At its upcoming fifty-eighth session, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) is expected to finalize a draft convention on negotiable cargo documents. The draft convention establishes negotiable cargo documents as new negotiable documents of title representing goods in transit across all modes of transport, which could be used to enhance flexibility in trade, bridge the trade finance gap and support the digital transformation of global trade. Once finalized, the draft convention will be submitted to the United Nations General Assembly for adoption in late 2025. To raise awareness of the draft convention, the UNCITRAL secretariat is organizing a conference entitled “Shaping the Future: The Impact of Negotiable Cargo Documents on Trade Finance, Regional Connectivity and Digital Evolution”, in partnership with the International Trade Centre (ITC), the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT), and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
Sessions and Events
- 22 June–10 July 2026, New York
- No meeting scheduled until July 2026
- 13-17 October 2025, Vienna
- 16-20 February 2026, New York
- 28 September-2 October 2026, Vienna (tentative)
- 22-26 September 2025, Vienna
- 12-16 January 2026, New York
- 23-27 March 2026, Vienna (to be confirmed)
- 12-16 October 2026, Vienna (tentative)
- 20-24 October 2025, Vienna
- 23-27 March 2026, New York
- 5-9 October 2026, Vienna (tentative)
- 8-12 December 2025, Vienna
- 13-17 April 2026, New York
- 16-20 November 2026, Vienna (tentative)
- 15-19 December 2025, Vienna
- 20-24 April 2026, New York
- 9-13 November 2026, Vienna (tentative)
Events
On 14 March 2025, UNCITRAL RCAP and the Department of Justice of the Government of Hong Kong SAR, China will co-organize the Conference on Climate Change and International Trade Law. This one- day conference will consist of panel discussions covering the key takeaways of recent UNCITRAL colloquiums, sustainable supply chains (including PPs, PPPs and the CISG), insolvency and dispute prevention and settlement. Please click here to register for in-person or virtual participation. More details are available here.
At its fifty-seventh session, in 2024, the Commission noted the emergence of new types of assets that could be used as collateral in international finance (including digital assets, data, verified carbon credits and crop receipts) as well as the development of new international financing practices. The Commission also noted legislative efforts by international and regional organizations to address transactions involving such assets as well as the evolving legislative approaches of States to legally characterize those new types of assets. It thus requested the UNCITRAL secretariat to organize a colloquium to clarify and refine various aspects of possible future work in the area. Read more here.
На пятьдесят седьмой сессии в 2024 году ЮНСИТРАЛ обратилась к секрета-риату с просьбой организовать коллоквиум на тему актуальности документов ЮНСИТРАЛ в контексте действий по борьбе с изменением климата, в частно-сти Конвенции Организации Объединенных Наций о договорах международ-ной купли-продажи товаров (КМКПТ), Типового закона о публичных закуп-ках, Типовых законодательных положений о публично-частных партнерствах и документов по вопросам урегулирования споров. Ожидается, что коллокви-ум поможет ЮНСИТРАЛ надлежащим образом оценить желательность подго-товки секретариатом руководящих документов по толкованию и практиче-скому применению имеющихся документов и, возможно, дополнительных тек-стов по вопросам, связанным с принятием мер борьбы с изменением климата. В соответствии с этой просьбой секретариат ЮНСИТРАЛ организует 23 и 24 октября 2024 года в помещениях Венского международного центра (Вена, Австрия) Коллоквиум ЮНСИТРАЛ на тему «Право международной торговли для построения более экологичного будущего».
New Articles
Spain has ratified the United Nations Convention on the International Effects of Judicial Sales of Ships, also known as the “Beijing Convention on the Judicial Sale of Ships”. The ratification by Spain was effected on 21 August 2025 and the convention will enter into force on 17 February 2026. Read the full press release here.
Brazil becomes the nineteenth State party to the Singapore Convention on Mediation, which will enter into force for Brazil on 6 February 2026. Read the full press release here.
Ecuador deposited its instrument of ratification for the United Nations Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea (1978) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 31 July 2025. Read the full press release here.
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