United Nations Commission on International Trade Law

Established by the UNGA in 1966, UNCITRAL's official mandate is "to promote the progressive harmonization and unification of international trade law" through conventions, model laws, and other instruments that address key areas of commerce, from dispute resolution to the procurement and sale of goods.

UNCITRAL's original membership comprised 29 states, and was expanded to 36 in 1973, and again to 60 in 2004. Member states of UNCITRAL are representing different legal traditions and levels of economic development, as well as different geographic regions. States includes 12 African states, 15 Asian states, 18 European states, 6 Latin American and Caribbean states, and 1 oceanian state. The Commission member States are elected by the General Assembly. Membership is structured so as to be representative of the world's various geographic regions and its principal economic and legal systems. Members of the commission are elected for terms of six years, the terms of half the members expiring every three years. As at 3 July 2017, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law will be composed of the following member States:

Africa

• Algeria (2016)
• Burundi (2022)
• Côte d'Ivoire (2019)
• Kenya (2022)
• Lesotho (2022)
• Liberia (2019)
• Mauritania (2019)
• Mauritius (2022)
• Namibia (2019)
• Nigeria (2022)
• Sierra Leone(2022)
• Somalia (2017)
• Uganda (2022)
• Tanzania (2062)
• Zambia (2019)

Asia

• India (2022)
• China (2019)
• Indonesia (2019)
• Iran (2022)
• Israel (2022)
• Kuwait (2019)
• Lebanon (2022)
• Japan (2019)
• Malaysia (2019)
• Pakistan (2022)
• Philippines (2022)
• Singapore (2019)
• South Korea (2019)
• Sri Lanka (2022)
• Thailand (2022)

Europe

• Armenia (2019)
• Austria (2022)
• Belarus (2022)
• Bulgaria (2019)
• Czech Republic (2022)
• Denmark (2019)
• France (2013)
• Germany (2013)
• Greece (2013)
• Hungary(2019)
• Italy (2016)
• Lithuania (2019)
• Poland (2012)
• Romania (2016)
• Russia (2013)
• Spain (2016)
• Switzerland(2019)
• United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (2019)
• Turkey (2022)

North America

• Canada (2019)
• Dominican Republic (2025)
• Honduras (2019)
• Mexico (2019)
• United States of America (2022)
• Oceania

• Australia (2022)

South America

• Argentina (2016)
• Brazil (2022)
• Chile (2022)
• Colombia (2022)
• Ecuador(2022)
• Peru(2025)
• Venezuela (2022)

The methods of work are organized at three levels. The first level is UNCITRAL itself (The Commission), which holds an annual plenary session. The second level is the intergovernmental working groups which is developing the topics on UNCITRAL's work program. Texts designed to simplify trade transactions and reduce associated costs are developed by working groups comprising all member States of UNCITRAL, which meet once or twice per year. Non-member States and interested international and regional organizations are also invited and can actively contribute to the work since decisions are taken by consensus, not by vote. Draft texts completed by these working groups are submitted to UNCITRAL for finalization and adoption at its annual session. The International Trade Law Division of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs provides substantive secretariat services to UNCITRAL, such as conducting research and preparing studies and drafts. This is the third level, which assists the other two in the preparation and conduct of their work.

UNCITRAL is

• Coordinating the work of active organizations and encouraging cooperation among them.
• Promoting wider participation in existing international conventions and wider acceptance of existing model and uniform laws.
• Preparing or promoting the adoption of new international conventions, model laws and uniform laws and promoting the codification and wider acceptance of international trade terms, provisions, customs and practice, in collaboration, where appropriate, with the organizations operating in this field.
• Promoting ways and means of ensuring a uniform interpretation and application of international conventions and uniform laws in the field of the law of international trade.
• Collecting and disseminating information on national legislation and modern legal developments, including case law, in the field of the law of international trade.
• Establishing and maintaining a close collaboration with the UN Conference on Trade and development.
• Maintaining liaison with other UN organs and specialized agencies concerned with international trade.

Conventions

A convention is an agreement among participating states establishing obligations binding upon those States that ratify or accede to it. A convention is designed to unify law by establishing binding legal obligations. To become a party to a convention, States are required formally to deposit a binding instrument of ratification or accession with the depository. The entry into force of a convention is usually dependent upon the deposit of a minimum number of instruments of ratification.

UNCITRAL conventions are as follows:

• the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the New York Convention) (1958)
• the Convention on the Limitation Period in the International Sale of Goods (1974)
• the United Nations Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea (1978)
• the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (1980)
• the United Nations Convention on International Bills of Exchange and International Promissory Notes (1988)
• the United Nations Convention on the Liability of Operators of Transport Terminals in International Trade (1991)
• the United Nations Convention on Independent Guarantees and Stand-by Letters of Credit (1995)
• the United Nations Convention on the Assignment of Receivables in International Trade (2001)
• the United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts (2005)
• the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea (2008)
• the United Nations Convention on Transparency in Treaty-based Investor-State Arbitration (2015)
• the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (the Singapore Convention on Mediation) (2018)

Model laws

Model laws are legislative text that is recommended to States for enactment as part of their national laws. Model laws are generally finalized and adapted by UNCITRAL, at its annual session, while conventions requires the convening of a diplomatic conference.

UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration (1985)

UNCITRAL Model Law on International Credit Transfers (1992)

UNCITRAL Model Law on Procurement of Goods, Construction and Services (1994)

UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce (1996)

UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency (1997)

UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Signatures (2001)

UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Conciliation (2002) (text)

Model Legislative Provisions on Privately Financed Infrastructure Projects (2003)

UNCITRAL Model Law on Secured Transactions (2016)

UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (2017)

UNCITRAL Model Law on the Recognition and Enforcement of Insolvency-Related Judgments (2018)

UNCITRAL Model Legislative Provisions on Public-Private Partnerships (2020)

UNCITRAL also drafted the:

UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules (1976) —revised rules are effective August 15, 2010; pre-released, July 12, 2010

UNCITRAL Conciliation Rules (1980)

UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules (1982)

UNCITRAL Notes on Organizing Arbitral Proceedings (1996)