UNTC

STATUS AS AT : 03-12-2024 10:15:59 EDT

CHAPTER X

INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT

10. United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods

Vienna, 11 April 1980

Entry into force

1 January 1988, in accordance with article 99(1).

Registration

1 January 1988, No. 25567

Status

Signatories : 18. Parties : 97

Text

Certified true copy

United Nations, Treaty Series , vol. 1489, p. 3¹ depositary notification C.N.862.1998.TREATIES-5 of 19 February 1999 (procès-verbal of rectification of the authentic Arabic text); C.N.233.2000.TREATIES-2 of 27 April 2000 (rectification of the Russian authentic text); and C.N.1075.2000.TREATIES-5 of 1 December 2000 [rectification of the original of the Convention (Arabic authentic text)].¹

Note

The Convention was adopted by the United Nations Conference on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, held at Vienna from 10 March to 11 April 1980. The Conference was convened by the General Assembly of the United Nations, in accordance with its resolution 33/93² of 16 December 1978, adopted on the basis of chapter II of the report of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law on the work of its eleventh session (1978).

The Convention was opened for signature at the concluding meeting of the Conference on 11 April 1980 and remained open for signature at the United Nations Headquarters in New York until 30 September 1981.

Participant	Signature	Ratification, Acceptance(A), Approval(AA), Accession(a), Succession(d)
Albania		13 May 2009 a
Argentina		19 Jul 1983 a
Armenia		2 Dec 2008 a
Australia		17 Mar 1988 a
Austria	11 Apr 1980	29 Dec 1987
Azerbaijan		3 May 2016 a
Bahrain		25 Sep 2013 a
Belarus		9 Oct 1989 a
Belgium		31 Oct 1996 a
Benin		29 Jul 2011 a
Bosnia and Herzegovina ³		12 Jan 1994 d
Brazil		4 Mar 2013 a
Bulgaria		9 Jul 1990 a
Burundi		4 Sep 1998 a
Cameroon		11 Oct 2017 a
Canada		23 Apr 1991 a
Chile	11 Apr 1980	7 Feb 1990
China	30 Sep 1981	11 Dec 1986 AA
Colombia		10 Jul 2001 a
Congo		11 Jun 2014 a
Costa Rica		12 Jul 2017 a
Croatia ³		8 Jun 1998 d
Cuba		2 Nov 1994 a
Cyprus		7 Mar 2005 a
Czech Republic ⁴		30 Sep 1993 d
Democratic People's Republic of Korea		27 Mar 2019 a
Denmark	26 May 1981	14 Feb 1989
Dominican Republic		7 Jun 2010 a
Ecuador		27 Jan 1992 a
Egypt		6 Dec 1982 a
El Salvador		27 Nov 2006 a
Estonia		20 Sep 1993 a
Fiji		7 Jun 2017 a
Finland	26 May 1981	15 Dec 1987
France	27 Aug 1981	6 Aug 1982 AA
Gabon		15 Dec 2004 a
Georgia		16 Aug 1994 a
Germany ^{5, 6, 7}	26 May 1981	21 Dec 1989
Ghana	11 Apr 1980
Greece		12 Jan 1998 a
Guatemala		11 Dec 2019 a
Guinea		23 Jan 1991 a
Guyana		25 Sep 2014 a
Honduras		10 Oct 2002 a
Hungary	11 Apr 1980	16 Jun 1983
Iceland		10 May 2001 a
Iraq		5 Mar 1990 a
Israel		22 Jan 2002 a
Italy	30 Sep 1981	11 Dec 1986
Japan		1 Jul 2008 a
Kyrgyzstan		11 May 1999 a
Lao People's Democratic Republic		24 Sep 2019 a
Latvia		31 Jul 1997 a
Lebanon		21 Nov 2008 a
Lesotho	18 Jun 1981	18 Jun 1981
Liberia		16 Sep 2005 a
Liechtenstein		30 Apr 2019 a
Lithuania		18 Jan 1995 a
Luxembourg		30 Jan 1997 a
Madagascar		24 Sep 2014 a
Mauritania		20 Aug 1999 a
Mexico		29 Dec 1987 a
Mongolia		31 Dec 1997 a
Montenegro ⁸		23 Oct 2006 d
Netherlands (Kingdom of the) ^{6, 9}	29 May 1981	13 Dec 1990 A
New Zealand ¹⁰		22 Sep 1994 a
North Macedonia ³		22 Nov 2006 d
Norway	26 May 1981	20 Jul 1988
Paraguay		13 Jan 2006 a
Peru		25 Mar 1999 a
Poland	28 Sep 1981	19 May 1995
Portugal		23 Sep 2020 a
Republic of Korea		17 Feb 2004 a
Republic of Moldova		13 Oct 1994 a
Romania		22 May 1991 a
Russian Federation		16 Aug 1990 a
Rwanda		22 Sep 2023 a
San Marino		22 Feb 2012 a
Saudi Arabia		3 Aug 2023 a
Serbia ³		12 Mar 2001 d
Singapore	11 Apr 1980	16 Feb 1995
Slovakia ⁴		28 May 1993 d
Slovenia ³		7 Jan 1994 d
Spain		24 Jul 1990 a
St. Vincent and the Grenadines		12 Sep 2000 a
State of Palestine		29 Dec 2017 a
Sweden	26 May 1981	15 Dec 1987
Switzerland		21 Feb 1990 a
Syrian Arab Republic		19 Oct 1982 a
Türkiye		7 Jul 2010 a
Turkmenistan		4 May 2022 a
Uganda		12 Feb 1992 a
Ukraine		3 Jan 1990 a
United States of America	31 Aug 1981	11 Dec 1986
Uruguay		25 Jan 1999 a
Uzbekistan		27 Nov 1996 a
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)	28 Sep 1981
Viet Nam		18 Dec 2015 a
Zambia		6 Jun 1986 a

Declarations and Reservations

(Unless otherwise indicated, the declarations and reservations were made
upon ratification, acceptance, approval, accession or succession.)

Argentina

Declaration:

In accordance with articles 96 and 12 of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, any provisions of article 11, article 29 or Part II of the Convention that allows a contract of sale or its modification or termination by agreement or any offer, acceptance or other indication of intention to be made in any form other than in writing does not apply where any party has his place of business in the Argentine Republic.

Armenia

Declarations:

“1. Pursuant to Article 95 of the Convention, the Republic of Armenia declares that it will not apply the Article 1, subparagraph (1) (b) of the Convention to the parties that declare not to be bound by the Article 1, subparagraph (1) (b) of the Convention.

2. Pursuant to Articles 12 and 96 of the Convention, the Republic of Armenia declares that any provision of Article 11, Article 29 or Part II of this Convention that allows a contract of sale or its modification or termination by agreement or any offer, acceptance or other indication of intention to be made in any form other than in writing does not apply where any party has his place of business in the Republic of Armenia.”

Azerbaijan

Declaration

3 May 2016

“The Republic of Azerbaijan declares that it is unable to guarantee the implementation of the provisions of the Convention in its territories occupied by the Republic of Armenia (the Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan and its seven districts surrounding that region), until the liberation of those territories from the occupation and complete elimination of the consequences of that occupation ...”

Belarus

Declaration:

The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, in accordance with articles 12 and 96 of the Convention declares that any provision of article 11, article 29 or Part II of this Convention that allows a contract of sale or its modification or termination by agreement or any offer, acceptance or other indication of inten- tion to be made in any form other than in writing does not apply where any party has his place of business in the Byelorussian SSR.

Canada ¹¹

Canada11

Chile

Declaration:

The State of Chile declares, in accordance with articles 12 and 96 of the Convention, that any provision of article 11, article 29 or Part II of the Convention that allows a contract of sale or its modification or termination by mutual agreement or any offer, acceptance or other indication of intention to be made in any other form than in writing, does not apply where any party has its place of business in Chile.

China ¹²

China12

4 May 2022

Declaration:

In accordance with the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People`s Republic of China (“the PRC”), the Government of the PRC decides that the Convention shall apply to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (hereinafter referred to as “the HKSAR”) of the PRC and declares that the declaration that the PRC is not bound by subparagraph (b) of paragraph (1) of article 1 of the Convention shall not apply to the HKSAR of the PRC.

Czech Republic ⁴

Czech Republic4

Democratic People's Republic of Korea

Reservation:

“The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea declares, in accordance with Article 96 of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, that any provision of Articles 11 and 29 of the Convention that allows a contract of sale or its modification or termination by agreement to be made in any form other than in writing, will not apply where any party has its place of business in DPRK’s territory.”

Denmark ¹³

Denmark13

Declarations:

"...

"2) under paragraph 1 of article 93 that the Convention shall not apply to the Faroe Islands and Greenland,

"3) under paragraph 1 cf. paragraph 3 of article 94 that the Convention shall not apply to contracts of sale where one of the parties has his place of business in Denmark, Finland, Norway or Sweden and the other party has his place of business in another of the said states,

"4) under paragraph 2 of article 94 that the Convention is not to apply to contracts of sale where one of the parties has his place of business in Denmark, Finland, Norway or Sweden and the other party has his place of business in Iceland."

2 July 2012

"[...] In addition to the previous declaration made under Article 94 Denmark declares, in respect of Iceland in accordance with paragraph 1, in respect of Finland and Sweden in accordance with paragraph 1 cf. paragraph 3 and in repect of Norway in accordance with paragraph 2 that the Convention will not apply to the formation of contracts of sale where the parties have their places of business in Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Sweden or Norway."

Estonia

Declaration:

"In accordance with articles 12 and 96 of [the said Conven- tion] any provision of article 11, article 29 or Part II of the Convention that allows a contract of sale or its modification or termination by agreement or any offer, acceptance or other indication of intention to be made in any form other that in writing does not apply where any party has his place of business in the Republic of Estonia."

9 March 2004

"In accordance with Article 97, paragraph 4 of the said Convention, the Republic of Estonia declares that the Republic of Estonia withdraws the declaration made in the said instrument of ratification, which prescribed that: "in accordance with Articles 12 and 96 of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods any provision of Article 11, Article 29 or Part II of the Convention that allows a contract of sale or its modification or termination by agreement or any offer, acceptance or other indication of intention to be made in any form other than in writing does not apply where any party has his place of business in the Republic of Estonia."

In consequence any provision of Article 11, Article 29 or Part II of the Convention that allows a contract of sale or its modification or termination by agreement or any offer, acceptance or other indication of intention to be made in any form other than in writing does apply where any party has his place of business in the Republic of Estonia."

Finland ¹⁴

Finland14

Upon ratification:

"With reference to Article 94, in respect of Sweden in accordance with paragraph (1) and otherwise in accordance with paragraph (2) the Convention will not apply to contracts of sale where the parties have their places of business in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland or Norway."

28 November 2011

“In addition to the previous declaration made under Article 94 the Republic of Finland declares, in respect of Iceland in accordance with paragraph (1) and otherwise in accordance with paragraph (2), that the Convention will not apply to the formation of contracts of sale where the parties have their places of business in Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Norway or Sweden.”

Germany ⁷

Germany7

The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany holds the view that Parties to the Convention that have made a declaration under article 95 of the Convention are not considered Contracting States within the meaning of subparagraph (a) (b) of article 1 of the Convention. Accordingly, there is no obligation to apply - and the Federal Republic of Germany assumes no obligation to apply - this provision when the rules of private international law lead to the application of the law of a Party that has made a declaration to the effect that it will not be bound by subparagraph (1) (b) of article 1 of the Convention. Subject to this observation the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany makes no declaration under article 95 of the Convention.

Hungary ¹⁵

Hungary15

Iceland

12 March 2003

Declaration:

"Pursuant to article 94, paragraph 1, the Convention will not apply to contracts of sale or to their formation where the parties have their places of business in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway or Sweden."

Lao People's Democratic Republic

24 September 2019

Reservation:

“In accordance with article 95 of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), the Government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic declares that it will not be bound by subparagraph (1) (b) of article 1 of the Convention and will apply the Convention to Contracts of Sale of Goods only between those parties whose place of business are in different States when the States are Contracting States.”

Latvia ¹⁶

Latvia16

Lithuania ¹⁷

Lithuania17

Norway ¹⁸

Norway18

Reservation made upon signature and confirmed upon ratifica tion:

[ Same reservation, mutatis mutandis, as the one made by Finland. ]

Upon ratification:

[ Same reservation, mutatis mutandis, as theone made by Finland. ]

14 April 2014

“[…] in addition to the previous declaration made [on] 20 July 1988 under Article 94, Norway declares, in respect of Iceland in accordance with paragraph 1 and otherwise in accordance with paragraph 1 cf. paragraph 3, that the Convention will not apply to the formation of contracts of sale where the parties have their places of business in Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland or Sweden.”

Paraguay

Declaration:

The Republic of Paraguay declares, in accordance with articles 12 and 96 of the Convention, that any provision of article 11, article 29 or Part II of the Convention that allows a contract of sale or its modification or termination by agreement, [or] any offer, acceptance or other indication of intention to be made in any form other than in writing shall not apply where any party has his place of business in Paraguay.

Russian Federation

Declaration:

[Same declaration, mutatis mutandis , as theone made by Belarus.]

Saudi Arabia

… the Kingdom will not be bound by Part III pursuant to the provision of Paragraph (1) of Article (92) of the Convention.

Singapore

Declaration:

"In accordance with article 95 of the said Convention, the Government of the Republic of Singapore will not be bound by sub-paragraph (1) (b) of article 1 of the Convention and will apply the Convention to the Contracts of Sale of Goods only between those parties whose places of business are in different States when the States are Contracting States."

Slovakia ⁴

Slovakia4

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Declaration:

“The Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines declares that Saint Vincent and the Grenadines will not be bound by subparagraph 1 (b) of Article 1 of the Convention.”

Sweden ¹⁹

Sweden19

Déclarations:

[ Same reservation, mutatis mutandis, as the one made by Finland. ]

25 May 2012

“In addition to the previous declaration made under Article 94 Sweden declares, in respect of Iceland in accordance with paragraph 1, in respect of Finland in accordance with paragraph 1 cf. paragraph 3 and otherwise in accordance with paragraph 2, that the Convention will not apply to the formation of contracts of sale where the parties have their places of business in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland or Norway.”

Ukraine

Declaration:

[ Same declaration, mutatis mutandis, as the one made by Belarus. ]

United States of America

"Pursuant to article 95 the United States will not be bound by subparagraph (1) (b) of Article 1".

Viet Nam

Declaration:

“In accordance with Article 12 and Article 96 of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, done at Vienna on 11 April 1980, the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam makes the following declaration:

Any provision of Article 11, Article 29, or Part II of the Convention that allows a contract of sale or its modification or termination by agreement or any offer, acceptance, or other indication of intention to be made in any form other than in writing, does not apply where any party has his place of business in Viet Nam.”

Declarations under article 93 of the Convention

(Unless otherwise indicated, the declarations and reservations were made
upon ratification, acceptance, approval, accession or succession.)

Australia

Declaration:

"The Convention shall apply to all Australian States and mainland territories and to all external territories except the territories of Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and the Ashmore and Cartier Islands."

Canada

Declarations:

"The Government of Canada declares, in accordance with article 93 of the Convention, that the Convention will extend to Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island and the Northwest Territories."

9 April 1992

"The Convention shall also extend to Quebec and Saskatchewan."

29 June 1992

"The Convention applies also to the Territory of the Yukon."

18 June 2003

"The Government of Canada declares, in accordance with Article 93 of the Convention, that in addition to the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Saskatchewan, as well as the Northwest Territories and the Yukon Territory, the Convention shall extend to the Territory of Nunavut.
The Government of Canada also declares that the declaration made at the time of its accession to the Convention on April 23, 1991, the declaration deposited on April 9, 1992, the declaration deposited on June 29, 1992 and the declaration deposited on July 31, 1992, remain in effect."

End Note

1The English text of the Convention has been published by the Government of the United States of America in the publication "Federal Register" of Monday 2 March 1987, volume 52, No. 40, pages 6262 to 6280 together with various comments and information by the Department of State.
2Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-third Session, Supplement No. 45 (A/33/45), p. 217.
3The former Yugoslavia had signed and ratified the Convention on 11 April 1980 and 27 March 1985, respectively. See also note 1 under “Bosnia and Herzegovina", "Croatia", "former Yugoslavia", "Slovenia", "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" and "Yugoslavia" in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume.
4Czechoslovakia had signed and ratified the Convention on 1 September 1981 and 5 March 1990, respectively, with the following reservation: Pursuant to article 95, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic declares that it shall not consider itself bound by the provision of article 1, paragraph 1, item b), of the Convention. On 22 November 2017, the Government of the Czech Republic notified the Secretary-General that it had decided to withdraw the reservation with respect to article 95 made by Czechoslovakia upon ratification. See also note 1 under “Czech Republic” and note 1 under “Slovakia” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.
5See note 1 under “Germany” regarding Berlin (West) in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.
6On 1 January 1990 and on 1 January 1991, the Federal Republic of Germany and the Netherlands, respectively, denounced the Convention relating to a Uniform Law on the International Sale of Goods and the Convention relating to a Uniform Law on the Formation of Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, both done at The Hague on 1 July 1964. These denunciations took effect 12 months later, and the present Convention therefore entered into force for the Federal Republic of Germany and the Netherlands on 1 January 1991 and on 1 January 1992, respectively, in accordance with paragraphs 2 and 6 of article 99.
7The German Democratic Republic had signed and ratified the Convention on 13 August 1981 and 23 February 1989, respectively. See also note 2 under “Germany” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.
8See note 1 under "Montenegro" in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume.
9For the Kingdom in Europe and Aruba.
10With a declaration of non-application to the Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau.
11On 31 July 1992, the Government of Canada, by virtue of article 97 (4) of the Convention, notified the Secretary-General of its decision to withdraw the following declaration made upon accession by virtue of article 95, which read as follows: "The Government of Canada also declares, in accordance with article 95 of the Convention, that, with respect to British Columbia, it will not be bound by article 1.1 b) of the Convention."
12 The Government of the People’s Republic of China notified the Secretary-General on 16 January 2013 of its decision to withdraw the following declaration made upon approval with respect to Article 11 as well as the provisions in the Convention relating to the content of Article 11: The People's Republic of China does not consider itself to be bound by subparagraph (b) of paragraph 1 of article 1 and article 11 as well as the provisions in the Convention relating to the content of article 11.
13 On 2 July 2012, Denmark notified the Secretary-General that it withdrew the following declaration made upon signature and confirmed upon ratification: "1) under paragraph 1 of Article 92 [...] Denmark will not be bound by Part II of the Convention." According the four Nordic countries directly concerned (Finland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden), this withdrawal should be considered as a unilateral declaration which took effect in accordance with the second sentence of article 97 (3), on the first day of the month following the expiration of six months after the date of its receipt by the depositary, i.e. on 1 February 2013.
14 On 28 November 2011, Finland notified the Secretary-General that it withdrew the following declaration under article 92 made upon signature and confirmed upon ratification: Finland will not be bound by Part II of the Convention. According to the four Nordic countries directly concerned (Finland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden), this withdrawal should be considered as a unilateral declaration which took effect in accordance with the second sentence of article 97 (3), on the first day of the month following the expiration of six months after the date of its receipt by the depositary, i.e. on 1 June 2012.
15 On 6 July 2015, the Government of Hungary notified the Secretary-General of the withdrawal of the following declaration made upon ratification: "[The Hungarian People's Republic] considers the General Conditions of Delivery of Goods between Organizations of the Member Countries of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance/GCD CMEA, 1968/1975, version of 1979/ to be subject to the provisions of article 90 of the Convention; "[The Hungarian People's Republic] states, in accordance with articles 12 and 96 of the Convention, that any provision of article 11, article 29 or Part II of the Convention that allows a contract of sale or its modification or termination by agreement or any offer, acceptance or other indication of intention to be made in any form other than in writing, does not apply where any party has his place of business in the Hungarian People's Republic."
16 On 13 November 2012, the Government of Latvia notified the Secretary-General of the withdrawal of the following declaration made upon accession: "In accordance with article 96 of the [said Convention], the Republic of Latvia delcares that any provision of article 11, article 29, or Part II of this Convention, that allows a contract of sale or its modification or termination by agreement or any offer, acceptance, or other indication of intention to be made in any form other than in writing, does not apply where any party has his place of business in the Republic of Latvia."
17 On 1 November 2013, the Government of Lithuania notified the Secretary-General of the withdrawal of the following declaration made upon accession with respect to articles 11, 29 and to Part II of the Convention: "In accordance with articles 96 and 12 of the said Convention, the Republic of Lithuania declares that any provisions of article 11, article 29 or Part II of the Convention that allows a contract of sale or its modification or termination by agreement or any offer, acceptance or other indication of intention to be made in any form other than in written does not apply where any party has his place of business in the Republic of Lithuania."
18 On 14 April 2014, Norway notified the Secretary-General that it withdrew the following declaration under article 92 made upon ratification: According to the four Nordic countries directly concerned (Finland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden), this withdrawal should be considered as a unilateral declaration which shall take effect in accordance with the second sentence of article 97 (3), on the first day of the month following the expiration of six months after the date of its receipt by the depositary, i.e. on 1 November 2014.
19 On 25 May 2012, Sweden notified the Secretary-General that it withdrew the following declaration under article 92 made upon signature and confirmed upon ratification: Sweden will not be bound by Part II of the Convention. According the four Nordic countries directly concerned (Finland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden), this withdrawal should be considered as a unilateral declaration which took effect in accordance with the second sentence of article 97 (3), on the first day of the month following the expiration of six months after the date of its receipt by the depositary, i.e. on 1 December 2012.

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