Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly
THE UNIFORM CUSTOMS AND PRACTICE FOR DOCUMENTARY CREDITS—THE 1993 REVISION
E. P. Ellinger*
A. BACKGROUND
The 1993 Revision (I.C.C. Brochure No. 500) of the Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (the “UCP”) came into effect on 1 January 1994, replacing the 1983 Revision of the Code (I.C.C. Brochure No. 400). Although this earlier version was, in most regards, considered satisfactory, the need for a new revision had been apparent for a number of years. To start with, voluminous litigation in different parts of the world exposed certain weaknesses in some of the 55 clauses of Brochure 400. In addition, the many queries referred to the Banking Commission of the International Chamber of Commerce (the “I.C.C.”)1 by banks puzzled by or feeling dissatisfied with certain provisions of the 1983 Revision indicated that the need for further work on the Code was felt throughout the banking community at large.
This pressure for an appropriate reform and improved draftsmanship should not, however, be regarded as evidencing a general unhappiness with the regime established by the Code over the years. No other mercantile code has attained the same degree of popularity in modern times. Notably, the success of the U.C.P. and its universal acceptance by the commercial world of the present era are largely due to the reforms introduced both as regards the substance and the form of its provisions in the course of the four revisions to which it has been subjected since its promulgation in 1933. It is believed that the new—fifth—revision constitutes a further step in the right direction.
The significance of the new U.C.P. is best assessed against the background of the earlier versions.2 Attempts to harmonize the law and practice of documentary credits commenced after the end of the First World War. The first efforts were all made on a national basis. Thus, in 1920 the New American Commercial Credit Conference convened in New York formulated a set of regulations meant to be uti-
* Professor of Law, National University of Singapore.
1. The following Brochures dealt with problems arising in respect of the 1983 Revision: Opinions of the I.C.C. Banking Commission (84–86) (Brochure 434); Opinions of the I.C.C. Banking Commission (87–99) (Brochure No. 469); Opinions of the I.C.C. Banking Commission (89–91) (Brochure No. 494). See also Decker (ed.), Case Studies on Documentary Credits, Vol. 1 (Brochure No. 459), Vol. 2 (Brochure No. 489). Two earlier collections dealt with points arising under the 1974 Revision. They are: Decisions (1975–1979) of the I.C.C. Banking Commission (Brochure No. 371) and Opinions of the I. C.C. Banking Commission (80–81) (Brochure No. 399). Once cited in full, an I.C.C. publication is hereafter referred to by its serial number.
2. The analysis in the following paragraphs is based on two earlier publications: Ellinger, “Letters of Credit”, in Horn & Schmitthoff (eds), Transnational Law of International Commercial Transactions (Bielefeld, 1982), 241, 248 et seq.; and Ellinger, “The Uniform Customs—their Nature and the 1983 Revision” [1984] LMCLQ 578, 580–581.
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