Art. 39 CISG

(1) The buyer loses the right to rely on a lack of conformity of the goods if he does not give notice to the seller specifying the nature of the lack of conformity within a reasonable time after he has discovered it or ought to have discovered it.

(2) In any event, the buyer loses the right to rely on a lack of conformity of the goods if he does not give the seller notice thereof at the latest within a period of two years from the date on which the goods were actually handed over to the buyer, unless this time-limit is inconsistent with a contractual period of guarantee.

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Secretariat Commentary

The Secretariat Commentary on Art. 37 of the 1978 New York Draft, predecessor to Art. 39 CISG, gives insight into the drafters' unterstanding on the eve of the 1980 Vienna Diplomatic Conference.

Commentary on the Draft Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, prepared by the Secretariat (UN Doc. A/CONF.97/5), in: United Nations Conference on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, Vienna, 10 March – 11 April 1980, Official Records: Documents of the Conference and Summary Records of the Plenary Meetings and of the Meetings of the Main Committees, New York: United Nations (1991), pp. 14 et seq., at pp. 34—35

CISG-AC Opinion regarding Art. 39 CISG

CISG-AC Opinion No. 2 ‘Examination of the Goods and Notice of Non-Conformity – Articles 38 and 39’ (Rapporteur: Eric E. Bergsten), adopted by the CISG Advisory Council on 7 June 2004

Overview of case law on Art. 39 CISG: UNCITRAL Digest

The UNCITRAL Digest on the CISG can be used as a starting point to discover the relevant case law on this article.

2016 UNCITRAL Digest of case law on Art. 39 CISG