Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG)

Also sometimes referred to as the Vienna Sales Convention, the Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) regulates the rights of buyers and sellers in international sales. The Convention, which first entered into effect in 1988, is the first sales law treaty to win acceptance on a worldwide scale. The current list of some 77 Contracting States includes 11 of the G-12 Group, as well as China and Russia. These CISG States account for more than two-thirds of all world trade. The importance of the CISG in the international arena is underlined by thousands of reported decisions where the CISG has been held to apply, thus evidencing the conduct of countless international traders who – by default or by express choice – regularly subject their sales contracts to the Convention regime. The CISG has also impacted on sales legislation at national and regional (e.g. EU) levels. With this monograph as their guide, lawyers and scholars who deal with international sales contracts and sales contract disputes will obtain an excellent overview of the Convention, as well as valuable information as to all its 101 Articles, compromising key topic areas such as the follow:

• Determining when the CISG applies;

• Freedom of contract under Article 6;

• Interpretation of the Convention and of CISG contracts;

• Sales contract formation, validity, defenses to enforcement;

• Obligations of the parties, including conforming delivery & notice of non-conformity;

• Liability and remedies for breach, including specific performance, damages, avoidance;

• Liability exemptions;

• Reservations under Articles 92-96.

This IEL monograph takes account of scholarly commentary as well as key CISG case law worldwide.