Insured price is a common practice in international freight transportation, which is stipulated in most countries' freight laws and international multilateral freight conventions. Because the insured excludes the application of the carrier's liability limit system, it is of great significance to the interests of the carrier and the shipper. China's legal provisions on insured transportation are mainly reflected in the following aspects:

1. Fully respect the free will of the parties and adhere to the principle of private autonomy.

For example, the third paragraph of Article 17 of China's Railway Law stipulates that the shipper or passenger may apply for insured transportation or cargo transportation insurance on a voluntary basis; You can also handle neither insured transportation nor cargo transportation insurance. No insured transportation or cargo transportation insurance shall be compulsory in any way.

2. Compensation based on the carrier's liability limit, except insured compensation.

China's Maritime Law, Railway Law and Civil Aviation Law all stipulate the principle of carrier's liability limit compensation, but at the same time stipulate that "unless the shipper has declared the nature and value of the goods before shipment and stated it in the bill of lading, or the carrier and the shipper have otherwise agreed, the compensation limit is higher than that stipulated in this article". It can be seen that insured transportation is an exception to the carrier's liability limit compensation.

3. The carrier's reasonable reminder obligation

In practice, the terms of insured transport are generally drawn up in the freight bill in advance, and the shipper only needs to choose between yes andno. Therefore, the terms of insured transport are typical format terms in contract law. According to the theory of contract law, the carrier should fulfill the reasonable obligation of reminding when concluding a contract with the shipper.

4. The shipper's obligation to declare honestly

According to shipping practice, if the carrier intentionally misrepresents the nature or value of the goods in the bill of lading, under no circumstances will the carrier or the ship be responsible for the loss or damage of the goods or related goods. But at this time, the burden of proof should be borne by the carrier. China's Maritime Code does not directly stipulate the shipper's obligation to declare truthfully in the case of insured transportation. Article 2 1 of the Rules of Domestic Waterway Freight Transportation of the Ministry of Communications stipulates that "when consigning goods, the shipper may handle insured transportation. If the goods are damaged or lost, the carrier shall compensate according to the declared value of the goods, but if the carrier proves that the actual value of the goods is lower than the declared value, it shall compensate according to the actual value of the goods. "

Article 19 of China's Railway Law stipulates that if the shipper's declaration is inconsistent with the actual situation after inspection, the inspection fee shall be borne by the shipper. There is a similar provision in the second paragraph of Article 128 of China's Civil Aviation Law. It can be seen that the domestic legislation has relatively light provisions on the shipper's liability. Compared with the international shipping practice, if the shipper fails to fulfill the obligation of honest declaration, the insured part whose declared value exceeds the actual value of the goods is invalid, and the inspection fee is borne at the same time, but it does not necessarily lead to the carrier's "irresponsibility for the goods or the loss or damage related to the goods".

5. The shipper's obligation to pay the value-added surcharge in time.

For example, the second paragraph of Article 128 of China's Civil Aviation Law stipulates that if a passenger or shipper specifically declares the benefits of delivery at the destination when consigning checked baggage or goods, and if necessary, the carrier shall bear the responsibility within the declared amount, unless it is proved that the amount declared by the passenger or shipper is higher than the actual benefits of delivery of checked baggage or goods at the destination. According to the regulations, if the shipper fails to pay the surcharge when necessary, the carrier has the right of defense not to compensate according to the insured price. China's Maritime Code does not directly stipulate the shipper's obligation to pay value-added surcharge. The author believes that this is determined by the characteristics of maritime transportation. According to international practice, ocean bill of lading has the nature of document of title, so it has circulation function. Therefore, once the words "insured transportation" are stated in the bill of lading, the carrier's liability for compensation is excluded, and the carrier cannot defend the bank, the consignee and other bill of lading assignees on the grounds that the shipper has not paid the value-added surcharge. In other words, even if the shipper fails to pay the value-added surcharge on time, the carrier cannot use this as an excuse against a bona fide third party, who has been transferred the bill of lading with the words "safe transportation".

6. Shipper's responsibilities and obligations

The carrier has the obligation to transport the goods properly. If the goods are lost in the course of transportation, the carrier shall compensate the shipper with the declared value as the upper limit, unless the goods are lost due to force majeure. If losses other than the shipper's goods are caused, the carrier shall compensate. In addition, insured transportation is neither an exemption clause nor a limited compensation clause, but a full compensation clause.

7. In principle, there is no limit on the insured price of goods, but a limit can be set for special goods.

In principle, the insured price should be determined within the value range that does not exceed the actual value of the goods or the actual benefits when the goods are delivered to the destination. But in practice, the actual value of some special commodities is not easy to determine. What kind of goods belong to this kind of special goods, generally speaking, mainly refers to some items that lack market reference prices, such as celebrity calligraphy and painting, antiques, bidding documents, litigation documents and so on. The carrier can set the insured limit according to the international transportation practice, which is highlighted in postal transportation. Article 46 of the Universal Postal Convention stipulates that, in principle, there is no limit on the insured amount of insured letters; However, as an exception, the postal department of each country has the right to set its own insurance limit, which shall not be less than 5,000 francs or less than 5,000 francs used in its domestic business. According to Article 1 1 of the Domestic Mail Handling Rules of the State Post Bureau from June 5438 to February 2000, the maximum insured amount of each insured mail is RMB 100000 yuan. The "mail" here includes postal letters and postal parcels that provide universal services, but does not include competitive direct delivery parcels and commercial logistics goods operated by post offices. The author believes that the post office artificially sets a limit when handling the insured transportation of such goods, which is intended to prevent the shipper from abusing the right to declare and avoid the moral hazard of endless declaration and insured.