On July 18, 2020, shipping containers are seen stacked on top of each other at a cargo terminal in Hong Kong. ISAAC LAWRENCE AFP HOGN KONG - The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods CISG will be implemented in Hong Kong on December 1 this year, bringing a set of unified rules for commercial transactions.
A spokesman for the Department of Justice said that the CISG to the HKSAR marks an important development of the HKSAR's law on international sales of goods.
Contracts of sale of goods between parties whose places of business are in different states are automatically subject to the CISG.
It also applies to international sales contracts where the rules of private international law lead to the application of the law of one of the signatory jurisdictions.
One of the main principles of the UN convention is party autonomy. The parties can derogate from or vary the effect of any provisions of the CISG, or exclude the application of the Convention by agreement, with very limited exceptions.
The parties will be able to tailor their contracts to meet specific business needs because of the availability of an opt-out mechanism in the CISG, the spokesman said.
The Sale of Goods United Nations Convention Ordinance will come into effect on December 1, 2022, as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government published in the Gazette on Thursday the Sale of Goods United Nations Convention Ordinance.
The legislation was passed by the Legislative Council in September after a six month public consultation showed a general support for the application of CISG in Hong Kong.
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This measure is a continuation of the 14th Five-Year Plan to make Hong Kong an international trading hub.
CISG has 94 contracting states at the moment, including more than half of Hong Kong's top 20 trading partners by total trade value.
About 45 percent of the countries and regions that are participating in the Belt and Road Initiative are also contracting parties, according to the HKSAR government.