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INTRODUCTION
The new revision of the Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (the "UCP"), first published by the International Chamber of Commerce ("ICC") in 1933 and revised every ten years or so since then, was passed by the ICC's Commission on Banking Technique and Practice on 25 October 2006 and came into force on 1 July 2007 (such new revision is commonly referred to as the "UCP 600," as it is ICC publication no. 600). As the UCP 600 is used worldwide by importers, exporters, and banks in the course of international trade and is also used for the much greater use (by monetary face amount, and primarily in North America) of standby letters of credit, and has not been revised since 1993, this is an important event. Already, the commentary on the new UCP ranges from "missed opportunity" to "restoration of the credibility of the UCP."1 In this article, we will shortly review the new UCP and the changes that have been made since the 1993 revision (the "UCP 500").
The UCP 600 represents over three years of work by a drafting group established by the ICC's Banking Commission, which group was comprised of nine ICC members. They were assisted by a consulting group consisting of more than forty experts from twenty-six countries. More than 400 ICC members, most of the national committees of the ICC, and numerous industry experts made recommendations and reviewed draft changes to the UCP during the process. On numerous issues, votes of the national committees of the UCP were taken to determine the "popularity" of certain suggested changes to the UCP.
The highlights of the new UCP are the following: an easier to read, simplified structure, with only thirty-nine articles instead of forty-nine; new sections on definitions and interpretation; the replacement of the phrase "reasonable time (not to exceed 7 hanking days)" for acceptance or refusal of documents by five business days; new provisions for discounting of deferred payment credits; the ability of banks to accept an insurance document that contains reference to an exclusion clause; a new section on addresses of the beneficiary and the applicant; an expanded discussion of "original documents"; redrafted transport articles aimed at reducing the confusion over identification of agents and carriers;...