Rwanda and 25 other countries signed a United Nations convention in Accra, Ghana, on Monday, October 26, aimed at making cross-border trade easier by allowing businesses to transfer rights to goods while they are in transit and use them to access financing.
The United Nations Convention on Negotiable Cargo Documents, also known as the Accra Convention, establishes a common legal framework for documents representing goods transported by road, rail, air and sea.
Adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 15, 2025, the convention extends the use of negotiable cargo documents beyond maritime shipping, where they have traditionally helped traders transfer ownership rights and secure financing.
The framework is expected to reduce paperwork, simplify cargo transactions and help businesses access financing using goods being transported across borders, including shipments that involve different modes of transport.
According to the Rwandan Embassy in Ghana, Ambassador Rosemary Mbabazi, who represented Rwanda at the signing ceremony, said the country was committed to implementing the convention. She urged other signatories to turn their commitments into tangible trade benefits.
How the Convention Will Benefit Businesses?
In maritime trade, documents such as bills of lading allow traders to transfer rights to goods or use them as security for financing before the goods reach their destination.
However, documents commonly used for road, rail and air transport generally do not have the same negotiable legal status. This can limit traders’ ability to transfer rights to goods or use shipments as collateral while they are in transit.
The Accra Convention seeks to address this gap by establishing a framework for negotiable cargo documents that can be used across different transport modes. A single document could cover an entire journey, even when goods are transferred between trucks, trains, ships or aircraft.
This could give businesses more flexibility in managing shipments and seeking financing before their goods arrive, subject to lenders’ requirements and applicable national laws.
The convention is also expected to simplify documentation, facilitate customs clearance and improve the efficiency of cross-border transactions.
By recognizing electronic negotiable cargo documents alongside paper versions, it provides a legal basis for using digital documents in trade-related transactions.
The changes could benefit importers, exporters, transport operators and financial institutions by making it easier to manage goods and related transactions throughout the transport process.
What Happens Next?
Signing the convention does not, on its own, make a country legally bound by the treaty. It will enter into force once 10 states have ratified or acceded to it.
Governments will also need to establish the necessary legal and administrative arrangements, while banks, transport operators and other businesses may need to adapt their systems to use the new documents.
The convention focuses on the issuance and use of negotiable cargo documents and complements existing international rules governing transport contracts and carriers’ liability.
