The concept of a general average is the oldest institution of maritime law. Its usefulness in modern shipping relations has long been criticized. Nevertheless, the general average, despite the fact that it is not the subject of any international agreement, occupies a prominent place in the internal legal systems of maritime states, and the international community continues to show great interest in it, regularly changing the principles of accounting established in the second half of the 19th century in York and Antwerp. During the work on the draft of the new Polish Maritime Code, the Maritime Law Codification Commission made some changes in the regulations concerning the general average, adapting the provisions of Polish law to new solutions proposed by participants of international maritime trade and non-governmental organizations, including Comité Maritime International.