Vietnam joins the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods

In December 2015, Vietnam decided to join the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) with effect from 1 January 2017. Vietnam reserves provisions regarding formality of contracts under Articles 11, 29 and Section II of CISG. Vietnam is an active trading country. Therefore, from a legal perspective, CISG will have major impact on all international sale of goods involving Vietnam and other countries, which are also CISG members (e.g. Japan, China, and US).

Under Commercial Law 2005, where provisions of CISG are inconsistent with the provisions of the Commercial Law 2005, the provisions of CISG will apply. Therefore, if a sale of goods contract involving a Vietnamese party does not exclude CISG expressly then CISG will presumably apply to such contract. In view of this, one more thing that lawyers practicing in Vietnam have to consider now is whether to exclude or include the provisions of CISG in cross-border sale of goods contracts. In case of inclusion, one should decide which language version of CISG should be used since CISG has many different official texts.