The UCP Drafting Group, meeting in Paris 12-14 May, has completed another set of revised UCP Articles to send to the UCP Consultative Group. The Articles, numbering Articles 20-29, were sent to the latter group at the end of last week.

"The process seems to be going well," said Ron Katz, Policy Manager of the Banking Commission. "The Consulting Group, which now numbers around 35 persons, has been providing quick and effective comments on all Articles sent out so far." The next group of Consulting Group comments is due by 18 June.

The process works as follows: the Drafting Group first comes up with a new draft of several Articles, then circulates it to the Consulting Group for comments. After the comments are received, they are considered, and, where feasible, are incorporated into the Drafting Group's version. Only then is the new draft sent out to ICC national committees for comment.

The first 19 UCP Articles were sent out to national committees two months in advance of the 10-11 May Banking Commission meeting. Some 46 national committees made comments and suggestions on the draft, which the Drafting Group is now taking into account. The second group of revised Article numbers 20-29 are expected to be sent out in time for these to be discussed at the next Banking Commission meeting in Moscow on 26-27 October.

It should be noted that the Article numbers in the revised draft will not always accord with the same numbers in UCP 500. For example, the former Articles 13 and 14 have been renumbered and are likely to appear later in the text of UCP 600.

At the Banking Commission meeting in May, there was a vigorous two-hour discussion on the first draft Articles. Questions as to what was meant by "honour" predominated, though there was also ample discussion of what to do about "negotiation", which some national committees want to retain in UCP 600 and others want to see deleted. Odds are at present that it will be retained, since 21 national committees supported its retention, while only seven wanted it dropped in the new rules.

Plans are for the Drafting Group to meet once again in September, both to incorporate national committee comments and to finish a first draft of new Articles. There is no estimate of when a final text of UCP 600 will be ready for approval. But it is seen to be still some time off.