7. 多式联运协会会议的与会者确实对于公约草案中对多式联运有直接影响的若干条款表示担忧。根据管辖多式联运的现行法律和条例，多式联运经营人对整个运输全程承担责任。但是，多式联运协会会议认为，根据公约草案则可能不会如此。涉及承运人责任期限的公约草案条文1允许承运人在合同中决定交接货物的时间和地点。此外，草案还设想了承运人仅作为代理人行事时2可能对运输的某些部分不承担责任的情况，或可能由托运人履行装载或卸载等某些职能的情形。3因此，多式联运协会会议认为，根据公约草案，可能没有人对运输全程统一负责。虽然这些规定试图适应海运惯例，但多式联运协会会议的与会者认为，这些规定给多式联运造成了不确定性和混乱。
7. Indeed, concerns were expressed by the participants at the IMMTA Conference regarding a number of provisions of the Draft Convention having a direct impact in relation to multimodal transport. Under existing laws and regulations governing multimodal transport, a multimodal transport operator (MTO) is responsible throughout the entire transportation. It was the view at the IMMTA Conference that this may not, however, be the case under the Draft Convention. Provisions of the Draft Convention dealing with the carrier’s period of responsibility,1 allow the possibility for the carrier to determine contractually the time and location of receipt and delivery of the goods. Furthermore, the Draft envisages situations in which a carrier may not be responsible for parts of the transport, acting as agent only,2 or that some functions such as loading or discharging may be carried out by the shipper.3 Thus, under the Draft Convention, it was the view at the IMMTA Conference that there may not be one person responsible during the whole transportation period. While these provisions attempt to accommodate maritime practices, the participants at the IMMTA Conference believe that they create uncertainty and confusion in the context of multimodal transport.