DC Insight

Two developments mark this issue of DCInsight: the adoption of Incoterms®2010 by ICC and the publication of a Banking Commission recommendation paper dealing with on board notations. With regard to the first, Incoterms®, first created by ICC in 1936, have become internationally recognized terms defining the rights, risks and responsibilities of parties to a contract of sale. The purpose of Incoterms® was to bring a uniformity of interpretation to a field critical to the facilitation of trade. In this issue, Frank Reynolds, a member of the Incoterms®2010 Drafting Group, outlines the key change in the rules.

On board notations - when they are required and what form they should take - constitute one of the most contentious issues under the UCP. In order to clarify the issues and respond to frequent questioners raised by practitioners, the Banking Commission recently published a detailed paper on the subject. Gary Collyer, the Commission's Technical Adviser, outlines the key points in the paper in our "Expert commentary" section. In the past, ICC papers, such as the one on original documents, have been effective in clearing up questions raised by banks and users alike. In Gary's words, this on board paper will ideally "remove one more area of contention from document examination".

It is still early days for ICC's revision of its rules on demand guarantees, URDG 758, which came into effect on 1 July. Pavel Andrle, one of our frequent contributors, points out that "the revision is not the end of the story. In fact, it's the beginning of a no less important task: implementing the rules as efficiently as possible." Pavel recommends that users of the rules become familiar with their national laws and pay particular attention to the major changes in the rules, such as those concerning amendments and force majeure.

These stories focus on the present. Michael Quinn, in his article on the future of trade, forecasts future trends. A good balance for our autumn issue.