On June 25, 2021, The CISG@40 Celebration Conference, jointly organized by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law(“UNCITRAL”), the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China (“MOFCOM”), China Council for the Promotion of International Trade(“CCPIT”) and China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (“CIETAC”) was held in Beijing. The Vice Chairman of CCPIT Lu Pengqi, and Director General of MOFCOM’s Department of Treaty and Law Li Yongjie attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches. Secretary of UNCITRAL Anna JOUBIN-BRET delivered a keynote speech via video. Vice Chairman and Secretary General of CIETAC Wang Chengjie, presided over the opening ceremony.
During the conference, representatives from international organizations and the Belt and Road countries, well-known legal scholars and experts on dispute settlement at home and abroad focused on four topics, including “Experience and Challenges of Application of CISG in China” “CISG—Right Solution for B&R Trade Disputes” “E-CISG” and “Dispute Settlement Regarding Sales of Goods”, sharing the latest practical results of the Convention in the dispute settlement of the international sales of goods.
The Director of Beijing Normal University Internet Policy and Law Research Center and Senior arbitrator Xue Hong, along with the Founding Partner of Beijng Huanzhong & Partners and Senior arbitrator WANG Xuehua, Legal Officer in the Secretariat of the UNCITRAL Luca CASTELLANI, Former Chair of the UNCITRAL Working Group on Electronic Commerce and Vice President of the UK-based Forum on International Conciliation and Arbitration (FICA) Jeffrey Chan, Vice President and General Counsel of China Merchants Energy Shipping Co., Ltd. and Chairman of Advisory Body of Legal Affairs (ABLM) of International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA) and Senior arbitrator Yang yuntao, Legal and Policy Expert at Tencent and Researcher at Wuhan University Center of Economic Diplomacy Wang Youyou, presented at the Session 3 “E-CISG”.
The speakers at the conference focused on the application of the Convention in the digital economy era, and discussed the unified framework of e-commerce contract law provided by UNCITRAL, the role of intellectual property in digital trade, the constraints and development trends faced by electronic bills of lading, and the impact on the development of the Convention in the digital era. They pointed out that the Convention should conform to the trend of the times and promptly respond to the new needs of digital development, and then they put forward ideas for the improvement the Convention in the digital era.
The conference was held both online and offline, and the online platform was broadcast to a global audience of more than 46,000 people from nearly 40 countries and regions.
Virtual Knowledge Sharing (II) UNCITRAL Texts and International Trade in the Digital Era”, co-organized by UNCITRAL RCAP, the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) of Thailand, and Bolliger & Company (Thailand) Ltd., was held on 2 June 2021 from 1.30 – 4.45 pm Bangkok time (UTC+7) via Zoom.
The event was a virtual knowledge-sharing platform to provide an overall understanding of enabling legal frameworks for digital trade for Thai government agencies, other domestic stakeholders, and regional participants. More than 150 participants from 20 Asian countries (like Nepal, Philippines, Thailand, Bangladesh) joined the event and raised many questions.
The event invited 10 experts to reviewed the electronic transactions law, policies, and practices at international level, including UNCITRAL e-commerce texts such as the ECC and MLETR. The analysis of information from this activity would provide a solid basis for the developing countries to prepare for the on-going international negotiation on digital economy at various international arenas, such as WTO and UNCITRAL.
Prof. Xue gave a keynote speech on legal facilitation of cross-border e-commerce through the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). Prof. Xue explained the e-commerce chapters/provisions in the FTAs and dedicated Digital Economy Partnership Agreements (DEPAs) and summarized the four legal clusters to facilitate cross-border e-commerce. Particularly, not only trade of digital goods but the sales of goods in e-commerce involves transferring trade-related data across border. Although there are established legal frameworks on international trade law and paperless trade, lack of worldwide-recognized international laws on cross-border transition prevents the sustainable developments of international digital trade. Three different models have emerged from the respective FTAs (CPTPP, EU Partnership Agreements and RCEP). The minimalist approach that allows the MSes to exercise the indisputable rights on data flow and localization requirement regarding the essential security interests is entirely different from the enabling model that clearly prohibits such requirements. Although both models try to prevent unnecessary burden on e-commerce, the newly established indisputable right obviously goes beyond the traditional scope of legitimate policy objectives. Prof. Xue concludes that the WTO Joint Statement Initiative on digital economy and e-commerce is facing to the frictions of different models and challenges of inclusion of developing countries and LDCs.
Virtual Knowledge Sharing (II) UNCITRAL Texts
and International Trade in the Digital Era
Wednesday, 2 June 2021
8.30 am – 12.30 pm Vienna time/1.30 – 5.30 pm Bangkok time/
3.30 – 7.30 pm Seoul time
