UNCITRAL

The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL, 유엔국제상거래법위원회) is a legal body of the United Nations supported by the U.N. Office of Legal Affairs, a substantive secretariat. UNCITRAL was established by the United Nations General Assembly by its Resolution 2205 (XXI) of 17 December 1966 "to promote the progressive harmonization and unification of international trade law". In the 1960s, world trade began to expand dramatically, and a number of nations began to realize the need for a global set of standards and rules to harmonize national and regional regulations, which until then governed international trade.

UNCITRAL's original membership comprised 29 states, and was expanded to 36 in 1973, and again to 60 in 2002. Member states of UNCITRAL are representing different legal traditions and levels of economic development, as well as different geographic regions. States includes 14 African states, 14 Asian states, 8 Eastern European states, 10 Latin American and Caribbean states, and 14 Western European states.

As of July 2011, UNCITRAL has established 10 conventions, 8 model laws, 3 rules and 7 legislative guides. UNCITRAL has its secretariat office in Vienna, Austria, and holds annual sessions and working group (WG) meetings alternately in New York City and Vienna.

Key words
UNCITRAL, convention, model law, international trade law, insolvency, security interest

UNCITRAL and Korea
UNCITRAL plays an important role in developing the legal framework for the facilitation of international trade and investment. Until Korea was admitted to UNCITRAL as a full member in 2004, Korea had been a mere observer at its formal sessions and working groups in such areas as sale of goods, international commercial arbitration, electronic commerce, insolvency, security interests, transport law, procurement and infrastructure development.

Now the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has assigned expert delegates to represent Korea at various Working Groups: WG I (procurement), WG II (arbitration & conciliation), WG III (online dispute resolution), WG IV (electronic commerce), WG V (insolvency law), WG VI (security interensts).

UNCITRAL and Korea International Trade Law Association (KITLA) used to hold joint international seminars on the issue of mutual interest bi-annually. Since 2007, two Korean lawyers have worked as full-time legal officers at the UNCITRAL Secretariat in Vienna.

UNCITRAL texts adopted by Korea
Now Korea is an active player in the international fora on e-commerce, online dispute settlement, insolvency, etc. Also Korean has adopted UNCITRAL texts into legislation as listed below:
 * Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York Convention 1958)
 * → Acceded by Korea in 1973.


 * Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration (established in 1985, amended in 2006)
 * → Legislated into the Arbitration Act in 1999.


 * Model Law on Electronic Commerce (1996)
 * → Legislated into the Framework Act on Electronic Transactions in 2002.


 * Model Law on Electronic Signatures (2001)
 * → Legislated into the Digital Signature Act in 1999 and 2001.


 * Convention on Contracts of the International Sale of Goods (CISG)
 * → Acceded in 2004 and came into force on March 1, 2005.


 * Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency (1997) and Legislative Guide on Insolvency Law (2004)
 * → Incorporated partly into the Debtor Rehabilitation and Bankruptcy Act in 2005, and came into force on April 1, 2006.


 * Convention on the Assignment of Receivables in International Trade (2001) and Legislative Guide on Secured Transactions (2007)
 * → Incorporated partly into the Act on Security Interests in Movable Properties, Receivables, etc. (동산 및 채권 등의 담보에 관한 법률) in 2010.



UNCITRAL Regional Center for Asia and the Pacific
On January 10, 2012, UNCITRAL opened its first regional center for Asia and the Pacific (pictured) at Incheon, Korea. Its office is located at Meet-you-all Building of IFEZS (Incheon Free Economic Zone Service), Incheon, Korea.

At this juncture, it is a meaningful event now that Korea is supposed to take the global lead in the area of e-commerce and mobile banking.

The key objective of UNCITRAL Regional Center is to establish a more visible presence of UNCITRAL in the Asia-Pacific region by providing timely and effective technical assistance in trade law reform in line with the needs and requests of recipient States. It will provide bilateral and multilateral technical assistance to States with respect to the adoption and uniform interpretation of UNCITRAL texts through workshops and seminars, and undertake coordination activities with international and regional organizations active in trade law reform projects in the region.