The Department of Justice (DoJ) today (March 2) issued a consultation paper on the proposed application of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (referred to as "Proposed Application"). Members of the community are invited to submit their views on the Proposed Application on or before September 30, 2020.

     The CISG is a treaty which provides a set of uniform rules governing the formation, performance and remedies for breach of contracts for the international sale of goods within its scope. Its purpose is to provide a modern, uniform and fair regime for contracts for the international sale of goods, and through which to contribute to introducing certainty in commercial exchanges and decreasing transaction costs. In particular, the Convention applies to contracts for sale of goods between parties whose places of business are in different Contracting States, subject to the right of the parties to opt out in whole or part of the Convention. The CISG currently has 93 Contracting States, many of which are along the Belt and Road Initiative, from diverse legal traditions and levels of economic development, which together represent over two-thirds of the global economy.

     For the purpose of gathering and understanding the views of a full range of interested stakeholders on this matter, the DoJ commenced today a public consultation on the Proposed Application. The full set of consultation documents and related information are available on the DoJ's website at www.doj.gov.hk/eng/public/CISG.html.

     The DoJ welcomes views from the public on the matters raised in the consultation paper. All views (marked "CISG") should be submitted on or before September 30, 2020, to the International Law Division (Treaties & Law Unit) in the following ways: by post, to International Law Division (Treaties & Law Unit), 7/F, Main Wing, Justice Place, 18 Lower Albert Road, Central, Hong Kong; by fax at 3918 4791; or by email at ild@doj.gov.hk.

Ends/Monday, March 2, 2020
Issued at HKT 15:00

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