After many years of negotiation, the United Nations
Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of
Goods (“CISG”) came into force in 1988.
Today, 62 states have adopted the CISG. Together these
countries account for over two-thirds of all world trade.2
On this basis alone, the CISG is an outstanding success
in the legal harmonisation of the law governing the
international sale of goods. However, the CISG has its
critics and much comment has been
made on the failure of the CISG to achieve its goal
of promoting international trade through a body of uniform
rules.
The primary motivation driving the push for a harmonised
law on the international sale of goods is economic:
a harmonised law makes it easier and more efficient
for the business person
to sell and buy goods across state borders. However,
the engine driving the push for harmonisation is political
and cultural; and the task of creating the harmonised
law belongs to
the diplomat.3 A study of the CISG demonstrates that
the political and cultural demands on the diplomat also
act as shackles that restrain the achievement of a harmonised
law.
This paper will consider the CISG and discuss the constraints
on treaty making as a mechanism for legal harmonisation.
Part one discusses the constraints faced when creating
a uniform text.
Part two discusses the problems with the text of the
CISG that result from the negotiation process. Finally,
part three discusses the constraints faced in maintaining
the uniformity of the
CISG.
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