This chapter focuses on the duties of sellers in the CISG-governed transaction. The seller has the basic duty, of course, to attend to timely delivery of conforming goods and documents, free of the unexpected claims of third parties. This chapter analyzes the issues associated with the delivery of goods and the handing over of documents and the conformity of the goods and third-party claims. It reviews how courts and arbitral panels have interpreted the CISG obligations of the seller.

THE DUTY OF DELIVERY

The CISG requires the seller to “deliver the goods, hand over any documents relating to them and transfer the property in the goods, as required by the contract.” The CISG specifies the seller's obligations with respect to the place for delivery, arranging for the carriage of goods and their insurance, the time of delivery, and the time and place at which documents are to be handed over. These obligations are set forth in Articles 30–34.

As noted in Chapter 2, an underlying (implied) principle of the CISG is the continuance of the contractual relationship. Some commentators have noted that Article 30 contains “the beginnings of an obligation to cooperate.” The Article 30 obligation is general and references the actual agreement of the parties and the particulars of national law. It “states the obvious,” that the seller must deliver the goods, a principle of sales law that is near universal, for “there is no sale without delivery and transfer of property.”