Applying the CISG to Hong Kong : Legal Analysis and Policy Recommendations

The Untied Nations (UN) Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), which was adopted by a UN conference in 1980 and came into effect in 1988, is one of the most successful treaties in international commercial law in the sense of establishing a uniform legal framework for international trade in goods. A product of comparative law, it provides a set of default rules to govern cross-border sale of goods in regard to the formation of contracts, obligations of buyers and sellers in performing contracts, and legal remedies for breach of contract, among other issues.1 The CISG has been ratified by 94 countries, including many of the world’s most important economies such as the USA, China, France, Germany, Japan, Brazil, Australia, Canada, to name but a few.2 Specifically, China, an active participant in the UN-led negotiations for the CISG, ratified the CISG in 1986.