26 States Sign UN Accra Convention on Negotiable Cargo Documents

Twenty-six states signed the United Nations Convention on Negotiable Cargo Documents — the Accra Convention — at a ceremony in Accra, Ghana, opening for signature the first harmonised, technology-neutral legal framework covering negotiable cargo documents across every transport mode, in paper and electronic form.

FIATA International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations welcomed the signing, calling it a landmark step toward a more connected, multimodal and digitally enabled global trading system. For the freight forwarding industry, the convention fixes a legal gap that has shaped trade documentation for decades: the ability to use negotiable cargo documents has historically been tied to maritime transport, even as modern goods move by road, rail, sea and air across multiple borders and jurisdictions.

What does the convention actually change?

It extends legal recognition of negotiable documents — including electronic ones — to multimodal transport. That matters most for trade corridors, emerging markets and landlocked economies, where market access depends on efficient hinterland connections and seamless movement across modes and borders. The convention can facilitate more flexible end-to-end transport, greater legal certainty and better access to trade finance, creating new openings for businesses including micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

Dr Stéphane Graber, FIATA Director General, said: "Today marks an exciting milestone for global trade. The Accra Convention reflects how goods actually move today: across modes, borders and increasingly important trade corridors. It creates new possibilities for businesses, particularly in emerging and landlocked markets where efficient multimodal connectivity is essential."

Graber added that FIATA is ready for the next step: "Through the FBL and eFBL, our industry already has established solutions that can put the Convention in practice from day one. We look forward to working with governments, our members and partners worldwide to turn this important legal framework into real opportunities for trade."

Forwarders already hold the tools

The convention does not ask the market to build new instruments. FIATA's Multimodal Transport Bill of Lading (FBL) has served as a negotiable multimodal transport document for decades. Its digital evolution, the FIATA eFBL, carries that practice into the electronic environment. Together, the FBL and eFBL provide ready-to-use solutions for negotiable cargo documents and their electronic equivalents under the convention — meaning freight forwarders have trusted operational tools from the day the convention enters into force.

That readiness rests on live commercial testing. FIATA has already run real transactions testing the negotiable document framework with the eFBL on international routes including Kazakhstan–China, China–Georgia and Turkmenistan–Romania, spanning rail and multimodal transport. Those pilots demonstrated how negotiable electronic documentation works in real supply chains, including alongside trade financing. The convention builds on demonstrated commercial practice rather than imposing a theoretical model.

A UNCITRAL drafting process, six decades in the making

FIATA fed freight forwarders' operational experience into the drafting process under UNCITRAL, working alongside partner bodies including the Global Shippers Forum (GSF) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Banking Commission. The organisation pushed to ground the framework in how multimodal trade works in practice and to ensure it translates into commercially workable solutions.

The signing coincides with the 60th anniversary of UNCITRAL, which has spent six decades harmonising, modernising and unifying international trade law. The Accra Convention extends that legacy into supply chains that are increasingly multimodal and digital.

Who signed?

The 26 signatory states in Accra were: Burkina Faso, Guinea, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, China, Mauritania, Comoros, Nicaragua, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Cuba, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Dominica, Sierra Leone, the Dominican Republic, South Sudan, Gabon, Tanzania, The Gambia, Togo, Ghana and Venezuela. Further states are expected to sign imminently, subject to completion of required diplomatic procedures.

Attention now shifts to ratification and entry into force, with forwarders positioned to deploy the FBL and eFBL the moment the framework becomes binding law.