The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) is a treaty offering a uniform international sales law that has been ratified by more than 80 countries that account for a significant proportion of world trade, making it one of the most successful international uniform laws. Rwanda, Madagascar and Bahrain were among the most recent states that have enacted laws authorizing accession to this Convention. Rwanda has concluded the domestic procedure for consideration of CISG by adopting a law for its adoption on 30th August 2013. However, there are other countries that are in due process to ratify this Convention. The CISG allows exporters to avoid choice of laws issues as the CISG offers accepted substantive rules on which contracting parties, courts, and arbitrators may rely. The CISG was developed by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and was signed in Vienna in 1980. The CISG is sometimes referred to as the Vienna Convention. It came into force as a multilateral treaty on 1 January 1988, after being ratified by eleven countries. The CISG has been described as a great legislative achievement and the ‘most successful international document so far’ in unified international sales law in part due to its flexibility in allowing Contracting States the option of taking exception to some specified articles.

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