On 11 April 1980, in Vienna, the UN Conference on the International Sale of Goods unanimously adopts the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), opened for signature the same day.

The text, drafted by UNCITRAL from UNIDROIT work of the 1930s and the two 1964 Hague sales conventions, sets a uniform framework for contract formation, seller and buyer obligations, and remedies for breach.

The Convention applies automatically to sales of goods between parties with places of business in Contracting States, unless the parties expressly exclude it. The depositary is the UN Secretary-General; the authentic languages are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

Entry into force followed on 1 January 1988 after ten ratifications. By 2025, 97 states — representing about two-thirds of world trade — are parties, from every region and major legal system.

The CISG has influenced cross-border commercial law even among non-parties and underpins the Willem C. Vis Moot. Its rules on risk, delivery and damages articulate with Incoterms, Rome I and UCP 600.

For Romania and the EU, the text remains the reference instrument when the applicable law is that of a Contracting State and the parties have not chosen another law.

The UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods of 11 April 1980 remains the most successful treaty unifying international sales law.

Image: Vienna / UN; Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. Treaty text: CISG (UNCITRAL).