Bienvenue aux Nations Unies
Langue：
  1. Accueil ONU
  2. UNCITRAL Webinar on "International experiences with the dematerialization of negotiable transport documents"

UNCITRAL Webinar on "International experiences with the dematerialization of negotiable transport documents"

Following the consideration of the proposal by China (A/CN.9/998) and a note by the Secretariat (A/CN.9/1034) on possible future work by UNCITRAL towards the development of a negotiable transport document, UNCITRAL, at its fifty-second session, requested its secretariat to conduct research on legal issues related to the use of railway or other consignment notes, and at its fifty-third session, UNCITRAL requested its secretariat to start preparatory work towards the development of a new international instrument on multimodal negotiable transport documents that could be used for contracts not involving carriage by sea. UNCITRAL concurred with the assessment of its secretariat that the inclusion of electronic transport documents in that work would be particularly timely for supporting the new types of supply chain and logistics models expected to develop in response to the widespread business disruptions caused by the COVID-19. 

The results of the exploratory and preparatory work conducted by the secretariat indicated that the work on a negotiable transport document should primarily focus on electronic negotiable transport documents (ENTDs) being used for different modes of transportation, not limited to maritime, and different combinations thereof (multimodal transportation). ENTDs intended to encompass also electronic transport documents, which were, although non-negotiable/non-transferable, fulfilled functionalities of document of title (e.g., a straight bill of lading). 

While UNCITRAL accumulated some expertise and knowledge on the subject of ENTDs in conjunction with its work on the Rotterdam Rules and the Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR), relevant laws, regulations, standards, practices and case law had evolved, requiring their new survey. To that end, the UNCITRAL secretariat organized on 13 and 14 April an open webinar to assess ENTD-related legal developments and seek views of the wide legal community on them.  
 

Programme

Recordings:

Submitted presentations:

Programme

Day 1 - Tuesday, 13 April 2021, 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. CET
Electronic Transferable Records and Dematerialization of Trade Documents 

9:30-9:45

Opening of the webinar and greeting of participants  
9:45-10:45

Electronic transferable records:  UNCITRAL standards and domestic experiences

  • Kah Wei Chong, Deputy Senior State Counsel, Attorney-General’s Chambers, Singapore, on "MLETR and its enactment in Singapore"
  • Prof. Guo Yu 郭 瑜, Peking University, on "MLETR: the perspective from China"
  • Dr. Alan Davidson, Senior Lecturer, TC Beirne School of Law, The University of Queensland, on "MLETR in banking: focus on letters of credit"

Q&A
10:45-11:00

Break
11:00-12:20

Regulatory and industry responses to the dematerialization of trade documents

  • Oswald Kuyler, Managing Director, Digital Standards Initiative, ICC Asia, on "The ICC perspective"
  • Hans Huber, PO Trade Finance DLT R&D, Commerzbank, on "Blockchain and other electronic processes for documentary credit in the banking sector"
  • Xu Jun, Deputy General Manager, Global Transaction Banking Department, Bank of China, Jiangsu Branch, Member of ICC Banking Commission Executive Committee, on "The perspective from China" 

Q&A
12:20-12:30

Conclusion and closing

 

Day 2 - Wednesday, 14 April 2021, 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. CET 
Dematerialization of Negotiable Transport Documents: challenges and opportunities 

9:30-9:35

Greeting of participants and opening of the second day
9:35-10:35

International standards for the dematerialization of transport documents

  • David Sauv, Manager, Digital Cargo, IATA, on "The Montreal Convention"
  • Erik Evtimov, Deputy Secretary General, CIT, on "The Electronic CIM/SMGS consignment note"
  • Jens Huegel, Senior Advisor, IRU, on "The e-CMR"

Q&A
10:35-10:50

Break
10:50-12:20

Dematerialized negotiable transport documents: industry and regulatory responses

  • Prof. Alexander von Ziegler, Uni Zurich, on "The Rotterdam Rules"
  • Paul Mallon, Head of Customer Engagement and Legal, Bolero, on "The legal underpinnings of the Bolero Bill of Lading"
  • Marina Comninos, Co-CEO & COO, essD°CS, on "The legal underpinnings of the CargoDocs Bill of Lading"
  • Dr. Patrick Vlačič, Legal Advisor, CargoX, on "The legal underpinnings of the CargoX Bill of Lading"

Q&A
12:20-12:30

Conclusion and closing