Title
United Nations (UN) Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts
Dates of the instrument
Signature: 23 November 2005
Entry into force*: 01 March 2013
Summary
The United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts aims to facilitate electronic communications in international trade by ensuring electronic contracts and communications have the same validity and enforceability as paper-based equivalents. The Convention builds upon UNCITRAL's Model Laws on Electronic Commerce and Electronic Signatures to create a comprehensive legal framework for electronic communications in international trade. It establishes fundamental principles of non-discrimination, technological neutrality, and functional equivalence while ensuring electronic communications have the same legal effect as traditional paper-based methods.
Key paperless trade provisions include:
- Legal recognition of electronic communications
- Functional equivalence of electronic contracts
- Non-discrimination of electronic formats
- Technological neutrality principles
- Electronic signature validity
- Time and place of dispatch rules
- Error prevention requirements
- Data message integrity standards
- Electronic contract formation rules
- Cross-border recognition frameworks
Website(s)
Geographical coverage
Global
Legal nature
Treaties/Conventions
Trade processes
Transport Processes
Border and Regulatory Processes
Financial Processes
Trade documents
Bill of Lading (BoL)
Sea Waybill (SW)
Air Waybill (AW)
Sea Cargo Manifest (SCM)
Air Cargo Manifest (ACM)
Warehouse Receipt (WR)
Customs Declaration (CD)
Promissory Note (PN)
Contact point
United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)
uncitral@un.org
Contact point
* For a model law – entry into force of the law enacting a model law; for a treaty–entry into force