The Future of the CISG in Asia Pacific

UNCITRAL-Singapore Seminar23-24 April 2015

Dr Fan YangSchool of Law, City University of Hong Kong

OutlineCurrent statusFuture directionConcluding remarks

Asia Pacific and the CISG

ASEAN + 3: Association of Southeast Asian Nations Plus Three (China, Japan, and South Korea)

SAARC: South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation PIF: Pacific Islands Forum

Asia Pacific and the CISG(*) Singapore and China have made Article 95

declarations.(**) The status of Hong Kong SAR, Macao

SAR and Taiwan under the CISG is controversial. It is arguable though, pursuant to Article 93(4) of the CISG, in the absence of a declaration under Article 93(1), that the Convention is to extend to ALL territorial units of China.

APEC and the CISG

Trade Statistics

Current status: low uptake of the CISG in Asia PacificWhy has the CISG not been adopted in the

majority of jurisdictions in Asia Pacific?Lack of will? Lack of resources?Lack of understanding of the CISG?Cultural incompatibility?

Future direction: from the CISG to a Global Commercial Contract LawIn the absence of a wider adoption of the

CISG in Asia Pacific, how likely is the idea that a global commercial contract law would be embraced in the region?

To what extent is the low uptake of the CISG in Asia Pacific a barrier to the success of a future global commercial contract law?

Does the lack of experience of harmonization of non-CISG Asia Pacific jurisdictions limit the role that they can play in discussions on a global commercial contract law?

Possible Future Work on Global Contract LawUNCITRAL is best placed to tackle this.Convention vs. Model LawInternational Commercial Contracts onlyStarting point: the CISGAreas to be covered: validity issuesUNIDROIT Principles (UPICC)

Concluding remarksContinued need to promote and further

substantiate understanding of the CISG in Asia Pacific

More Asia Pacific jurisdictions need to embrace the idea of harmonization and adopt the CISG.

For existing CISG jurisdictions in Asia Pacific:Singapore and China should withdraw their Article

95 declarations.China should clarify the status of Hong Kong,

Macau and Taiwan under the CISG.China should apply the CISG as the default uniform

sales law that governs sale of goods contracts between all its territorial units.

Questions? Thank you!