Uniformity & Consistency in UCP X00 Articles

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16 August 2003

To:	Members of the Consulting Group UCP 500 Revision ICC Banking Commission Paris

Hello,

This is my first posting, from Toronto.

I heard that the revised new Articles of UCP 500 (shall I call it "UCP X00 Articles" for simplicity) will be drafted by separate small groups formed within the UCP X00 Working Party or Drafting Group (however named). Each small group will be responsible for drafting a number of UCP X00 Articles.

As a consultant I have built up the instinct of seeing possible problems before they surface. Now I would like to share my worries with you.

The new Articles from different small groups may be inconsistent in terms of:

1. Responsibilities of different roles banks play, such as issuing bank, advising bank, nominated bank, transferring bank & assigning bank.

2. Penalties or sanctions for breaking some of the Articles or responsibilities.

3. Terminology used, such as in a BL, master v. captain, owner v. shipowners, etc.

4. Style and structure of text and

5. Other specifications, such as legal language from a group led by James Byrnes group (ISP98 is an example) and layman language from a banker group.

So I suggest that the WP would assign a special task group to screen all the new Articles to ensure uniformity and consistency in every respect before the new Articles are to be distributed to the Consulting Group for comments.

Otherwise, after the comments received from the Consulting Group, the new Articles have to be revised again for uniformity and consistency, and the Consulting Group has to re-do everything from the start again.

To avoid re-doing, and to speed up the completion date, such screening group would help.

T. O. Lee

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