S'PORE RATIFIES UN CONVENTION ON ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS IN INTERNATIONAL CONTRACTS

By Zakaria Abdul Wahab

SINGAPORE, July 8 (Bernama) -- Singapore become the first country in Asia to
ratify the United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in
International Contracts.

The convention, ratified Wednesday, seeks to facilitate global electronic
commerce trade by harmonising laws among countries and providing a set of
comprehensive rules to guide the use of electronic communication in the
negotiation and formation of international contracts.

In a statement Thursday, the republic's Information, Communications and the
Arts Ministry said Singapore's ratification of the convention would enhance the
legal certainty and commercial predictability of the use of electronic
communications in international contracts in the city-state.

"The UN Convention will ensure businesses are not subject to different
standards for domestic and international transactions and will also minimise
complications that could arise from different definitions and conventions in
cross-border transactions," said Renaud Sorieul, Secretary of the UN Commission
on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).

The ratification of the UN Convention complements Singapore's Electronic
Transactions Act which is the legal framework for domestic electronic
transactions.

The UN Convention was developed by the UNCITRAL working group, chaired by
Singapore, and is an updated international legal framework for e-commerce that
takes into account developments brought on by the Internet and other
technological advances.
-- BERNAMA