ABSTRACT
This chapter considers United States policy options in relation to the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Code and to formulate an approach which will best serve the United States national interest. Fundamental changes have occurred and continue to occur in world liner shipping. In terms of technological change the intermodal revolution is fully upon us, altering the manner in which goods are transported, the types of ships which are employed, the character, equipment, and requirements of ports, and the service characteristics available to shippers—those people whose cargoes are being moved. The UNCTAD Liner Code, adopted in 1974 and to come into force in October 1983, is the culmination of a number of ongoing developments in world shipping. The Code is important for what it would concretely require but is even more important for its broader implications for the future of world shipping.
