UNCITRAL: CATALYSING GLOBALISATION

Abstract

In an increasingly economically inter-reliant world, the importance of an improved legal framework for the facilitation of international trade and investment cannot be overemphasized. That is why the existence of various disparities in international trade laws all over the world drew the attention of the UN. In seeking a solution to these disparities that were affecting the smooth flow of international trade, the United Nations decided to put in place a body with the specific task of harmonizing and unifying the existing laws relating to international trade. This body is UNCITRAL. The commission has done this by coordinating the work of organizations active in international trade; promoting. The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) is a subsidiary body of the General Assembly of the United Nations which was established in 1966 (Resolution 2205(XXI) of 17 December 1966).1 In establishing the Commission, the General Assembly recognized that disparities in national laws governing international trade created obstacles to the flow of trade, and it regarded the Commission as the vehicle by which the United Nations could play a more active role in reducing or removing these obstacles.2 Participation in existing international conventions, model laws, and uniform laws; promoting the codification and wider acceptance of international trade terms, customs, and provisions; promoting ways of ensuring uniform interpretation and application of international conventions and collecting and disseminating information on national legislation and modern legal developments, including case law.