1. UNCITRAL

2. Plan About UNCITRAL Historical Dates Working Methods Membership Conventions

3. The core legal body of the United Nations system in the field of international trade law. A legal body with universal membership specializing in commercial law reform worldwide for over 40 years. UNCITRAL's business is the modernization and harmonization of rules on international business. Trade means faster growth, higher living standards, and new opportunities through commerce. In order to increase these opportunities worldwide, UNCITRAL is formulating modern, fair, and harmonized rules on commercial transactions.

4. The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) was established by the General Assembly in 1966. 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.

5. The Commission has established six working groups to perform the substantive preparatory work on topics within the Commission's program of work. Each of the working groups is composed of all member States of the Commission. The six working groups and their current topics are as follows: Working Group I - Micro, Small and Medium-sized EnterprisesMicro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Working Group II - Arbitration and ConciliationArbitration and Conciliation Working Group III - Online Dispute ResolutionOnline Dispute Resolution Working Group IV - Electronic CommerceElectronic Commerce Working Group V - Insolvency LawInsolvency Law Working Group VI - Security InterestsSecurity Interests

6. UNCITRAL's original membership comprised 29 states, and was expanded to 36 in 1973, and again to 60 in 2004. 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. The Commission member States are elected by the General Assembly. Membership is structured so as to be representative of the world's various geographic regions and its principal economic and legal systems. Members of the commission are elected for terms of six years, the terms of half the members expiring every three years. As of 21 June 2010, the members of UNCITRAL, and the years when their memberships expire, are

7. The Convention is an agreement among participating states establishing obligations binding upon those States that ratify or accede to it. A convention is designed to unify law by establishing binding legal obligations. To become a party to a convention, States are required formally to deposit a binding instrument of ratification or accession with the depository. The entry into force of a convention is usually dependent upon the deposit of a minimum number of instruments of ratification. UNCITRAL conventions: the Convention on the Limitation Period in the International Sale of Goods (1974) (text)text the United Nations Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea (1978)United Nations Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (1980)United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (1980) the United Nations Convention on International Bills of Exchange and International Promissory Notes (1988) the United Nations Convention on the Liability of Operators of Transport Terminals in International Trade (1991) the United Nations Convention on Independent Guarantees and Stand-by Letters of Credit (1995) the United Nations Convention on the Assignment of Receivables in International Trade (2001) the United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts (2005)United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea (2008)United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea