UNITED NATIONS ENDORSES UCP 600, THE ICC RULES FOR DOCUMENTARY CREDITS

 In a Press Release issued by The ICC Bahrain, it was announced that the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) at its 42^nd Plenary Session in Vienna adopted and officially endorsed, ICC’s most recent revision of  Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (UCP 600).

 The presentation on UCP 600 to UNCITRAL session was made for and on behalf of ICC, Paris by Mr Pradeep Taneja, ICC Bahrain Board member, Chairman of ICC Bahrain Trade Finance Forum and Head of Trade Finance (Transactional Banking Division) at BBK, Bahrain

 UCP 600 are the ICC international rules implemented in more that 175 countries and govern millions of letters of credit transactions worth trillions of dollars, playing an instrumental role in global trade finance.

 UNCITRAL is composed of 60 member states, which are elected by the United Nations General Assembly representing the world’s principal geographic regions and economic and legal systems. Currently, the Kingdom of Bahrain is a member of UNCITRAL.

 Mr Taneja, who was a member of UCP 600 Consulting Group comprising of 41 global experts from 26 countries, explained the UCP revision process during the UN commission’s plenary session. He announced that the UCP rules had been adopted unanimously by the ICC Banking Commission by a vote of 91 to 0 in October 2006, the result of more than three years of work by different ICC groups, including all ICC national committees. The rules formally came into force 1 July 2007.

 Delegates to the 42^nd UNCITRAL session welcomed the new revision, praising the text for its comprehensiveness. In particular, the American and German delegates, speaking on behalf of their respective governments and the Bolivian delegate, speaking on behalf of the Banking Supervisory Board of Bolivia, openly expressed their appreciation for the work of ICC and fully supported the endorsement of the rules.

 Noting that UCP 600 constitutes a valuable contribution to facilitation of international trade, in its official communication to ICC, the UNCITRAL conveyed its appreciation and congratulations to the International Chamber of Commerce Commission on Banking Technique and Practice for bringing up to date its rules on documentary credits to allow for developments in the banking, transport and insurance industries and new technological applications.

 “The UNCITRAL endorsement of the ICC UCP rules will undoubtedly define the direction of banking practice, establish international unity with regards to these practices, and alleviate any confusion and miscommunication which could arise in the completion of trade transactions,” remarked Thierry Senechal, Policy Manager for the ICC Banking Commission  

 “UCP 600 endorsement is an important milestone for ICC as it reinforces the ICC mandate of removing legal obstacles to international trade by progressively modernizing and harmonizing trade law,” said Pradeep Taneja.

 “Furthermore, the universal acceptance of UCP by UNCITRAL, composed of widely divergent economic and judicial systems, is a testament to the success of ICC rules and represents the most powerful effort to harmonize the rules on an international level,” Mr Taneja added.

 Mr Ebrahim Zainal, Chairman of ICC Bahrain National Committee remarked “I am delighted to note that Mr Pradeep Taneja from ICC Bahrain was given an opportunity to present UCP 600 to the UNCITRAL session which will profile the Kingdom of Bahrain, amongst the international banking and business community on a world-wide basis, as a country which not only follows the international rules and best practices but also participates in framing of such rules and practices”.

 “The foregoing will go a long way in supporting and supplementing the efforts of the Government of Bahrain and the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry to attract international business houses and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) towards Bahrain” added Mr Ebrahim Zainal.

 The ICC Bahrain Trade Finance Forum was constituted in 2003 with a primary objective and mandate to bring about uniformity and promote standardisation in the way the Trade Finance business is conducted amongst banks in Bahrain and to share information, knowledge and expertise amongst the Forum member banks.

 Apart from discussing issues of common interest and address problems relating to disputes and disagreements arising out of Trade Finance transactions, the Forum also serves to provide a channel for disseminating information of vital interest amongst the member banks.

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