• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.38
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• pp.47-68
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• 2008

I have observed the validity of open-offer from a point of European contract law in comparison with International Trade Law in this paper. Generally we know that an offer is an expression of willingness bo be bound to the contract. In English law if there are no intention it will be considered such as circulation of price lists or catalogues. As for French law these activities could be considered as an offer. However German law is closer to English law as to an offer. A contract which does not ascertained price is open-price terms and it can be applied not only for general commercial contracts but also for franchise or for distributorship agreements especially in Europe. When open-price terms applied to reserve a exclusive right to the contract the validity of contract can be a serious matter between principals. In English law an offer must be sufficiently complete to be capable of acceptaqnce. English law does not require that price terms should be indicated on offer. English law allow a open-price terms in the contract. In French law a contract will be valid in the absense of a price which is either determined or objectively determinable. A price by the market price of similar products is not enough to be valid offer. It should be recognized and accepted objectively by third parties. French law require that price terms should be indicated on offer. Open-price terms are not enough to be an effective offer. However German law shows more flexible than French law. In German law if the price is not fixed in the contract there are four ways to determine it. The seller may determine the price by the time of deliver. By reason of thess backgrounds I have made comparison with European contract law and International trade law on the validity of open-price offer in this paper. It seems that we are not familiar with open-price terms although franchise contract or special terms of contract have been increased in these days. So I hope this paper will be helpful to show a new point of view.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.91-113
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• 2017

UN Convention on International Sale of Goods (CISG) and International Commercial Arbitration aim at the promotion and facilitation of international trade. Both of them share similar general principles; i.e., party autonomy and pacta sunt servanda. Also they are often applied concurrently in the case of the international commercial trade. The purpose of this article is to investigate whether the CISG could apply the formation of the arbitration clause that is included in the main contract governed by CISG. Sellers and buyers have freedom of designating choice of law that is applied to their contracts. An international arbitration agreement is presumed to be separable from the contract in which it is found. However, arbitration clauses commonly form part of a general contract. Thus, the CISG is intended to be applied to dispute resolution clauses, including arbitration clause even if it is not completely suitable. Notably, there is a fundamental distinction between the CISG and arbitration. The CISG abolished the formalities of contract. New York convention requires Contracting States' Courts to enforce written international agreements to arbitrate.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.12
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• pp.133-162
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• 1999

The international sale transaction is in essence a sale of goods and presents all those commercial and legal problems in any sale of goods. As a result, A International sales contract imposes several duties on the parties : the seller must deliver the goods and transfer ownership in them, while the buyer must pay the price and take delivery of the goods. However, there are several problems which impede a active transaction between seller and buyer who have their places of business in other countries each other. Therefore, It is necessary to provide the concept on the conformity of goods in the Int'l Sale of Goods. Especially, In our consideration for the point of time when defects occurs, the existence of non-conformity of goods should be judged on the basis of time of delivery rather than time of contract. Moreover, The burden of proof about nonconformity of goods is another fact which make an international dispute between the contractual parties in an international trade. Thus, The consistency in the interpretation of law must be maintained betweened the warranty and seller's liability. In the Uniform Commercial Code and UN Convention, non-conformity of contract is made of contract liability. And in our civil and commercial law provisions of warranty should be understand as the special ones of the provisions of general non-performance of obligation liability. As a result, More concrete study of them is required because they may have a great influence especially on international trade. As a result, We should be our best in finding a helpful and systematic structure that the dualistic structure of nonperformance of obligation liability and warranty liability must be unified by studying the theories of English and American warranty and our legal system, as well as international practice and usage being used in an international trade.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.47
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• pp.25-48
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• 2010

The principle of parties' autonomy is one of general and dominant principles in an international trade contract. When we consider the determinants of negotiation outcomes, the negotiation is affected its result by their culture and custom. A negotiation has extensively been used a lot as a business process. As we negotiate with our clients, we have to check a lot of factors like strategies, their behaviors, culture shock and custom. That why most people have their different life and circumstance. The same words which are used its contract have several meaning. Because the words are influenced by culture and own custom. Also most people abide by their social pattern. Each culture in the world follows its own customs and traditions. Therefore, when we have the negotiation of trade contract, we have to think these factors. Then the negotiation is leaded very successful This dissertation examines the effects of the negotiators' personality and different culture and custom. On the point of a negotiating power, contracting parties are affected a lot by their usage. The culture which is influenced by contracting parties is possible to apply as a key point. So, this study will be analyzed these factors.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.13
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• pp.43-68
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• 2000

Incoterms mean the ICC official rules for the interpretation of trade terms which facilitate the conduct of international trade. Thus, the uncertainties of different interpretations of such terms in different countries can be avoided or at least reduced to a considerable degree. Nevertheless, Incoterms has been revised successively to adapt them to contemporary commercial practice. In particularly, substantive changes in Incoterms 2000 have been made in two areas: (i) the customs clearance under FAS and DEQ; and (ii) the loading and unloading obligations under FCA. But it should be stressed that the scope of Incoterms is limited to the contract of sale and not apply to the contracts of carriage, insurance and financing. Moreover, merchants wishing to use Incoterms 2000 should clearly specify that their contract is governed by 'Incoterms 2000'. It is particularly important to note that Incoterms are not dealt with a great number of problems, such as transfer of property rights, breaches of contract and exemptions from liability. Therefore, the contracting parties should clearly agree to the applicable law related their contract of sale, like the 1980 United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.13
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• pp.3-26
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• 2000

The International Chamber of Commerce published the millennium edition of its standard trade definitions, Incoterms 2000. Incoterms are a basic reference for sales contracts, in constant daily use throughout the world. The new version will make it easier for traders to do business in the new century, despite the growing volume and complexity of international transactions. Since Incoterms were first published in 1936, they have been updated six times. They precisely define the responsibilities of buyer and seller and are recognized as the international standard by customs authorities and courts in all the main trading nations. It is important for traders to incorporate the correct Incoterms into their international contracts to avoid unnecessary legal problems. Courts may otherwise interpret trade terms according to often widely divergent national laws and unless the use of Incoterms is specified, expensive legal disputes can arise. Division of costs is a most important element in every contract of sale. The parties must know not only who does what but also how costs resulting therefrom should be divided between them. In most cases the fact that a party must do something means that he must also bear the resulting costs, unless otherwise agreed. But there are many exceptions to this principle and uncertainties arise, particularly with respect to services performed by other parties. Also, difficulties arise with respect to the division of costs whenever additional costs are caused by unexpected events, such as hindrances causing a ship to deviate or to remain in a seaport longer than expected. The main principle of the division of costs is clear enough: the seller has to pay costs necessary for the goods to reach the agreed point of delivery, and the buyer has to pay any further costs after that point. But as noted, it is not always easy to implement this principle in practice, since the detailed distribution of functions under the various trade terms is not and cannot be fully defined in Incoterms. Instead, failing precise stipulations in the contract of sale, guidance must be sought from other criteria such as commercial practices used earlier by the same parties or the custom of trade.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.243-262
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• 2023

This study provides a systematic review of smart trade contracts, examining the research trends and theoretical background of utilizing smart contracts and blockchain technology for the digitalization and automation of trade contracts. Smart trade contracts are a concept that applies the automated contract system based on blockchain to trade-related transactions. The study analyzes the technical and legal challenges and proposes solutions. The technical aspect covers the development of smart contract platforms, scalability and performance improvements of blockchain networks, and security and privacy concerns. The legal aspect addresses the legal enforceability of smart contracts, automatic execution of contract conditions, and the responsibilities and obligations of contract parties. Smart trade contracts have been found to have applications in various industries such as international trade, supply chain management, finance, insurance, and energy, contributing to the ease of trade finance, efficiency of supply chains, and business model innovation. However, challenges remain in terms of legal regulations, interaction with existing legal frameworks, and technological aspects. Further research is needed, including empirical studies, business model innovation, resolution of legal issues, security and privacy considerations, standardization and collaboration, and user experience studies to address these challenges and explore additional aspects of smart trade contracts.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.34
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• pp.157-185
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• 2007

The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the activation of e-contract service for one stop e-trade by analyzing the problems and its solutions in e-contract service at home and abroad. In order to achieve the purpose of this thesis, case studies are done on e-contract service providers such as CECTRUST service of NTT DATA in Japan and HanCM.com of Haansoft in Korea and user companies such as Taisei Corporation using CECTRUST service and Hyundai Card using HanCM.com. The problems in the e-contract service are the lack of e-contract service providers, rare publicity of e-contract service, limited use of e-contract service at only home, higher pricing for e-contract service, short time management of e-contract documents by service providers, no application of newly developed security technology to e-contract service, unsatisfaction of requirements of e-contract service provider as trusted third party, absence of lower pricing e-contract service by service provider, authorizing key error in electronic signature under recognized authentication system in case of fail in renewal of digital certificate and reproduction of digital certificate. The solutions of these problems are the upbringing of e-contract service providers, broad publicity of e-contract service, development of e-contract service on a global basis, establishment of lower pricing for e-contract service, long time management of e-contract documents by service providers, application of newly developed security technology such as bio technology to e-contract service, satisfaction of requirements of e-contract service provider as trusted third party by designation of recognized e-document repository, development of lower e-contract service by way of application service provider(ASP), introduction of time stamping of e-contract document and signature key value. The limitation of this thesis is that the problems and its solutions could not meet with the broad recognition as they are conferred by intuition because of few e-contract service provider.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.93-108
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• 2022

Purpose - This paper examines the admissibility of restitution as the legal consequence where a contract is frustrated under the Law of Reform (Frustrated Contracts) Act 1943 in comparison with Korean Civil Code (KCC). In order to provide practical guidelines and advice regarding choice of and application of law for contracting parties in international trade, the paper comparatively evaluates requirements and the scope of restitution under the Act 1943 and KCC. Design/methodology - This paper executes a comparative study to analyze whether the parties may claim restitution of money paid or non-money benefit obtained before or after the time of discharge under English law and KCC. To achieve the purpose, it focuses on the identifying characteristics of each statute, thereby providing guidelines to overcome difficulties in legal application and interpretation as to restitution as the consequence of frustration. Findings - Under English law, the benefit may be restituted according to Art 1943 or the common law rule, mistake of fact or law. Under the KCC, restitution is considered based on the principle of the obligation to recover the original obtained regardless of the time when the benefit is conferred. Whilst Act 1943 does not require careful analysis of the grounds of restitution, requirements to justify restitution according to the principle of unjust enrichment, mistake of fact or law, and the KCC should be met. Meanwhile, the KCC may provide more opportunities to award restitution because it does not require the burden of proof related to the defendant's good faith, unlike the principle of unjust enrichment. Originality/value - Where the contract is frustrated by the effect of COVID-19, one legal issue is a consequence of frustration. Therefore, this paper analyzes requirements and the scope of restitution under English law as compared with the KCC in a timely manner. It provides contracting parties with practical guidelines and advice to reduce unpredictability when they choose the governing law in a contract.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.80-102
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• 2019

Purpose - This paper aims to articulate relationship about factors influencing FTA utilization by dividing them into company's external and internal factors and performing investigation on the relationship between FTA utilization and export performance. Design/methodology - This study verified factors influencing FTA utilization by dividing them into company's external and internal factors and performing investigation on the relationship between FTA utilization and export performance. Empirical analysis was performed by setting internal and external factors required for FTA utilization as variables. To achieve this, research model was established based on previous study, hypothesis was deduced, and statistical program were used to test the hypothesis. This study performed empirical analysis using statistical program of SPSS 18.0 and AMOS 18.0 for the research model. Findings - Empirical analysis was performed regarding the effect of the FTA utilization on export performance and previous study defined export performance as the company's increased economy benefits through export and increase in new transactions. Analysis was also performed for factors affecting the FTA utilization by the company and through management and response of external factors and internal factors it was confirmed that the FTA utilization by the company led to increase in the company's export performance as a result. This study proposes a method to achieve export performance based on this. Originality/value - Companies seeking to utilize the FTA sign the Contract for the International Sale of goods and there are many conditions to meet in order to receive trade preferences during the transaction process. Existing trade order and order in the FTA have to be followed. Country of origin can be seen as key in the FTA. The Rule of Origin becomes the most important evaluation standard in applying preferential tariff in the FTA. Such regulations can be seen as external factors which cannot be controlled by the company. Internal factors are capabilities owned before that can be controlled by the company. The study sought to test the variables regarding factors centered on such capability. This study verified factors influencing FTA utilization by dividing them into company's external and internal factors and performing investigation on the relationship between FTA utilization and export performance.