GA/L/3143

SIXTH COMMITTEE CONGRATULATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW COMMISION ON PROGRESS ON CONVENTION

Delegates commended the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) for the progress made on the draft convention on assignment of receivables as the Sixth Committee (Legal) began a discussion this morning on the Commission�s annual report.

Jeffrey Chan Wak Teck of Singapore, Chairman of UNCITRAL, who introduced the report, told the Committee that the uncertainty stemming from the lack of adequate modern rules on assignments of receivables renders such commercial transactions impractical in a cross-border context. The fact that parties often had to forgo receivables financing and resort to more expensive means, such as letters of credit or export guarantees, highlighted the need for unification efforts in that area of law. Although the Commission had expected to complete work on the draft convention, it had finished discussion on only 17 of the 43 articles, he said. However, those were some of the most important provisions and their resolution would greatly facilitate the remaining work.

The Sixth Committee Chairman, Mauro Politi (Italy), said that given the considerable progress that had been made on the draft convention on assignment of receivables, it was possible to foresee the adoption of the draft in 2001.

On another topic, Mr. Chan cautioned that as a result of a growing workload on the one hand and reduced resources within the Secretariat on the other, the quality and reputation of UNCITRAL and its work were highly endangered. The UNCITRAL was not free to seek partners for cooperation and sponsors for its projects, which in times of shrinking public funds seemed to be the favoured option. He expressed the hope that governments would promote the expanded training and assistance activities that were so beneficial and badly needed in developing countries. Achieving that would require comparatively modest resources, if compared with the initial investment that went into the preparation of the texts in the first place.

Several speakers also addressed that issue, calling for greater resources to be dedicated to the Commission�s important work. The representative of China, for example, noted that conditions differed greatly in Member States, with wide gaps in the legislative capacities of developed and developing countries. Greater UNCITRAL assistance to Member States, especially to developing countries, and more training for personnel would narrow the gap and enable the Commission to work more effectively, he said.

Sixth Committee - 1a - Press Release GA/L/3143 3rd Meeting (AM) 9 October 2000

Finland�s speaker said that to effectively meet the challenges of global trade in the twenty-first century, particular attention should be paid to enhancing the legal framework of international trade in developing countries.

Delegates also welcomed the Commission�s adoption of a Legislative Guide on Privately Financed Infrastructure Projects, noting that it would help the elaboration of domestic investment codes. Some said it would be better, however, for the Guide to be tested in practice first, before a decision was taken on whether to proceed with a model law. In addition, speakers expressed their opinions on future topics to be taken up by the Commission, in such areas as electronic commerce, insolvency law and security interests.

Speaking in the discussion were the representatives of France, Russian Federation, Austria, Singapore, Germany, Finland, India, China, Cuba, Indonesia, Ukraine, Japan and Guatemala.

All the speakers thanked Gerold Herrmann, who is retiring on 31 January 2001 as Secretary of the Commission, for the excellent contributions he had made over the years. Mr. Herrmann joined the secretariat of the Commission in 1975 and served as Secretary from 1991. Mr. Chan said that it was not an understatement to say that UNCITRAL�s significant achievements had been made largely possible through the enlightened leadership, technical expertise, intellectual integrity and diplomatic skills of Mr. Herrmann.

The Committee will meet again tomorrow, 10 October at 3 p.m., to continue its examination of the UNCITRAL report.

Sixth Committee - 3 - Press Release GA/L/3143 3rd Meeting (AM) 9 October 2000

Committee Work Programme

The Sixth Committee (Legal) met this morning to begin its consideration of the report of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) (A/55/17).

The Commission approved the first 17 articles of the draft convention on assignment of receivables and recommended a draft resolution by which the Assembly, recognizing the importance of concluding the work on the draft Convention in a timely manner, include the item in the agenda of its fifty-sixth session in 2001, with a view to concluding the draft convention itself or referring it to a conference of plenipotentiaries to be convened in 2002.

The Commission finalized and adopted the UNCITRAL Legislative Guide on Privately Financed Infrastructure Projects and requested the Secretariat transmit the text of the Guide to governments and other interested bodies. The Commission also recommended that all States give favourable consideration to the Legislative Guide when revising or adopting legislation relevant to privately financed infrastructure projects. The report notes a statement by the representative of the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), who said the Guide was expected to become a useful instrument for domestic legislators and policy makers. While domestic policies for infrastructure in the early 1990s had given preference to ad hoc contractual solutions, there was growing awareness of the importance of an adequate legislative and regulatory framework for privately financed infrastructure projects.

Regarding its possible future work on privately financed infrastructure projects, the Commission decided to consider the question of preparing a model law or model legislative provisions on selected issues covered by the Guide.

Concerning electronic commerce, the Commission noted that it had previously experienced manifest difficulties in reaching a common understanding of the new legal issues that had arisen from the increased use of digital and other electronic signatures. However, it was generally felt that progress so far indicated that the draft uniform rules on electronic signatures were progressively being shaped into a workable structure. The Commission reaffirmed its earlier decisions as to the feasibility of preparing such uniform rules and expressed its confidence that more progress could be accomplished by the Working Group at its forthcoming sessions. While it did not set a specific time frame for the Working Group to fulfil its mandate, the Commission urged the Group to proceed expeditiously with the completion of the draft uniform rules. An appeal was made to all delegations to renew their commitment to active participation in building a consensus on the scope and content of the draft uniform rules.

As to future work in the area, the Commission held a preliminary exchange of views during which three topics were suggested as possible areas that could be deemed desirable and feasible: electronic contracting; dispute settlement; and dematerialization of documents of title, in particular, in the transport industry.

Regarding possible future work in the area of international commercial arbitration, the Commission generally considered the time had arrived to assess the extensive and favourable experience with national enactments of the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration (1985), as well as the use of the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules and the UNCITRAL Conciliation Rules, and to evaluate in the universal forum of the Commission the acceptability of ideas and proposals for improvement of arbitration laws, rules and practices. However, the Commission left open the question of what form its future work might take. It was agreed that decisions on the matter should be taken later as the substance of proposed solutions became clearer. Uniform provisions might, for example, take the form of a legislative text (such as model legislative provisions or a treaty) or a non-legislative text (such as a model contractual rule or a practice guide). It was stressed that, even if an international treaty were to be considered, it was not intended to be a modification of the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York, 1958).

On insolvency law, the Commission gave its Working Group a mandate to prepare a comprehensive statement of key objectives and core features for a strong insolvency, debtor-creditor regime, including consideration of out-of-court restructuring, and a legislative guide containing flexible approaches to the implementation of such objectives and features, including a discussion of alternative approaches possible and perceived benefits and detriments of such approaches. A legislative guide similar to that adopted by the Commission for privately financed infrastructure projects would be useful and could contain model legislative provisions, where appropriate. It was agreed that, in carrying out its task, the Working Group should be mindful of the work under way or already completed by other organizations, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and other international organizations.

On the matter of training and technical assistance, strong concern was expressed that the Commission could not fully implement its mandate because of limited resources. Without effective cooperation and coordination, there was a risk that adoption of national laws would not represent internationally agreed standards, including UNCITRAL conventions and model laws. Moreover, concern was expressed that the majority of participants in its internship programme were nationals of developed countries. An appeal was made to all States to consider supporting programmes that sponsored the participation of nationals of developing countries. The Commission recommended to the General Assembly that it request the Secretary-General to increase substantially both the human and the financial resources available to its secretariat to ensure the effective implementation of its training and assistance programme and the timely publication and dissemination of its work.

Concerning the collection and dissemination of case law on UNCITRAL texts, the Commission, noting the importance of uniform reporting from all jurisdictions, urged States to appoint a national correspondent. Also given the significant increase in the number of States adhering to conventions or enacting legislation based on model laws drawn up by the Commission, the continuation of the texts would be at risk without a significant increase in the human and financial resources available to the secretariat of the Commission.

The report recalls that, in 1996, the Commission had requested the secretariat be a focal point for gathering information, ideas and opinions as to problems in transport law that arose in practice and possible solutions to those problems. It welcomed the fruitful cooperation between the International Maritime Committee and the secretariat on the issue.

Under the heading of coordination and cooperation, the report addresses the issue of security interests, noting that modern secured credit laws had the potential to increase the availability of lower-cost credit and, thus, enhance the cross-border movement of goods and services. Although a number of texts had been or were currently being prepared which indicated certain common trends, the texts left a number of issues unaddressed. The Commission cited the close link between security interests and its work on insolvency law.

Modern credit laws could alleviate the inequalities in access to lower-cost credit between parties in developed countries and parties in developing countries, and in the share the latter had in the benefits of international trade, the report states. However, laws would need to strike an appropriate balance in the treatment of privileged, secured and unsecured creditors so as to become acceptable to States. A flexible approach aimed at the preparation of a set of principles with a guide, rather than a model law, would be advisable. Furthermore, in order to ensure the optimal benefits from law reform, including financial-crisis prevention, poverty reduction and facilitation of debt financing as an engine for economic growth, any effort on security interests would need to be coordinated with efforts on insolvency.

The Commission requested the secretariat prepare a study on problems in the field of secured credit law and possible solutions, for consideration by the Commission at its next session. The Commission could decide then whether further work could be undertaken, on which topic and in which context. It was agreed that the study could examine, in particular, whether current trends established sufficient common ground among legal systems to make the preparation of a uniform law within a reasonable period of time feasible. It was further agreed that the study could discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the various solutions (for example, a uniform law on all types of asset as compared with a set of principles with a guide or a uniform law on specific types of asset).

The Commission decided to hold its thirty-fourth session in Vienna from 25 June to 13 July 2001.

The Commission held its thirty-third session in New York from 12 June to 7 July 2000. Jeffrey Chan Wah Teck (Singapore) was elected Chairman. The three Vice-Chairmen were: Aly Gamledin Awad (Egypt), Jorge Roberto Maradiaga (Honduras) and Victoria Gavrilescu (Romania). David Moran Bovio (Spain) served as Rapporteur.

Statement by Chairman

MAURO POLITI (Italy), Chairman of the Sixth Committee, told the Committee that its Working Group on Terrorism had made good progress on the text of a draft comprehensive convention on international terrorism, which had been submitted by India. Work on the draft would continue next year in the Ad Hoc Committee, focusing on measures to eliminate international terrorism. Cate Steins (Australia) had agreed to continue coordinating informal consultations on the draft convention on suppression of acts of nuclear terrorism. On the question of a high-level conference on international terrorism, the third item on the Working Group�s agenda, delegations had been invited to continue consultations and to approach the Chairman of the Working Group with any proposals.

Concerning the report of UNCITRAL, the Chairman said in light of the considerable progress made on the draft convention on assignment of receivables, it was possible to foresee the adoption of the draft in 2001.

Statement by Chairman of UNCITRAL

JEFFREY CHAN WAH TECK (Singapore), Chairman of UNCITRAL, introducing the report of the Commission, said the Commission continued to explore areas where its expertise and knowledge could enhance development activities and contribute to a stable, global, legal regime with respect to international trade. Concerning the draft convention on assignment of receivables, he said the legal regime applicable to assignment of receivables differed from State to State, which often resulted in an assignment of receivables being valid in one State where it was concluded, but unenforceable against the debtor in another State. The uncertainty stemming from the lack of adequate modern rules on assignments of receivables render such commercial transactions impractical in a cross-border context. Parties often had to forgo receivables financing and resort to more expensive means such as letters of credit or export guarantees. Such problems showed that unification efforts in that area of law were necessary.

Although the Commission had expected to complete work on the draft convention, it had finished discussion on only 17 of the 43 articles, he said. However, those were some of the most important provisions and their resolution would greatly facilitate the remaining work.

Noting that the Commission had completed the legislative guide on privately financed infrastructure projects, he said it would be a useful tool to assist governments, in particular, developing countries and economies in transition, in the establishment of a favourable legal framework.

After outlining the other major aspects of the report, he said that due to a growing workload, on the one hand, and reduced resources within the secretariat, on the other, the quality and reputation of UNCITRAL and its work were highly endangered. The UNCITRAL was not free to seek partners for cooperation and sponsors for its projects, which in times of shrinking public funds seemed to be the favoured option. The UNCITRAL, as a body within the United Nation system and composed of governments and their representatives, was committed to the common weal and public interest. He expressed the hope that governments would promote expanded training and assistance activities that were so beneficial and badly needed in developing countries. Achieving that would require comparatively modest resources, in fact, minimal resources if compared with the initial investment that went into the preparation of the texts in the first place.

Harmonization and unification of international trade law was not an end in itself, he said. Unless Member States supported and contributed to UNCITRAL�s training and promotion activities, they could be wasting the considerable effort, time and resources originally invested in the preparation of the many texts elaborated by the Commission. Recognition of the importance of the texts must be translated into a dedicated effort to strengthen the activities of the Commission and its secretariat.

Statements

ARNAUD BARTHELEMY (France) said his country was particularly pleased about the adoption of the UNCITRAL Legislative Guide on Privately Financed Infrastructure Projects. He urged completion of work on the topic at the Commission�s 2001 session. He urged that UNCITRAL be provided with resources, including for its training and technical assistance programmes, which must continue to be encouraged.

France urged strict adherence to the publication of UNCITRAL�s texts in the official languages of the Organization, he said. The Commission must also comply with the timetable for its work which would encourage more participation in its work.

VLADIMIR Y. TARABRIN (Russian Federation) said his delegation commended the results of the work of Commission and those of its working groups. The Commission had in a worthy way coped with the work assigned to it in the codification and harmonization of international trade law. The examples could be seen in its work on the Legislative Guide on Privately Financed Infrastructure Projects. The instrument was of great interest to the Russian Federation in helping it promote investment in the country. The emergence of electronic commerce had already become evident. He welcomed the Commission�s work on electronic commerce, and hoped the draft uniform rules on electronic commerce would be completed. Russia attached great importance to the draft convention on assignment of receivables, and hoped work on that would be completed next year.

Russia commended the Commission�s efforts in the publishing area, as well as in training and technical assistance programmes, he said, and urged the provision of financial resources to help the Commission carry out its work. Russia also hoped the Commission would continue to make a positive contribution to the elaboration of texts in the area of international trade law.

ALEXANDER MARSCHIK (Austria) commended the Commission for managing to continue to fulfil its mandate with limited resources. His delegation was pleased to note the importance the Secretary-General had placed on the necessity to enhance the rule of law. Assisting governments in the implementation of international trade law was one of the main functions of the UNCITRAL secretariat, he said. He hoped the Secretary-General would find a way to strengthen the resources of the Commission�s secretariat before its chronic lack of resources affected its output and the quality of its work.

Austria would continue to provide infrastructure such as conference facilities and the highly specialized library, he said. It hoped that the contribution by the general secretariat staff in Vienna, the cost-effective geographical proximity to the regions principally targeted as well, as the excellent relations of UNCITRAL with the local academic and legal community could alleviate the burden on the secretariat.

Austria congratulated the Commission on the adoption of the UNCTRAL Legislative Guide on Privately Financed Infrastructure Projects. He said the Commission was wise to focus primarily on the legislative recommendations in order to conclude the consideration of the draft guide during its thirty-third session. A legislative and regulatory framework for infrastructure projects was a reassuring signal for all potential investors. Austria was convinced that the Legislative Guide would be a useful instrument for States striving to attract private investment for infrastructure projects, and encouraged all States revising or adopting legislation on the topic to give favourable consideration to the Guide.

Austria had supported the Commission�s decision to prepare uniform rules on the legal issues of electronic signatures and had closely followed the deliberations of the working group on the subject. To ensure the Commission�s work had adequate impact and benefited from ongoing legal deliberations, he said it was important to proceed with the project quickly. On the Commission�s future work in the fields of electronic commerce, Austria appreciated that the working group would consult urgently on the various proposals. It commended the role of the Commission�s secretariat in promoting awareness of the Commission�s work, especially in the area of collection and dissemination of case law on UNCITRAL texts, as well as the acclaimed training and technical assistance seminars. It was regrettable that, in the last few years, due to the lack of resources, an increasing number of requests for seminars and technical assistance had to be turned down.

He noted that the annual William C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration moot court organized by Pace University from 15 to 20 April in Vienna was an excellent method of raising public awareness of international trade law. The large number of participating students, tutors and arbitrators underlined the increasing interest that students and faculties around the world devoted to international trade law and arbitration. The next moot court would be held in Vienna from 6 to 12 April 2001, he said.

JOLENE TAN (Singapore) strongly urged members of the Working Group on the assignment of receivables in international trade to follow closely the mandate and timetable given them by the Commission, and resist raising new issues or reopening matters already settled. She said UNCITRAL�s work in removing, or at least lowering, legal barriers in electronic commerce would be an important factor in developing future paradigms of international trade. She urged the Commission to pay close attention to the issue, and congratulated it for extending its work on electronic commerce to include transport law.

Singapore attached the highest importance to UNCITRAL�s work, and relied on its adopting and incorporating them into the country�s domestic legal system. Foremost among those legal texts were the Vienna Convention on the Law of Sales, the UNCITRAL Model Law on Arbitration, and the Model Law on Electronic Commerce. She mentioned, in particular, the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules that had formed the basis of the Arbitral Rules of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre and, together with the UNCITRAL Model Law on Arbitration, had contributed greatly to the rapid development of international commercial arbitration in Singapore. The adoption of the Commission�s texts into the country�s domestic legal system had given that system an international outlook, and the business environment more accessible, she said.

GEORG WITSCHEL (Germany) said that since the quality and success of a convention could be evaluated only after its entry into force, which required a sufficient number of ratifications, the Working Group on the assignment of receivables should base its future work not only on its own draft, but also on the critical comments made by governments with regard to individual aspects and proposals for the convention. Concerning the possible elaboration of a model law on privately financed infrastructure projects, he said model laws were useful and viable only in areas where substantive uniform law could be created. That traditionally applied to civil and trade law, where UNCITRAL had been most successful. Establishing a legal framework for privately financed infrastructure projects was primarily a matter of administrative law which was outside UNCITRAL�s domain. Germany would welcome UNCITRAL�s participation in relevant seminars and colloquia, but would advise against committing UNCITRAL to such legislative work.

He noted with concern that it was becoming increasingly difficult to find experienced delegates for the relatively long sessions of the working groups and of the Commission. An overlap between UNCITRAL and various bodies of the United Nations and other international organizations on such issues as arbitration and global transport questions was most regrettable, in view of the ever-scarcer material and personnel resources. Within the United Nations system, UNCITRAL was the competent institution to deal with questions of international trade law of global significance and scope. Bodies and institutions with regional mandates, on the other hand, could not guarantee and safeguard the global representation and participation necessary for the acceptance of international legal texts.

He expressed concern over the increasing overlap between the mandate of The Hague Conference on Private International Law and of UNIDROIT, the international institution based in Rome for the unification of private law. There was strong interest in making the issue of security interests one of the future priority items of UNCITRAL. Although UNIDROIT took on the issue in 1998, it had assigned it low priority. To protect its great reputation, the Commission and its secretariat must avoid being taken hostage by particular interests. The expertise of affected parties in the business community should be heard and duly taken into account, but their substantial, usually one-sided interests should not dominate topics or directions of UNCITRAL�s work.

MARJATTA RASI (Finland), speaking on behalf of the Nordic countries, said the Commission should be given adequate resources to effectively meet the challenges of global trade in the twenty-first century. Particular attention should be paid to enhancing the legal framework of international trade in developing countries. Finland appealed to governments to make collective efforts to promote a sensible and efficient division of labour among international organizations active in the field of international trade law. That required an open dialogue and coordination between the relevant parties as their work programmes were being planned and decided upon. It would also be worthwhile to discuss the issue within relevant organs of the United Nations system.

Commending the Commission and its secretariat for the outstanding report, she said Finland was satisfied that work on Legislative Guide for Privately Financed Infrastructure Projects had been successfully completed. She noted, however, that the draft convention on receivables financing had not been considered mature enough for submission to the General Assembly at its current session, but was expected at its session next year. Finland expected the Commission to finalize its work on Model Law on Electronic Signatures at its next session. It was pleased that the Commission had included new demanding projects on its work programme.

It was important that the rules on international arbitration proceedings were adapted to the present-day high technology environment, she said. Finland also found the project on substantive issues related to bankruptcy very useful. Projects concerning security interests and transport law, which lay at the heart of international trade law, were also in the pipeline for future work. She again emphasized the need for coordination and cooperation with other organizations also in the field.

She announced that Finland would not stand as a candidate for another term in the Commission and expressed satisfaction about Sweden�s declared candidacy. Finland was grateful for the chance it had to contribute to the development of the legal framework of international trade.

NARINDER SINGH (India) welcomed the adoption by the Commission of the Legislative Guide on Privately Financed Infrastructure Projects and said it would be a useful instrument for domestic legislators and policy makers to establish appropriate legislation to attract investments. It would be desirable, he said, for the Legislative Guide to be tested first in practice before a decision was taken on the preparation of either a model law or legislative provisions.

He said UNCITRAL�s work in the field of electronic commerce was of particular significance in view of the growing reliance on electronic communication. To contribute effectively to the development of harmonious economic relations, he said the rules formulated must be acceptable to States with different legal, social and economic systems. India had recently adopted legislation based on the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce. The topics of electronic contracting from the perspective of the United Nations Sale of Goods Convention, dispute settlement, and dematerialization of documents of title would be suitable areas for development of uniform rules or model laws, after completion of work on the draft uniform rules on electronic signatures.

He said the working group on the topic of insolvency law should take a flexible approach that would leave options and policy choices open to States, as a single model law on insolvency was neither feasible nor essential. It should also take into account the work under way or already completed by other organizations, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, INSOL International, and the International Bar Association.

India welcomed UNCITRAL�s cooperation with other bodies to avoid overlap and duplication of effort and, in particular, its cooperation with the International Maritime Committee to identify suitable areas in maritime law for harmonization. Harmonization in the area of carriage of goods by sea and multimodal transport of goods would be particularly useful.

SU WEI (China) said the increase in the number of countries that had adhered to conventions drafted by UNCITRAL, and the wide applications of the conventions and model laws, attested to the important role the Commission was playing in harmonizing and unifying international trade law, thereby vigorously promoting the development of international trade.

He called for better organization of UNCITRAL�s work programme, though. There were over a dozen items on the Commission�s agenda, but because so much time was being spent on the draft convention on assignment receivables, very little time was left for discussion on the other items. Also, conditions differed greatly in member States. There were both developed and developing countries with wide gaps in their legislative capacities. He recommended that there be an increase in its assistance to member States, especially developing countries, and that it provide more training to their personnel, thereby narrowing the gap and enabling it to work more effectively.

Although conventions and model laws played an important role, there was room for improvement, he said. It was important for conventions and model laws to be recognized and accepted by ever more countries. That would require efforts by governments and by UNCITRAL to heed the views of all parties, taking into account the specific conditions of various countries, and to launch a vigorous campaign to disseminate its legal instruments.

SORAYA ELENA ALVAREZ NU�EZ (Cuba) said it was often maintained that globalization provided benefits and opportunities for developing countries. However, the integration of developing countries continued to be impeded by discriminatory and protectionist practices. The international community, and the United Nations in particular, should lend the necessary assistance to the efforts of developing countries to facilitate their integration into the world economy in a sustainable manner.

Cuba was greatly concerned with the attempts by some countries to introduce new trade conditions and elements that were contrary to basic commercial trade standards, she said. The world was witnessing an increase in sanctions and other coercive measures. She cited, in particular, the Helms-Burton law that had been imposed against Cuba as a deplorable example of a violation of international law and the agreements and principles of free trade.

Cuba recognized the valuable contributions of UNCITRAL in eliminating the legal obstacles to international trade, especially those that affected the developing countries, she said, as well as its efforts to eliminate discrimination in international trade. Her country was making an effort to insert itself into the world economy, a vital part of which was linking up with world trade. During the last few years, due to a difficult economic situation, Cuba had not been able to participate in UNCITRAL sessions nor the meetings of its working groups. However, Cuba had been able to participate in an observer capacity at the last session and hoped to contribute further in the future.

MUSMA MUSA ABBAS (Indonesia) said unification of laws in the field of assignment of receivables in international trade was important, particularly for developing countries such as her own. Development of legal norms through the draft convention on the subject offered immense opportunities for countries to participate as equal partners in international trade.

The recommendations on the draft text on privately financed infrastructure projects offered guidance to Member States to update, review and codify national legislation on the topic. The recommendations constituted a firm foundation so future endeavours could give even more concrete guidance to countries with economies in transition, as well as to developing countries. She proposed the convening of a colloquium of experts to consider the feasibility of the preparation of a model law or model legislative provisions concerning privately financed infrastructure projects.

Indonesia supported the view that future work on electronic commerce in the area of electronic contracting, dispute settlement, and dematerialization of documents of title for the transport industry -� would be beneficial to the international community. She also said it would not be feasible, under present circumstances, for the Commission to adopt a universal approach on insolvency law. It would be more practical for it to work towards adoption of a legislative guide, she said.

VOLODYMYR KROKHMAL (Ukraine) said that over the past decade the Commission had accomplished a substantial amount of work in a number of important areas, and had thus furthered the active role of the United Nations in reducing barriers still existing in international trade as a result of disparities of national laws. He welcomed the adoption of the Legislative Guide on Privately Financed Infrastructure Projects, saying it would serve as a useful instrument for domestic legislators in creating a favourable legal framework. It would also allow for better protection of the interests of recipient governments and users of the infrastructure facilities.

He also expressed appreciation for the significant progress on the draft convention on assignment of receivables. Turning to the matter of arbitration, he said the working group on the issue should proceed with the topics on its agenda. Such items as conciliation, requirement of a written form for arbitration agreements, and enforceability of interim measures of protection, should be dealt with on a priority basis.

Due to a lack of sufficient resources, a number of requests for training and technical assistance had been turned down, he said. The Secretary-General should be requested to consider all possible ways to increase the amount of financial resources available to the Commission and its secretariat.

SHUICHI AKAMATSU (Japan) said his country highly appreciated the contribution the Commission had made so far in promoting the progressive harmonization and unification of international trade law. It had been remarkably productive. Among its achievements, Japan congratulated the Commission on the adoption of the UNCITRAL Legislative Guide on Privately Financed Infrastructure Projects at the Commission�s last session held in New York this year. Also, it welcomed the adoption of the draft uniform rules on electronic signatures by the working group on electronic commerce held in Vienna last month.

He expressed Japan�s satisfaction with the significant progress achieved by the working group on assignment in receivables financing and hoped the instrument could be adopted during the Commission�s next session without any budgetary increase. With regard to the Commission�s future work on the text of the Legislative Guide on Privately Financed Infrastructure Projects, he said it should give itself sufficient time to follow up on the use made at the national level of

its Legislative Guide. That would enable it to decide on the desirability of preparing a model law or model legislative provisions on the topic.

On electronic commerce, he commended the working group on the topic for its significant achievements, adding that Japan, as a country with legislation on the subject, would like to contribute to the worldwide development of electronic signatures. He also stressed the necessity for a strong insolvency regime and consistency among insolvency laws of various countries. However, he said it would not be easy to prepare a uniform rule in the field, and urged careful study of the feasibility of the subject.

ROBERTO LAVALLE-VALDES (Guatemala)joined others in congratulating Gerold Herrmann, who would be retiring next January from the Commission�s secretariat. He noted the close harmony between Mr. Herrmann and the Commission and hoped he would continue to contribute to the development of international trade law.

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