The new federal omnibus bill on the economy – Bill C-39, the Building Canada Strong Act – contains in Part 2 (“Keep Canada Moving”) Division 8, the Enabling Digital Trade Act.

This text implements for international trade in Canada the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR). It allows, though does not require, the use of electronic versions of transferable records. Transferable records transfer title to the goods or sums mentioned in them by the transfer of the records themselves. Bills of lading are a common example, promissory notes another.

The provisions are a pretty straighforward reproduction of MLETR. . . . [more]

A few years ago, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) was reported here to be considering a project on identity management and trust services. That report outlined some of the legal and practical issues that these matters raise, and some of the options for going forward.

To nobody’s surprise, UNCITRAL did adopt a project on this topic, and its Working Group on Electronic Commerce has been considering it since 2017. A list of the principal policy documents and records of the Working Group’s discussions is here.

Recently the UNCITRAL Secretariat has released two Working Papers in . . . [more]

UNCITRAL has now adopted a model law on electronic transferable records. See the press release below. The full text will be available online shortly at the URL shown at the end of the document.

Canadians showed little interest in this project while it was being developed, so Canada’s attendance at the working group meetings was intermittent.

Does it sound more interesting now that it is final? Would your clients benefit from an internationally accepted law on the topic? This UNCITRAL text is the best that will be available in the foreseeable future.

Should steps be taken to implement it here? . . . [more]