Robert
in New York receives a telephone call requesting he deliver a container of his
pickles to Toronto from a buyer he never dealt with. Robert agrees and delivers
the pickles. Shortly thereafter, the customer complains that the type of
pickles he ordered was not delivered. Robert
wants to sue. What law governs?
While
many businessmen (and a lot of lawyers) would say New York’s Uniform Commercial
Code (UCC) governs, but they would be wrong.
Since 1988, sale of goods between the U.S. and most other countries have
been governed by a treaty called the United Nations Convention on Contracts for
the International Sale of Goods. Since it is a treaty, it overrides the law of
all 50 states including the UCC. It has been acceded to by 83 countries
including Canada, Mexico, Israel and most of Europe except for the United
Kingdom.
