International Business Lawyers » International Trade law

Which are the signatories of the UN Convention on International Bills of Exchange and International Promissory Notes (New York, 1988)

Braxton7 — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 22:56:07 +0000

As of today, the following countries subscribe to the Convention:

5 Parties have signed and ratified the Convention:

Gabon
Guinea
Honduras
Liberia
Mexico

3 Parties have only signed (not ratified) the Convention:

Canada
Russian Federation
United States of America

Which are the countries who subscribe to the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG)?

Braxton7 — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 22:44:40 +0000

As today, these are the cuontries who subscribe to the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (72 States have adopted the CISG):
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Belarus
Belgium
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Burundi
Canada
Chile
China
Colombia
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Estonia
Finland
France
Gabon
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Guinea
Honduras
Hungary
Iceland
Iraq
Israel
Italy
Kyrgyzstan
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macadonia
Mauritania
Mexico
Moldova
Mongolia
Montenegro
Netherlands
New Zealand
Macedonia
Norway
Paraguay
Peru
Poland
Rep. of Korea
Romania
Russian Federation
Saint Vincent & Grenadines
Serbia
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Syria
Uganda
Ukraine
United States of America
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Zambia

For official summaries by of the CISG by the UN Treaty Section visit or

Is differente a transferable letter of credit from a back-to-back letter of credit?

Braxton7 — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 23:23:03 +0000

A transferable letter of credit specifically permits a beneficiary (transferor) to transfer all or some of the rights and protection afforded to it under the letter of credit to a third party (transferee), who then becomes a second beneficiary on the letter of credit. Transferable letters of credit are typically used in transactions where the first letter of credit beneficiary is a middleman and the second letter of credit beneficiary is the middleman’s supplier.

A back-to-back letter of credit is a letter of credit (second letter of credit) issued on the basis of an already existing letter of credit (first letter of credit). Generally, the beneficiary on the first letter of credit is the applicant for the second letter of credit. The purpose of structuring the credits in this manner is to secure the payment to be made under the second letter of credit with the payment made under the first letter of credit. However, this structure has not always worked as intended and as a result, banks have experienced many problems with back-to-back letters of credit. Today, back-to-back letters of credit are not offered by many banks and, consequently, are only very rarely used. When available through banks, however, back-to-back letters of credit are used in transactions where the beneficiary on the first letter of credit is a middleman and the beneficiary on the second letter of credit is the middleman’s supplier.

What means the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR)?

Braxton7 — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:02:44 +0000

The Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) was created in 1987 by the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, Italy and Japan to restrict the proliferation of missiles and related technology. The MTCR is not a treaty; it is a set of export guidelines that each member implements in accordance with its own national legislation. The set of guidelines aims at controlling exports of missiles capable of delivering weapons of mass destruction as well as technology relating to these missiles.

There are currently 33 member countries of the MTCR. They are:

Argentina
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Canada
Czech Republic
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Luxembourg
The Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Russia
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
United Kingdom
United States

What S.W.I.F.T. means?

Braxton7 — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 23:25:38 +0000

SWIFT is an acronym for the Society for Worldwide International Financial Telecommunication organized under Belgian law as a nonprofit cooperative company. It is an international communications system for messages among its member institutions in most of the countries in the Americas, Europe, Japan, and certain countries in Asia. Its member institutions are banking organizations engaged in transmitting international financial messages (and certain non-banking institutions).

Which is the definition of NOM?

Braxton7 — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 22:14:55 +0000

A NOM is an acronym for “Norma Official Mexicana” – a mandatory Mexican standard that applies to a particular product or range of products. A product that is subject to a NOM cannot be imported into Mexico unless it is certified as being in compliance with the relevant NOM.

What “TRIPS” does mean?

Braxton7 — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 22:04:49 +0000

The acronym “TRIPS” refers to “trade–related intellectual property issues”. The TRIPS Agreement is part of the GATT-WTO system. It breaks new ground because it does not deal strictly with trade in goods. It fills the IPR gap within GATT by establishing minimum levels of protection for copyrights, trademarks, geographical indications, industrial designs, patents, plant varieties, computer chip layout designs, and trade secrets. It couples these IPR protections with the requirement that WTO Members adopt effective enforcement mechanisms.

What is a certificate of origin?

Braxton7 — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 22:06:33 +0000

A certificate of origin is a specific document identifying the goods. The authority or body empowered to issue it certifies expressly that the goods to which the certificate relates originate in a specific country. This certificate may also include a declaration by the manufacturer, producer, supplier, exporter or other competent person.

An erroneous application of the country of origin rules under a specific trade agreement can have disastrous consequences for the parties involved in the transaction. For example, merchandise marked with the incorrect country of origin may be subject to seizure of an assessment of supplemental marking duties. The Customs authorities in several countries may also impose substantial monetary or criminal penalties against the importer if Customs suspects that the importer purposefully obscured, removed, or altered the country of origin mark.

What happens if an import shipment arrives in the U.S. and the quota for the product in the shipment has already been filled?

Braxton7 — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 22:17:46 +0000

A quota is a limitation on the quantity of goods that may be imported into a country from all countries or from specific countries during a prescribed time period.

There different types of quotas: quantitative quotas and tariff-rate quotas. A quantitative quota (also referred to as an absolute quota) is any pre-set quantity of given goods authorized for importation, during a specified period, beyond which no additional quantity of these goods can be imported.

A tariff-rate quota is any pre-set value or quantity of given goods authorized for importation, during a specified period with a reduction of the Customs duties. Once a tariff-rate quota is met, additional quantity of the goods subject to the tariff rate quota can still be imported, but higher Customs duties must be paid.

So, therefore, the product generaly cannot be admitted into the country and the importer has the option of exporting the product, destroying the product or entering the product into a foreign trade zone or a bonded warehouse until the beginning of the next quota period.

What is the difference of a standy letter of credit from a documentary letter of credit?

Braxton7 — Mon, 08 Aug 2005 23:19:48 +0000

A standby letter of credit is a letter of credit that is issued in favor of the standby letter of credit beneficiary for the purpose of “backing-up” certain specified obligations of the standby letter of credit applicant. A standby letter of credit requires the beneficiary’s presentation of documents which indicate that the letter of credit applicant has not met the obligations which the standby letter of credit backs-up. A standby letter of credit, therefore, is not intended to be drawn upon by the standby letter of credit beneficiary unless the standby letter of credit applicant does not meet its obligations as specified by the standby letter of credit.

A documentary letter of credit (also known as a commercial letter of credit or a merchandise letter of credit) is a letter of credit that is issued for the purpose of making payment to a specified beneficiary if the beneficiary performs as required. Documentary letters of credit are called documentary letters of credit because the banks involved in the letter of credit transaction deal in documents as opposed to goods. The terms and conditions specified in a documentary letter of credit generally involve the presentation of specific documents within a stated period of time.

The principal difference between a standby letter of credit and a documentary letter of credit is the fact that a documentary is an active payment instrument under which payment is intended if the terms and conditions prescribed by the letter of credit are met, whereas a standby letter of credit is a passive payment instrument under which payment is not intended and will occur only if the standby letter of credit applicant fails to meet its obligations as specified by the standby letter of credit.