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LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Legislative history of CISG article 67:
Match-up with 1978 Draft to assess relevance of Secretariat Commentary

      1978 Draft article 79                               CISG article 67 

(1)If the contract of sale involves car- (1)If the contract of sale involves car-                                     
   riage of the goods and the seller is     riage of the goods and the seller is                                      
   not required to hand them over at a      not bound to hand them over at a                                          
   particular destination, the risk pas-    particular place, the risk passes to                                      
   ses to the buyer when the goods are      the buyer when the goods are hand-                                        
   handed over to the first carrier for     ed over to the first carrier for trans-                                   
   transmission to the buyer. If the sell-  mission to the buyer in accordance                                        
   er is required to hand the goods         with the contract of sale. If the seller                                  
   over to a carrier at a particular        is bound to hand the goods over to a                                      
   place other than the destination,        carrier at a particular place, the risk                                   
   the risk does not pass to the buyer      does not pass to the buyer until the                                      
   until the goods are handed over to       goods are handed over to the carrier                                      
   the carrier at that place. The fact      at that place. The fact that the seller                                   
   that the seller is authorized to retain  is authorized to retain documents                                         
   documents controlling the disposi-       controlling the disposition of the                                        
   tion of the goods does not affect the    goods does not affect the passage of                                      
   passage of risk.                         the risk.                                                                 
                                                                                                                             
(2)Nevertheless, if the goods are not    (2)Nevertheless, the risk does not pass                                      
   clearly marked with an address or        to the buyer until the goods are                                          
   otherwise identified to the contract,    clearly identified to the contract,                                       
   the risk does not pass to the buyer      whether by markings on the goods,                                         
   until the seller sends the buyer a       by shipping documents, by notice                                          
   notice of the consignment which          given to the buyer or otherwise.                                          
   specifies the goods.                                                                                                      


Editorial comments
Paragraph (1) of CISG article 67 contains three modifications:

"bound to" rather than "required to".

"place" rather than "destination".

"Mr. NICHOLAS (United Kingdom), introducing his delegation's
amendment ... The word 'destination' usually referred to the locality
at which the goods ended their journey, whereas the more general
word 'place' could include intermediate localities.  In the [first
sentence], he took it that the intention was to refer to any 
particular place, which would normally be other than the destination 
of the goods, and he proposed that the text should read accordingly.
It could not have been the intention of the drafters to suggest, in
the [second sentence], that the goods could be handed over to a
carrier at their destination.  He therefore proposed the deletion
of the phrase 'other than the destination'"  (Official Records, P. 402).

Addition of the phrase "in accordance with the contract of sale".

"Mr. INAAMULLAH (Pakistan), introducing [this addition].  Its intent
was to clarify that when goods were handed over to the first carrier
for transmission to the buyer, that procedure should be in 
accordance with the contract" (Official Records, p. 402).
"Mr. MEHDI (Pakistan) explained that the amendment had been intended
to remove ambiguities in the existing text and in no way to limit
the seller's right to choose the carrier or the mode of dispatch"
(Official Records, p. 213).

Paragraph (2) contains a modification related to the identification of the
goods.

"Mr. HONNOLD (United States of America), introducing his
delegation's amendment to [the second paragraph], said the 
existing text laid undue emphasis on identification by
specifying that goods should be marked with an address.  That was
not the most normal means of identification and was unworkable for
bulk goods.  For the sake of clarification he proposed a more
flexible formulation which would be more in accord with 
commercial practice" (Official Records, p. 402).

Subject to the above, the Secretariat Commentary on 1978 Draft article 79
should be relevant to the interpretation of CISG article 67.

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