BEAM RADIO, INC., APPELLANT,
v.
CIELOS DE PERU, S.A., A FOREIGN CORPORATION, AND MIAMI INTERNATIONAL FORWARDERS, A FLORIDA CORPORATION
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
Beam Radio hired a freight forwarder to ship communications equipment to Peru, but Peruvian customs seized the goods due to improper manifest documentation. The trial court limited Beam's recovery to the air waybill's liability cap for "lost" goods, and this appeal challenges whether seizure by customs constitutes "loss" under the contract.
The seizure of goods by Peruvian customs officials constitutes "loss" within the meaning of the air waybill. When customs agents seized the goods, the goods became lost to the parties, and the trial court properly applied the air waybill's limitation of liability provision to cap recovery at $11,830.00.
[1] Seizure of goods by government customs officials renders the goods "lost" for purposes of an air way bill's limitation of liability provision.
[2] A court may apply the limitation of liability provisions of an air way bill even if the parties are not bound by the Warsaw Convention.
Previewing 2 of 3 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“When the Customs agents seized the goods, the goods were lost to the parties. The trial court correctly applied the air way bill's limitation of liability provision.”
The court's holding that seizure by customs constitutes loss under the air waybill terms
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceBeam Radio manufactured communications parts and hired Miami International Forwarders (MIF) to ship equipment to a customer in Peru. MIF arranged air …
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
FLETCHER, Judge.
Beam Radio, Inc. [Beam] seeks to reverse a final summary judgment. We affirm.
Beam manufactures communications parts; Miami International Forwarders [MIF] is a freight forwarding company; and Cielos de Peru, S.A. [Cielos] is a Peruvian cargo airline. Beam hired MIF to ship communications equipment to one of Beam’s customers in Peru. MIF picked up the goods, arranged with Cielos to transport the goods by air to Lima and issued its house air way bill. Cielos shipped the goods via a related airline, Export Air de Peru. When Beam’s goods arrived in Lima, Peruvian customs immediately seized them because Cielos violated Peruvian law by failing to disclose and declare the goods on the flight manifest. Beam sued MIF and Cielos for the value of the seized goods, ($44,000 ±). MIF and Cielos moved for a summary judgment limiting their liability pursuant to the Convention at Warsaw October 29, 1934 [Convention]. The trial court held that the United States and Peru were not mutual high contracting parties to the Convention and thus the Convention was not binding between these parties. However, the trial court found that the parties were bound by the recovery limitations of the air way bill for “lost” goods. The trial court held that as a matter of law the seizure of goods by a government agency rendered them “lost.” The judgment limited Beam’s recovery to $11,830.00 pursuant to the limitations of liability provision of the air, way bill.
Beam contends that the trial court erred when it interpreted the (undefined) air way bill term “lost” to include the seizure of goods by customs officials. Beam argues that in order for something to be “lost” its whereabouts must be unknown, and as the goods are known to be in the possession of Peruvian customs, they are not lost. Beam takes too narrow a view of “lost.”1 When the Customs agents seized the goods, the goods were lost to the parties. The trial court correctly applied the air way bill’s limitation of liability provision.2
Affirmed.
. As “lost" is not defined in the air bill, the dictionary definition applies. Specialty Restaurants Corp. v. City of Miami, 501 So. 2d 101 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987); See The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1979)(Lose: to be deprived of; to be unable to maintain or keep [e.g., If you “lose” your keys, the keys are “lost” to you and you have suffered a "loss”]; Lost: no longer possessed [e.g., I lost my shirt on the stock market, that is, I suffered a. loss of my money]).
. We need not address the issue of whether the Warsaw Convention applies, as the limitation of liability in the air way bill is the same as that provided in the Convention.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Specialty Rests. Corp. v. City OF Miami, 501 So. 2d 101 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987)