Alterations to the Rules of the Association As described in our circular No.24-015 dated 6 December 2024, the following alterations to the Rules of the Association (the "Rules") will become effective from 12 noon GMT on 20 February 2025 for the 2025 policy year. There will also be an alteration to the Special Cover and Special Clause, as well as the establishment of a new Special Clause. The amendments are explained below, and extracts of the relevant provisions are attached hereto.     1. Alterations to the Rules   Rule 12 (RAID-UP RETURNS) 1 The definition of a period of absence from service has been clarified to state that, in principle, periods during which a vessel is undergoing inspections, repairs, alteration works, detention, etc., are not included in the period of absence from service, except in cases approved by the union. This is due to the handling of reinsurance premiums, for which the International P&I Group (IG) will align its response, and the wording of the provision will be changed accordingly.   Rule 29 (CARGO LIABILITIES) 2 (5) Liability or costs arising from the use of electronic commerce systems, so-called electronic B/Ls, are covered on the condition that the system has been approved by the Association. Until now, each system had to be examined individually and the decision to approve or disapprove the system in question had to be made separately. However, since electronic B/L has been legally approved in the UK and other countries and the number of systems in use has increased, certain requirements have been set and those that meet these requirements will be deemed to have been approved by the Association. In order to make this a common response in the IG, the wording of the provisions was reorganised accordingly, following the revision of the Pooling Agreement from the 2025 policy year.     2. Alteration to the Special Cover   SPECIAL COVER FOR FREIGHT, DEMURRAGE AND DEFENCE (FD&D) 10 As the FD&