The recommendation on a draft text adopted last week at a meeting of the UN Commission on International Trade Law's (UNCITRAL) Working Group on Electronic Commerce will be submitted to the Commission's next full session in June. The text focuses on areas such as legal electronic transactions, data exchanges and e-mail messages.
"This work will benefit world trade as it will enable and encourage the greater use of e-commerce," said the group's chairman, Jeffrey Chan of Singapore. He noted that more trade transactions are being conducted through electronic means, and the internet in particular has grown to be a powerful tool for business.
"The problem is that, in international business, different countries have different legal rules for contracts," creating uncertainty when the same transaction is conducted across international borders, Chan added. Companies often must hire lawyers in different countries to advise them, adding to the cost of doing business.
Chan said that with a treaty to create a uniform legal regime for such transactions, confidence in e-commerce would get a boost and costs could be cut. "With this, there can be an expansion of international trading transactions," he said.
Not everyone supports the treaty. Jonas Astrup, who attended the UNCITRAL meeting for the International Chamber of Commerce, said his organisation favoured the alternative of self-regulation by industry.
The ICC is addressing the contractual questions of e-commerce by developing "e-Terms 2004," a set of voluntary rules to help companies negotiate contracts electronically.
However, Astrup acknowledged that "the draft convention has very useful aspects, such as recognition of data messages, and is in synergy with our tools," pointing out its provisions on contract guidance and model clauses. The ICC set up its own task force which last year submitted comments on the scope and purposes of the draft convention.
