CISG by jurisdiction

Status under the CISG:

Non-Contracting State

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has not acceded to the CISG.

Further information:

A. Discussions about the United Kingdom's possible accession to the CISG in Parliament

On at least five occasions, a possible accession of the UK to the 1980 Sales Convention was raised in the House of Lords or in written questions by Members of Parliament:

1. House of Lords, Debates on 3 May 1995, Hansard volume 563 columns 1457–1459:

[...]

8.45 p.m.

Lord Steyn

My Lords, I ask for your indulgence for a few diffident remarks on the wider commercial context in which the proposed amendment to the Sale of Goods Act ought to be seen. The amendment proposed by my noble and learned friend Lord Mustill, if passed, will rationalise our trade law in one important area for the benefit of the trading community. I support the amendment. But I should like to go further. It is important that our trade law should in all respects be flexible, attuned to the needs of commerce and responsive to major developments in the international market place.

Our trade law ought to be structured so that our traders are at the very least at no disadvantage and, one hopes, in the best possible position to compete in international markets for sale of goods and services. I am conscious that for a Law Lord to invoke the real world may seem a little incongruous. Indeed, I am reminded of the Law Lord, sitting at a High Table in Oxford, who complained that the press said that he lived in an ivory tower. His response was: "That's nonsense; I go foxhunting every Sunday with ordinary people". Nevertheless, I will attempt to illustrate the broader theme by reference to two other important trade law projects, one very much on the rails and the other, apparently, in a long slumber.

The first project is the new Arbitration Bill. [...]

The second project is the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods 1980, commonly called the Vienna Sales Convention. It was a project of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). The convention has nothing to do with international politics: it has everything to do with the promotion of trade. The United Kingdom played a full and constructive role in the drafting sessions and final formulation of the convention. In 1980 the convention was adopted by 60 nations. In 1988 it came into force. Forty-four nations have so far ratified the convention. Those nations include almost all members of the European Community, many Commonwealth countries, including Australia and New Zealand, and the United States. An estimate from UNCITRAL suggests that already one-half of world trade is conducted on the terms of the Vienna Sales Convention. That role of the convention is bound to grow and grow.

What has the response of the United Kingdom been? In 1989 the Department of Trade and Industry issued a consultative document on the Vienna Sales Convention. In response, the Law Commission recommended that the United Kingdom should ratify the convention. To date there has been no official announcement.

Your Lordships may think that the right question to ask is: Is it in the best interests of the United Kingdom as a trading nation to ratify the Vienna Sales Convention? If Britannia still ruled the waves, and if our traders could regularly impose English law as the applicable law in international transactions, there would be no pressing need to ratify the convention. But the international marketplace for the sale of goods has changed. For every such transaction in respect of which an English trader is able to insist on English law as the applicable law, there will he one or more where the English trader has to concede the applicability of a foreign legal system. That is particularly the case with the great many foreign state trading corporations.

In many parts of the world national sales regimes are little more than embryonic or skeletal. Exposure to such systems is a substantial business hazard. The Vienna Sales Convention is usually an attractive alternative for both parties. It has the badge of neutrality. Even foreign state trading corporations readily contract subject to such terms. And, if we ratify, those traders who wish to insist on the applicability of English law will be entitled, of course, to contract out.

At present our traders are at a disadvantage in international transactions relating to the sale of goods. Our trade law has fallen behind. It is not sufficiently attuned to the needs of commerce. We have not responded swiftly enough to developments in the international marketplace. It seems to me that the case is made out for an official announcement that the United Kingdom will ratify the convention. In such matters an open mind is a good thing, but it must be capable of eventually shutting.

I have trespassed on your Lordships' time. I leave this subject by reminding your Lordships of what happened to another inept speaker. It was 70 years ago. The scene was a Law Society dinner in Liverpool. The principle guest was the great F. E. Smith. The president of the Law Society spoke. His speech was long; it was also boring. When the speaker sat down he said to F. E. Smith, "How would you have done it?" F. E. Smith replied, "Under an assumed name".

8.54 p.m.

[…]

2. House of Commons, Debates on 7 September 2004, Hansard volume 424 column 1084W:

Written question by Professor Ross Cranston: 

„To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she expects to be in the position to introduce legislation implementing the UN Sales Convention; and if she will make a statement.“

Ms Patricia Hewitt, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry:

„Any legislative needed to implement the 1980 UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods will be introduced when Parliamentary time permits. We are it a comparatively early stage on the road towards possible legislation but we are proposing to issue a consultation document, in the course of the next few months, to examine the available options.“

3. House of Lords, Debates on 7 February 2005, Hansard volume 669 column 86WA:

Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:

„Why they have not ratified the United Nations Convention on contracts for the international sale of goods (the Vienna Sales Convention) which came into force on 1 January 1988.“

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry, Lord Sainsbury of Turville:

„Primary legislation will be needed to implement the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. The United Kingdom intends to ratify the convention, subject to the availability of parliamentary time. There have been delays in the past for a number of reasons, but we propose to issue a consultation document in the course of the next few months to examine the available options.“

4. Question for Department for International Trade UIN 114241, tabled on 11 November 2020:

Written question by Mhairi Black MP (Scottish National Party):

„To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether she plans to ratify the Convention on the International Sale of Goods 1980.“

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of International Trade Mr. Ranil Jayawardena MP answered on 20 November 2020:

„HM Government has no current plans to ratify the Convention.“

5. Question for Department for International Trade UIN 141505, tabled on 21 January 2021:

Written question by Mhairi Black MP (Scottish National Party):

„To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what her Department's policy is on ratifying the Convention on the International Sale of Goods 1980.“

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of International Trade Mr. Ranil Jayawardena MP answered on 26 January 2021:

„I refer the Hon. Lady for Paisley and Renfrewshire South to the answer I gave her on 20th November 2020 (UIN: 114241).“

B. Past consultations conducted by United Kingdom government departments about the UK's possible accession to the CISG

Department of Trade and Industry, United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods: a consultative document (June 1989), 81 pp.

Department of Trade and Industry, United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (The Vienna Sales Convention): A Consultation Document (1997)

Department of Trade and Industry, United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (Vienna Sales Convention): Position Paper (1999)

In addition, even the Financial Markets Law Committee convened under the auspices of the Bank of England investigated possible consequences of an accession by the UK to the CISG for financial markets law:

Financial Markets Law Committee, Issue 130 – Implementation of the Vienna Sales Convention: Legal assessment of various financial markets aspects of the question whether the UK should implement the Vienna Sales Convention (July 2008), 27 pp.

C. Suggested use of the CISG’s contract formation rules as model for the reform of the Scottish law of contract formation

In 1992 and 1993, the Scottish Law Commission published a report on the reform of the general domestic Scottish law of contract formation. The report discussed the use of the CISG as a model in this context:

Scottish Law Commission, Report on Formation of Contract: Scottish Law and the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (14 June 1993), 43 pp.

In conclusion, the Scottish Law Commission proposed that provisions based on Arts. 4, 6, 8, 9, 10 and 13 to 24 CISG, with minor modifications specified in the report, should be adopted as part of the general law of Scotland relating to the formation of contracts.

D. The United Kingdom's approach towards the CISG in scholarly writings

The United Kingdom’s current status as a CISG Non-Contracting State, the underlying reasons and the desirability of its accession to the Convention have also been extensively discussed in scholarly writings.

Some of these articles have been collected in our Bibliography on the United Kingdom.

Participation of the United Kingdom in the 1980 Diplomatic Conference in Vienna

The United Kingdom was one of the 62 States that participated in the Diplomatic Conference held from 10 March until 11 April 1980 that adopted the Sales Convention's text. The United Kingdom’s delegation in Vienna was comprised as follows:

Representative:

Professor J .K. Barry NICHOLAS, Principal, Brasenose College, Oxford University

Alternative Representatives:

Mr. John D. FELTHAM, Magdalen College, Oxford University

Miss E. Nuala O'FLYNN, Senior Legal Assistant, Solicitor’s Department, Department of Trade

Miss Jennifer SNAITH, Legal Assistant, Solicitor’s Department, Department of Trade

Mr. Donald A. LAMONT, First Secretary at the British Embassy, Vienna