In the negotiations leading to the 1985 text of the Model Law, article 17 was the subject of an articulate debate. The draft provision consisted of one paragraph only, recognising the arbitral tribunal’s power to grant interim measures and requiring, where appropriate, the provision of security. The drafters expressly considered a range of different practical scenarios where this interim relief may prove necessary: the travaux refer in particular to an urgent sale of perishable goods, the preservation of assets, the protection of trade secrets and proprietary information or the protection of evidence.