Your cargo arrived damaged: you have ten days to report it

They are Articles 1397 to 1400 of the Civil Code of 2020: the obligations of carrier, shipper and consignee when what is transported is goods, and from when the consignee may claim.

Whoever sends cargo, whoever carries it and whoever receives it under a contract for the carriage of goods governed by the Puerto Rico Civil Code, where the transport is not specially regulated.

• From the carrier: deliver the cargo in the same state in which it was received, and put it at the consignee’s disposal as agreed.Verified against the official source
• From the carrier: allow the consignee, at its own cost and before receipt, to check the state, identity and integrity of the cargo.Verified against the official source
• From the shipper: declare the content of the cargo, pack and identify it adequately and deliver the necessary documentation.Verified against the official source
• From the consignee: communicate to the shipper, within the ten days following receipt, any loss or damage not recognisable at that moment.Verified against the official source

• The cargo receipt: Article 1397(c) requires the carrier to give it to the shipper, along with any additional necessary documentation.
• The record of the pre-receipt check, if you made one: Article 1397(h) allows it at your own cost and before receipt.
• The record of the notice to the shipper within the ten days: the period is fixed by Article 1399(d).

1. 1

   Step 1: Who is who in this contract

   Three people, not two: the carrier moves; the shipper hands over the cargo and, unless it declares otherwise, pays; the consignee receives it. Each has its own list of obligations in a separate article.

2. 2

   Step 2: Before receiving, you may check

   Article 1397(h): the carrier must allow the consignee, at its own cost and before receipt, to check the state, identity and integrity of the cargo. Three things named — state, identity and integrity — and one detail worth reading: the cost of that check is on the consignee.

3. 3

   Step 3: Damage that was not visible: ten days

   Article 1399(d): communicate to the shipper, within the ten days following receipt of the cargo, any loss or damage not recognisable at the moment of receipt. Note two things: the notice goes to the shipper, not the carrier; and the period runs from receipt.

4. 4

   Step 4: What the article does not say about those ten days

   It does not say the right is lost by not giving notice, does not say in what form the notice must be given, and does not say what happens with damage that was visible on receipt. The Code sets the duty and the period; the rest is not written there, and this guide does not fill it in.

5. 5

   Step 5: Delivering in the same state

   Article 1397(e): the carrier must deliver the cargo in the same state in which it received it. And (a) closes the circle from the other side: it must receive it packed and identified according to its requirements and the applicable laws and regulations.

6. 6

   Step 6: If there is delay, or if you cannot be found

   Article 1397(f): the carrier must inform the shipper of any delay in the start or continuation of the transport, where the consignee cannot be found or refuses to receive the cargo; and in such cases it must ask the shipper for the instructions it deems pertinent. The one who decides what to do with stranded cargo, under this subsection, is the shipper.

7. 7

   Step 7: What the shipper owes

   Article 1398, four duties: declare the content of the cargo; pack and identify it adequately; deliver the necessary documentation to the carrier; and pay the agreed price or declare who is to pay when the cargo reaches its destination. That last subsection is what allows the consignee to pay, if so declared.

8. 8

   Step 8: Two articles naming different payees

   Article 1397(g) requires the carrier to collect from the consignee the credits or deposits that are its own or that the shipper entrusted to it against the cargo. Article 1399(b) requires the consignee to pay the shipper the credits or deposits that correspond, per what was agreed with the shipper. Those are two different payees for what reads like the same money. The Code does not say which governs, and this guide does not resolve it: it prints both subsections as written.

9. 9

   Step 9: From when you may demand

   Article 1400: the rights the transport generates for the consignee arise from when the cargo reaches its destination or from when, the delivery period having expired, it has demanded delivery from the carrier. That is: if the cargo did not arrive, the consignee’s clock starts when the period expired and it demanded delivery.

10. 10

    Step 10: The scope reminder

    The chapter itself says its rules do not apply to specially regulated transport and that, in every case, they operate as suppletory. The Code does not say which transport that is, and this guide does not point to one.

The contract runs between shipper, carrier and consignee; the Code names no agency for this chapter. If the service is specially regulated, the forum and rules are that regulation’s. Contract or damage claims are decided by the Court of First Instance.

• Letting the ten days of Article 1399(d) pass without reporting loss or damage that was not visible on receipt.
• Sending that notice to the carrier: the article says it is communicated to the shipper.
• Giving up the check of the state, identity and integrity of the cargo before receiving it.
• Assuming that check is free: Article 1397(h) puts it at the consignee’s cost.
• Not declaring the content of the cargo, which is the shipper’s first obligation.
• Packing or identifying the cargo badly and expecting the carrier to answer all the same.
• Forgetting to declare who is to pay when the cargo reaches its destination.
• Looking in these articles for a compensation amount or a cap: they carry none.
• Applying this chapter to specially regulated transport, which Article 1391 leaves out.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Poder Judicial de Puerto Rico

  Poder Judicial

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov