On 29 Sept. 2021, the Legislative Council of the HKSAR passed the Sale of Goods (United Nations Convention) Ordinance (hereinafter “the Ordinance”).
The newly-adopted Ordinance would allow the CISG to be fully applicable in HKSAR without any reservations.
China submitted its ratification for the official accession to the CISG in 1986 and the convention has been in force in China since 1988.
When China resumed the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997, it submitted a declaration to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, which set out a list of conventions to which China had acceded and thus should be subsequently applied to Hong Kong after its return to China. The CISG was not included in that list, and therefore the HKSAR was excluded in the CISG framework.
Currently, the Central Government of the PRC has entered the CISG with reservations to Article 1(1)(b). However, the HKSAR will not have any reservation to Article 1(1)(b) of the CISG (i.e. the scope of application of the CISG).
Cover Photo by Arun Raj on Unsplash
Contributors: CJO Staff Contributors Team
