates to the carriage of goods by sea it shall be subject to the provisions of the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act. Section 13 provides in effect that the Act applies in respect of foreign trade of the United States, including the foreign trade of territories and possessions. This section also provides that the Act does not apply to contracts for the carriage of goods by sea between ports of the United States and between ports of the United States and its possessions, or between the latter, namely in coastwise trade, but the Section also provides for the recognition of express state- ments applying the provisions of the Act in shipments in such trade, when they are made in bills of lading. By section 14 authority is conferred on the President to suspend on not less than ten days notice any or all of the provisions of Title I upon certification by the Secretary of Commerce that the foreign commerce of the United States in its competition with the commerce of foreign nations is prejudiced by the operation of any of the provisions of Title I of the Act or by the laws of any foreign country or countries relating to the carriage of goods by sea. The foregoing differences from the Convention, made in the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, are intended primarily (1) to clarify provisions in the Convention which may be of uncertain meaning thereby avoiding expensive litigation in the United States for pur- poses of interpretation and (2) to coordinate the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act with other legislation of the United States. WASHINGTON, D. C. June 6, 1937. 274

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