international sales law AGlobalChallenge This book brings together the top international sales law scholars from twenty- threecountriestoreviewtheConventiononContractsforInternationalSaleof Goods(CISG)anditsroleintheunificationofglobalsaleslawatpresentandinto thefuture.Thebookcoversthreegeneralresearchmethodologies:(1)doctrinalor descriptive,(2)theoretical,and(3)practical.Intheareaofdoctrinal–descriptive analysis,thesubstanceofCISGrulesisreviewedandalternativeinterpretations of those rules are analyzed. A comparative analysis is given of how numerous countrieshaveaccepted,interpreted,andappliedtheCISG.Theoreticalinsights areofferedintotheproblemsofuniformlaws,theCISG’sroleinbridgingthegap betweenthecommon and civillegaltraditions,and the debateovertheproper role of good faith in CISG jurisprudence. The practitioner perspective argues thattheCISGshouldbeviewedasatoolforfurtheringtheinterestsofbusiness clients. Thebookincludesareviewofthecaselawrelatingtotheinterpretationand application of the provisions of the CISG; analyzes how the CISG has been recognized and implemented by national courts, as well as arbitral tribunals; offersinsightsintotheproblemsofuniformityofapplicationofaninternational sales convention; compares the CISG with the English Sale of Goods Act and places the CISG in the context of other texts of UNCITRAL; and analyzes the CISG from the practitioner’s perspective, including how to use the CISG proactively. LarryA.DiMatteoistheHuberHurstProfessorofContractLawandLegalStudies at the Warrington College of Business Administration and Affiliate Professor at the Levin College of Law at the University of Florida. He is the author or editorofmorethanseventyscholarlypublicationsincludingInternationalSales Law: A Critical Analysis of the CISG (2005) and Commercial Contract Law: Transatlantic Perspectives (2013). Professor DiMatteo obtained his J.D. from Cornell Law School, LL.M. from Harvard Law School, and Ph.D. in Business andCommercialLawfromMonashUniversity. International Sales Law a global challenge Editedby Larry A. DiMatteo WarringtonCollegeofBusinessAdministration, UniversityofFlorida 32AvenueoftheAmericas,NewYork,NY10013-2473,USA CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge. ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof education,learning,andresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence. www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107020382 (cid:2)C CambridgeUniversityPress2014 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2014 PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData Internationalsaleslaw:aglobalchallenge/LarryA.DiMatteo,WarringtonCollegeofBusiness Administration,UniversityofFlorida. pagescm Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN978-1-107-02038-2(hardback) 1.Exportsalescontracts. 2.UnitedNationsConventiononContractsfortheInternationalSaleof Goods(1980) I.DiMatteo,LarryA.,editorofcompilation. K1030.I585 2014 343.08ʹ7–dc23 2013030074 ISBN978-1-107-02038-2Hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyofURLsfor externalorthird-partyInternetWebsitesreferredtointhispublicationanddoesnotguaranteethat anycontentonsuchWebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate. “FoundingFather” JohnHonnold (1916–2011) “Theonlywaytocreateagenuineandeffectiveinternationallegalsystemistoexplore andappreciatetheworld’sdiverseviewsonchallengingtopics.” HarryFlechtner “TheGreatScholar” PeterSchlechtriem (1933–2007) “Nonetheless, you had the firm impression that he had rather preferred to sit in his officeandwriteoneofhisbooksorarticles.” UlrichMagnus “TheGreatDisseminator” AlKritzer (1928–2010) “Alpouredhisheartandhissoul,andhismoney,intobuildingsystemsandnetworks whichenabledustoshareknowledgeandinsight.Now,withAlgone,itisuptousto ensurethatweallcontinuetoshare.” CamillaAndersen “Society”ofScholars InreferencingHonnold,Schlechtriem,andKritzer,HarryFlechtnernotesthat“Ihave often thought that the spirit and personalities of these wonderful people formed a distinctiveculturearoundtheCISGthatpartookoftheircharacter.Ihaveoftennoticed what a remarkable group of scholars that have been attracted to the Convention as a majorfocusoftheircareers–thinkerswhoarenotjustbrightandenergetic,buttruly friendlyandother-centered.” Brief Contents 1 GlobalChallengeofInternationalSalesLaw. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page3 2 HistoryoftheCISGandItsPresentStatus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 3 TheCISG:DivergencesbetweenSuccess–ScarcityandTheory–Practice. . . . . . 23 4 CISGSourcesandResearchingtheCISG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 5 ReducingLegalBabelism:CISGTranslationIssues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 6 TheCISGinNationalCourts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 7 InterpretiveMethodologiesintheInterpretationoftheCISG. . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 8 DivergentInterpretations:ReasonsandSolutions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 9 GoodFaithPrinciple:VexataQuaestio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 10 TheCISGandInternationalArbitration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 11 TheCISGasSoftLawandChoiceofLaw:Go¯ju¯ Ryu¯? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 12 ContractFormationundertheCISG:TheNeedforaReform. . . . . . . . . . . . 179 13 TheCISGandtheBattleoftheForms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 14 ConformityofGoods:InspectionandNotice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 15 InterpretingFundamentalBreach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 16 Remedies:Damages,PriceReduction,Avoidance,Mitigation, andPreservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 17 LitigationCostsasReimbursableDamages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286 18 ExcuseofImpedimentandItsUsefulness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 19 TheCISGinAustria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309 20 BalticStates,Belarus,andUkraine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 21 FrenchPerspectiveoftheCISG. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338 vii viii BriefContents 22 GermanCountryAnalysis:GoodFaith,Formation, andConformityofGoods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361 23 GermanCountryAnalysis:PartII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377 24 Italy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399 25 TheNordicCountries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414 26 TheCISGinSoutheasternEurope. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419 27 Spain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453 28 Switzerland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 466 29 TheNetherlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486 30 TheCISGinIslamicCountries:TheCaseofEgypt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505 31 Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518 32 NewZealand. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539 33 People’sRepublicofChina. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 548 34 TheUnitedStatesandCanada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562 35 CentralandSouthAmerica. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 580 36 TheCISGacrossNationalLegalSystems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 588 37 ProblemsofUniformLaws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605 38 TheCISGasBridgebetweenCommonandCivilLaw. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612 39 PrecontractualLiabilityandPreliminaryAgreements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 630 40 EmpiricalEvidenceofCourts’andCounsels’ApproachtotheCISG (withSomeRemarksonProfessionalLiability) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649 41 TheCISGandEnglishSalesLaw:AnUnfairCompetition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669 42 TheCISGinContextofComplementaryTexts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 683 43 SoftLawsasModelsfortheImprovementoftheCISG. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 694 44 UsingtheCISGProactively. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 704 45 FutureChallengesofInternationalSalesLaw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 725