Shaping the Future: The Impact of Negotiable Cargo Documents on Trade Finance, Regional Connectivity and Digital Evolution

At its upcoming fifty-ninth 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).

The conference will feature four thematic panel discussions highlighting the key features of the draft convention:

• Unlocking Growth: How could Negotiable Cargo Documents Help Bridge the Trade Finance Gap for Small  Businesses
• ­Enhancing Regional Connectivity: The Role of Transport Corridors and Negotiable Cargo Documents in Boosting Trade
• ­Transforming Supply Chains: The Impact of Negotiable Cargo Documents on Multimodal Transport
• ­ From Paper to Bytes: The Digital Shift in Negotiable Cargo Documents

 
Participation in the upcoming conference is by invitation only.