"Specialist freight law specialists Psydens have sent in this message:-

The UK Government remains neutral on the Rotterdam Rules, as there is currently no consensus of opinion on them by UK stakeholders. A decision on whether or not to sign and ratify the Rules will be the subject of a full consultation exercise scheduled to be published early next year.

This means that the UK will not be signing the Convention at the signing ceremony due to be held in Rotterdam on 23 September 2009. We also understand that Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Finland and Germany, among others, are not signing. Some countries, we understand, are tending towards not signing such as Japan and Ireland and many such as Singapore, Greece, and Korea are undecided. It certainly appears to be that the initial groundswell in favour of this Convention has stalled perhaps as countries begin to look closely at what it has to offer and whether it is at all beneficial..."