text: B. Model communication agreements 87.Subsequent tothepublication ofUNCID,several modelcommunication agreements havebeenprepared forgeneral use.Particular mention mightbe madeoftheEDIAssociation oftheUnited Kingdom (UK-EDIA) Standard Interchange Agreement, whichwasissuedinMarch1988,andtheAmerican Bar Association Trading Partners ModelAgreement, whichwasintroduced atthe thirty-first session oftheWorking PartyonFacilitation ofInternational TradeProcedures oftheEconomic Commission forEuropeinMarch1990.52/TheA/CN.9/333 English Page22 twomodelagreements covermanyofthesamesubstantive questions, buteach wasdrafted inthecontext ofthedomestic lawofthecountry inquestion. 88.TheTEDISgroupwithintheCommission oftheEuropean Communities has begunthepreparation ofaEuropean ModelInterchange Agreement. Whilethis efforttakesintoaccount themodelagreements thathavealready beenissued, changes areenvisaged totakeintoaccount theusages andlegalrequirements ofthetwelvememberStatesoftheEuropean Communities. 89.Thedraft"RulesfortheElectronic Transfer ofRightstoGoodsin Transit", prepared bytheComiteMaritime International (CMI),(Paris, 16 January 1990),constitute asectoral approach toEDI,withaviewtotheir beingapplicable inatrulyopenenvironment. ThedraftRulesnotonly contain substantive rulesthataddress thequestion ofthereplacement ofthe traditional billofladingby an EDI message, butalsocontain provisions on communication issues. Thoseprovisions arebasedupontheUNCIDrulesand theyfunctionally constitute acommunication agreement. CONCLUSION 90.TheCommission maywishtorequest theSecretariat tocomplement this preliminary reportwithafurther reporttothenextsession ofthe Commission. Thereporttobesubmitted tothenextsession mightindicate developments inotherorganizations duringtheyearrelevant tothelegal issuesarising inEDI.Thereportmightalsoanalyse existing andproposed modelcommunication agreements withaviewtorecommending whether amodel agreement should beavailable forworld-wide useand,ifso,whether the Commission shouldundertake itspreparation.A/CN.9/333 English Page23 NOTES 1/ReportoftheUnitedNations Commission onInternational TradeLaw ontheworkofitsseventeenth session, Official Records oftheGeneral Assembly. Thirty-ninth Session, Supplement No. 17(A/39/l7), para.136. • •2/A/CN.9/254 . '1/A/CN.9/265. ~/Official Records oftheGeneral Assembly, Fortieth Session. Supplement No. 17(A/40/l7), para.360. ~/UnitedNations Commission onInternational LawYearbook, 1985,vol. XVI,PartOne, D. (United Nations publications, SalesNo.E.87.V.4). Q/A/CN.9/279 andA/CN.9/292. 1/Official Records oftheGeneral Assembly. Forty-third Session. Supplement No. 17(A/43/l7), paras.46and47. ~/Official Records oftheGeneral Assembly, Forty-fourth Session, Supplement No. 17(A/44/l7), para.289. ~/SeeA/CN.9/265, Annex,question 11. 10/TheConvention fortheUnification ofCertain RulesRelating to International Carriage byAir,Warsaw, 12October 1929,articles 5to9. 11/Interpretation Act1978,Schedule 1. 12/Official Journal oftheEuropean Communities, L285,8October 1987. 13/SeeA/CN.9/292, paras. 24and25. 14/TEDIS-Situation iuridigue desEtatsmembres auregarddutransfert electronigue dedonnees, (Brussels, Commission oftheEuropean Communities, 1989). 15/Official Journal oftheEuropean Communities, C230,7September 1989. 16/The TEDIS-EDI LegalWorkshop, (Brussels, Commission oftheEuropean Communities, 1989). 17/TEDIS-Situation juridigue •••,(seenote14supra), pp.251-252. 18/Ibid.,pp.254ff. 19/Ibid.,pp.256-257. 20/Forexample, undersomestatutes adopted fortheprotection of private consumers, deferred payment salesandsalescontracts concluded atthe domicile ofthebuyermustbemadeinwriting. Theregenerally existsnosuch requirement forcontracts concluded withinautomatic tellersystems or point-of-sale systems.A/CN.9/333 English Page24 21/TEDIS-Situation iuridique •••,(seenote14supra), p.260. 22/Foranexample ofsucharuleandsomeexceptions, seearticles 1341,1347and1348oftheFrenchCivilCode.
analysis: This text appears to be a report on the development of model communication agreements for electronic data interchange (EDI) in international trade. It discusses the need for standardization and the efforts of various organizations to prepare model agreements. The text also touches on legal issues and the importance of considering the usages and legal requirements of different countries.