Vienna International Centre, UN Photo by Mark Garten

In an increasingly economically interdependent world, the importance of developing and maintaining a robust cross-border legal framework for the facilitation of international trade and investment is widely acknowledged. The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) plays a key role in developing that framework in pursuit of its mandate to further the progressive harmonization and modernization of the law of international trade. UNCITRAL does this by preparing and promoting the use and adoption of legislative and non-legislative instruments in a number of key areas of commercial law.

UNCITRAL texts are developed through an international process involving a variety of participants. UNCITRAL membership is structured so as to be representative of different legal traditions and levels of economic development, and its procedures and working methods ensure that UNCITRAL texts are widely accepted as offering solutions appropriate to many countries at different stages of economic development.

To implement its mandate and to facilitate the exchange of ideas and information, UNCITRAL maintains close links with international and regional organizations, both inter-governmental and non-governmental, that are active participants in the work programme of UNCITRAL and in the field of international trade and commercial law.