Light is shed on transfer
of ownership issues in international trade
Paris, 25
October 1999 -- Exactly
when ownership passes from seller to buyer is a key question in international
trade, and down the years has been the source of countless disputes. Because
national laws on ownership differ widely, the topic has always been left out
of Incoterms, the standard trade definitions laid down by ICC.
As the latest version of
Incoterms, Incoterms 2000, are distributed throughout the world to come
into force on January 1, ICC has published a book entitled Transfer of Ownership
in International Trade, which presents a comparative study of the relevant
laws in 19 key trading nations.
The book's chief editor,
Dr Alexander von Ziegler, a Swiss attorney, poin
ts out that both Incoterms and
the Vienna Convention of 1980 on international sales contracts have expressly
excluded any consideration of ownership from their scope of application.
Traders, bankers and carriers
involved in international shipping therefore have to cope with sometimes very
complicated issues of conflict of laws and of legal principles in finding answers
to questions of ownership, possession and proprietary rights.
"Readers facing these troublesome
problems will receive valuable guidance, and even answers in many cases, in
these pages," Dr von Ziegler said. "While only 19 countries are covered, all
are important trading nations. So this is a good start to the process of shedding
light on rules on transfer of ownership and hopefully a first step towards their
harmonization.
"We commend this study to
decision-makers in the area of trade facilitation. Sooner or later, national
regimes will have to be reconciled in view of the rapid emergence of a global
market in which the volume of goods crossing borders is growing at an exponential
rate."
The book has been structured
so that readers will find it easy to compare the same aspects of different legal
systems. Each chapter follows the same pattern. Countries whose national laws
on transfer of ownership are covered in the publication are: Australia, Austria,
Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands,
Norway, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.
Apart from the basic issue
of transfer of ownership between seller and buyer, the book covers ancillary
issues, such as the role of transport documents, retention of title clauses,
the right to stop goods in transit and proprietary interests held by third parties,
as well as other issues affected by the question of title.
Transfer of Ownership
in International Trade is edited by Dr Alexander von Ziegler, Jette H. Rone,
Prof. Charles Debattista, and Odile Plgat-Kerrault. It is co-published by ICC
Publishing SA, Paris and Kluwer Law International, of London, The Hague and
Boston.
You can order Transfer
of Ownership in International Trade (ICC Publication N546) from ICC national
committees worldwide. It also available from:
ICC Publishing SA
38 Cours Albert 1er
75008 Paris
France
Tel. +33 1 49 53 29 23
Fax +33 1 49 53 29 02
Click here to send a mail |
ICC Publishing Inc.
156 Fifth Avenue, Suite 417
New York, N.Y. 10010
USA
Tel. +1 212 206 1150
Fax +1 212 633 6025
Click here to send a mail
|
Alternatively orders may
be placed through the ICC Business Bookstore.