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CISG-online number
7071
Case name
Noventis v. Pharmacie Anglaise des Champs-Élysées
Jurisdiction
France
Court
Cour d'appel de Paris (Court of Appeal Paris)
Chamber
Pôle 5 – Chambre 16 (Chambre commerciale internationale de Paris – CCIP) (Division 5 – Chamber 16 (International commercial chamber))
Judges
Daniel Barlow (Presiding Judge), Fabienne Schaller (Judge), Laure Aldebert (Judge), Najma El Farissi (Griffier)
Date of decision
16 May 2023
Case nr./docket nr.
22/14190
Claimant 1
Name
World Esthetic Bulk Inc., doing business as Noventis
Place of business
USA
Role in transaction
Seller
Respondent 1
Name
Pharmacie Anglaise des Champs-Élysées SELAS
Place of business
France
Role in transaction
Buyer
Case History
Noventis v. Pharmacie Anglaise des Champs-Élysées
Tribunal de Commerce de Paris (Commercial Court Paris)
France, 10 January 2022 – 2020054271, CISG-online 6966
Present decision reversing
Seller 1
Name
World Esthetic Bulk Inc., doing business as Noventis
Place of business
USA
Role in trade
Dealer / Trader
Buyer 1
Name
Pharmacie Anglaise des Champs-Élysées SELAS
Place of business
France
Role in trade
Dealer / Trader
Category of goods
54: Medicinal and pharmaceutical products
Goods as per contract
Pharmaceutical products
Price
19'509.99 EUR (Euro)
CISG applicable
no, Art. 6 (implicit exclusion by parties’ pleadings during court proceedings)
(Domestic) law applied in addition
French law
Key CISG provisions interpreted and applied
Art. 6
Editorial remark
by Ulrich G. Schroeter

In the present dispute regarding claims for payment of the contract price brought by a U.S. seller against a French buyer, the Court of Appeal Paris found that the parties had implicitly excluded the Sales Convention's application (Art. 6 CISG) by both basing their arguments before the Court on French domestic law. The relevant passage (para. 21 of the decision) reads in translation:

«The Court notes from these findings that the parties, aware of the international nature of the sale, voluntarily placed the resolution of their dispute under the regime of French domestic law by invoking and discussing the provisions of the Civil Code to the exclusion of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods concluded at [Vienna] on 11 April 1980, so that, in accordance with the express wishes of the parties, domestic national law will be applied.»

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Full text of decision