Book excerpt: International Cargo Insurance examines the law and practice of marine cargo insurance on a worldwide basis, and provides the busy practitioner the information needed to quickly and accurately resolve cargo insurance coverage issues, wherever they may arise. The book concentrates on the law in the United States and England. It then examines other countries with a common law tradition including Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Australia. The civil law systems are highlighted in a number of key trading nations: Italy, Germany, France and Norway. The book includes chapters on South Africa as well as the People’s Republic of China. It concludes with a comparative law chapter concentrating on issues that arise in practice in cargo coverage cases. This chapter also examines how the Institute Cargo Clauses have been construed by Courts worldwide. The appendices include the standard cargo policy insurance terms used in each jurisdiction, some translated for the first time for this volume, as well as translations of the relevant statutes and commercial codes, many not available elsewhere.