Sales and supply contract / determination of the applicable substantive law by the arbitrator /international convention / application of the private international law rules of articles 3 and 4 of the EEC Rome Convention of 19 06 1980/ Dutch private international law rules / connecting factors / application of the law of the place of residence of the seller

'Article 13 of the contract indicates that the disputed matter shall be given "into the hands of the International Chamber of Commerce in The Hague Holland based on Dutch law". It could be concluded that Dutch private international law was to apply. And even in case those rules did not apply, the Tribunal refers to the generally accepted p.i.l. rule laid down in the E.C. treaty of Rome of 19 June 1980 (art. 3 and 4), also applied (in anticipation of its formal ratification) by Dutch courts of law. Under the mentioned Dutch p.i.l as well as European p.i.l. the law of the country in which the seller has its residence is referred to. That brings this Tribunal to apply Dutch law as it would apply in the Netherlands Antilles. That conclusion does not conflict with another possible interpretation of the reference by the parties to "Dutch law" as being a reference directly to the substantive laws.

Dutch law in this case is the law of international sales as embodied in the Uniform Law in International Sales (ULIS) and on the Formation of International Sales (ULFIS) of the Hague treaties of 1st June 1964, and the parties have not expressly excluded the application thereof . . .

The parties have moreover agreed in the hearing of [date] that the uniform sales laws shall apply to the dispute.'