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LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Legislative history of CISG article 38:
Match-up with 1978 Draft to assess relevance to Secretariat Commentary

      1978 Draft article 36                           CISG article 38 

(1)The buyer must examine the goods,      (1)The buyer must examine the goods,     
   or cause them to be examined,             or cause them to be examined,          
   within as short a period as is practi-    within as short a period as is practi- 
   cable in the circumstances.               cable in the circumstances.              

(2)If the contract involves carriage of   (2)If the contract involves carriage of  
   the goods, examination may be de-         the goods, examination may be de-    
   ferred until after the goods have ar-     ferred until after the goods have ar-
   rived at their destination.               rived at their destination.           

(3)If the goods are redispatched by the   (3)If the goods are redirected in transit
   buyer without a reasonable oppor-         or redispatched by the buyer with-   
   tunity for examination by him and         out a reasonable opportunity for ex- 
   at the time of the conclusion of the      amination by him and at the time of 
   contract the seller knew or ought to      the conclusion of the contract the   
   have known of the possibility of          seller knew or ought to have known   
   such redispatch, examination may          of the possibility of such redirection 
   be deferred until after the goods         or redispatch, examination may be   
   have arrived at the new destination.      deferred until after the goods have 
                                             arrived at the new destination.   


Editorial comments
The Secretariat Commentary on 1978 Draft article 36 remains relevant to
the interpretation of CISG article 38.  Paragraph (1) and (2) of these
articles are identical.  Paragraph (3) of CISG article 38 refers to
redirection in transit as well as redispatch of the goods.

The Summary Records of Committee Meetings of the Vienna Diplomatic
Conference contain the the following colloquoy on this subject:
"THE CHAIRMAN [Mr. LOEWE (Austria)] asked what the distinction was
between 'redirected in transit' and 'redispatched'.  The words used in the
French text seemed to be synonymous.  Mr. FOKKEMA (Netherlands) said that
was indeed true of the choice of words in the French text but in the English
there was a distinction between the two terms used.  'Redispatched' implied
that the goods had reached their first destination and had subsequently been
sent on.  'Redirected in transit' implied that they had never reached their
first destination". (Official Records, p.320.)

The Secretariat Commentary on 1978 Draft article 36 should be read in
conjunction with this explanation.

To examine 1978 Draft provisions in context, go to the full-text of the 1978 Draft || To examine CISG provisions in context, go to the full text of the CISG