UNIS/L/347
21 August 2023

Saudi Arabia accedes to United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods

96th State to become party to the Convention

VIENNA, 21 August (UN Information Service) – With its accession to the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), Saudi Arabia becomes the 96th State Party to the Convention. The Convention will enter into force for Saudi Arabia, except for its part III, on 1 September 2024.

The CISG establishes a comprehensive code of legal rules governing the formation of contracts for the international sale of goods, the obligations of the buyer and seller, remedies for breach of contract and other aspects of the contract. It provides an equitable and modern uniform framework for the contract of sale, which is the backbone of international trade in all countries, irrespective of their legal tradition or level of economic development. Its adoption and use may contribute significantly to introducing certainty in commercial exchanges and decreasing transaction costs.

The CISG is a fundamental international trade law treaty and a major success of the work of UNCITRAL that has inspired several national and regional legislative texts. The accession of Saudi Arabia to the CISG is the result of the close cooperation that Saudi Arabia and the UNCITRAL secretariat have maintained since 2019. The main aim of this cooperation is to reinforce the commercial legal framework in Saudi Arabia and enhance the capacity of stakeholders (e.g., government bodies, legal professionals) to apply and implement UNCITRAL texts.

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The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) is the core legal body of the United Nations system in the field of international trade law. Its mandate is to remove legal obstacles to international trade by progressively modernizing and harmonizing trade law. It prepares legal texts in a number of key areas such as international commercial dispute settlement, electronic commerce, insolvency, international payments, sale of goods, transport law, procurement and infrastructure development. UNCITRAL also provides technical assistance to law reform activities, including assisting Member States to review and assess their law reform needs and to draft the legislation required to implement UNCITRAL texts. The UNCITRAL Secretariat is located in Vienna, Austria, and maintains a website at https://uncitral.un.org/

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For more information please contact:

José Angelo Estrella-Faria 
Principal Legal Officer and Head, Legislative Branch 
UNCITRAL Secretariat 
Email: joseangelo.estrella-faria[at]un.org