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The final vote in favour of the UCP 600 at the ICC Banking Commission meeting in October was 94-0, with some countries' votes, notaby Egypt and Malaysia, being later added to the original tally. This represented a considerable triumph for the UCP Drafting Group, which had expended considerable effort to reach a consensus.

In his summation prior to the vote, Gary Collyer, Chair of the UCP Drafting Group, made it clear that early on the Group realized it would not be possible to please everyone. It had been almost a diplomatic exercise in trying to balance the views of the national committees and to reflect a consensus position. There were issues raised by a number of national committees that felt strongly about various points. Other national committees had not felt as strongly about these points or had taken a contrary position on them.

There had also been articles the Drafting Group wanted to modify - looking at different issues relating to inconsistency, changing the provisions on non-documentary conditions, for example, but in some of these cases the consensus view of national committees was to remain more or less with the provisions in UCP 500.

Mr Collyer noted that a few national committees had indicated they were ready to vote "Yes" on the rules, but with a few caveats, i.e., that certain aspects would be covered in the Commentary or within the ISBP.

John Turnbull, Chair of the UCP Consulting Group, added that the UCP had a wide adherence worldwide, one that no other trade document could claim. He recognized that there would be differences in points of view, but the important point to bear in mind was that the new UCP should be as inclusive as possible. It was important, he said, not to restrict the use of particular clauses.

Following these brief introductions, the final vote was called. The voting was based on a system using weighted votes, with each national committee being accorded the same number of votes it has in the ICC Council. The final vote was as follows:

Now the task will be to complete the UCP Commentary, with the aim of bringing it out before the rules' implementation date of July 1, 2007. Some of the first drafts of that text are already being reviewed by the Drafting Group.

As to the revised ISBP, the Group has already received national committee comments on the proposed changes, which are only aimed at bringing the ISBP in line with the new UCP and will not be a complete rewrite of the text.