International Law of the Sale of Goods

The process that led to the creation of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) and the convention itself have set a solid benchmark for commercial law unification since the 1980s. The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) formulated the CISG in an environment bedevilled by political, as well as regional, divisions, which are typical of many of the United Nations (UN) bodies. By and large, the CISG sets down a uniform, or standardised, global goods sale law. As at present, 88 nation-states have since ratified the CISG, joining its global regime. Arguably, the CISG has succeeded markedly in moving the world towards the realisation of the largely elusive objective of standardised legal outcomes on a strictly international scale. Owing to the existence of the CISG, exporters are capable of steering clear of choice of law worries. That is because the CISG presents conventional substantive rules that can be dependent upon by not only arbitrators but also the courts and contracting parties. Clearly, the CISG, is a striking success.