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Buyers' Payment of Price by Letters of Credit under CISG

In international sales of goods, the buyer must pay the price for the goods as required by the contract and CISG, The buyer's this obligation includes taking such steps and complying with such formalities as may be required under the contract, which includes providing the seller with relevant letter of credit through the issuing bank. Where the parties have not stipulated the time limit within which the credit should be opened, but there is an agreed date or period for shipment, the time limit for the L/C opening should be calculated back from the agreed date of shipment or the first date of shipment, while, in addition, the buyer should open the L/C sufficiently earlier than the shipment date in order for the seller to be able to know the L/C's opening before beginning to ship the goods. The L/C provided the buyer should conform to the contract of sale. Therefore, for example, when an unconfirmed L/C is provided violating the agreement or the L/C opened states that, under a FOB contract, a "freght prepaid" bill of lading shall be presented as a required document of the L/C, the buyer has failed to perform his obligation. If the buyer fails to perform his obligations to provide the letter of credit, the seller may require the buyer to perform that obligation; may fix an additional period of time of reasonable length for performance of the obligation; or, the seller may declare the contract avoided, if the failure amounts to a fundamental breach of contract, or if the buyer does not, within the additional period of time fixed by the seller, perform the obligation; and the seller claim damages. However, when a relevant L/C has been issued for the seller, as a rule, he cannot ask directly for the buyer to pay the price before avail himself of the L/C first.