New Version of York Antwerp Rules on General Average

Last May the Comité Maritime International (CMI) approved the revised version of the York Antwerp Rules in the context of the CMI Conference in New York. The main innovation this time was that, together with the new rules, a set of guidelines was also approved. Their aim is to assist people involved in a general average process, facilitating the understanding and application of the rules. However, it is important to remark that the guidelines are not intended to be binding.

The first version of the York Antwerp Rules was passed in 1864, with the purpose of building a uniform system to deal with general average cases. The CMI is the organization in charge of revising and updating the rules in order to adapt them to the changing dynamics of international commerce over the years.

It is worth mentioning that the Argentine Navigation Act provides that “general average acts and contributions shall be governed, unless otherwise agreed by the parties, by the 1950 York Antwerp Rules” (article 403 of the Navigation Act No. 20,094). The law thus affords the parties the freedom to agree to different rules if they so choose.