* Edward Cornell Law Librarian and Professor of Law, Cornell Law School. Also published in 1 Review of the Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) 1995 117-145 (1996) (Kluwer Law International), edited by Cornell International Law Journal.

** As this article is intended to be a guide for practitioners, bluebook form was altered in some instances so as to provide as much information as possible.

1. United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, U.N. Doc. A/CONF.97/18, art. 5 (1981) (opened for signature Apr. 11, 1980) [hereinafter CISG].
2. See Peter Winship, Update: The New Legal Regime for International Sales Contracts, 2 Rev. Int'l Bus. L. 107, 107 - 08 (1988).
3. Id. at 111.
4. CISG, supra note 1, art. 1(1).
5. Winship, supra note 2, at 112.
6. The International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) is an independent intergovernmental organization, seated in Rome, consisting of fifty-six member states. Its offices and numbers are: UNIDROIT, Via Panisperna 28, 00184 Rome, Italy; Tel.: (39/6) 69941372; Fax: (39/6) 69941394. Established in 1926 under the auspices of the League of Nations, its purpose is to examine ways of harmonizing and co-ordinating the private law of States and groups of States.
7. Conventions on International Sale of Goods and Formation of Contracts for International Sale of Goods, Convention Relating to a Uniform Law on the International Sale of Goods, opened for signature July 1, 1964, 3 I.L.M. 854, 855 [hereinafter ULIS].
8. Conventions on International Sale of Goods and Formation of Contracts for International Sale of Goods, Convention Relating to a Uniform Law on the Formation of Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, opened for signature July 1, 1964, 3 I.L.M. 854, 864 [hereinafter ULF].
9. United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods: Note by the Secretariat, U.N. GAOR Comm. on Int'l Trade Law, 21st Sess., U.N. Doc. A/CN.9/307 (1988) [hereinafter Secretariat Note].
10. The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) was established by the General Assembly in 1966. In establishing the Commission, the General Assembly hoped to reduce obstacles to the flow of international trade. The Commission carried the general mandate to further the progressive harmonization of international trade among nations. The Secretariat of UNCITRAL is the International Trade Law Branch of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs. It is located in Vienna. UNCITRAL Secretariat, P.O. Box 500, Vienna International Centre, A - 1400 Vienna, Austria; Phone: (43 - 1) 21345/4060 or 4061; Fax: (43 - 1) 237485; Secretary: Gerold Herrmann.

    For more information, refer to Germain �s Transnational Law Research: A Guide for Attorneys , Ch. IV, UNITED NATIONS (1991- . Looseleaf); UNCITRAL also has a web site and can be reached at:

    http://www.un.or.at/uncitral/
11. The Convention was submitted to the U.S. Senate for its advice and consent to ratification on September 21, 1983. United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, Sept. 21, 1983, S. Treaty Doc. 98 - 9, 98th Cong., 1st Sess. (1983) [hereinafter President's Letter]. An analysisof the convention accompanies the President's letter. The Senate gave its advise and consent on October 9, 1986, and the Convention went into effect on January 1, 1988.
12. For current status information call the United Nations Treaty Section in New York at (212) 963 3918.
13. See Robert G. Lee, The UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods: OK for the U.K.? 1993 J. Bus. L. (1993); Barry Nicholas, The United Kingdom and the Vienna Sales Convention: Another Case of Splendid Isolation? Address Before the Centro di Studi e Richerche di Diritto Comparato e Straniero (March 1993), in Saggi, Conferenze E Seminari, 1993, at 1.
14. See, e.g. , International Economic and Trade Law--Universal and Regional Integration (Olive M. Schmitthoff & Kenneth R. Simmonds eds., Leyden: Sijthoff, 1976); Einheitliches Kaufrecht und Nationales Obligationsrecht (Peter Schlechtriem ed., Baden-Baden: Nomos, 1987).
15. See, e.g., Roy Goode, Reflections on the Harmonisation of Commercial Law, 1 Uniform L. Rev. 54 (1991).
16. See Audit, infra part II.A.
17. For instance, ULIS Article 82 and CISG article 74 on consequential damages and foreseeability are substantively identical, and the ULIS articles have generated commentaries and cases that may be useful in the interpretation of the CISG.
18. See, e.g., Ireland Law Reform Commission, Report on United Nations (Vienna) Convention on Contracts for the Sale of Goods (Dublin: The Commission, 1980).
19. E.g. , Jacques Ghestin & Bernard Desche, Traité des Contrats (Paris: L.G.D.J., 1990); 2 George Riblot & Rene Riblot, Traité de Droit Commercial (13th ed., Paris: L.G.D.J., 1992).
20. See, e.g. , E. Allen Farnsworth et al., Cases and Materials on Commercial Law (5th ed. 1993); Nicholas, Impracticability and Impossibility Under CISG (1984), reprinted in Ralph Folsom et al., International Business Transactions: A Problem-Oriented Coursebook (3d ed. 1995).
21. Peter Schlechtriem, Vienna Sales Convention 1980 (Recent Developments)--Developed Countries Perspectives, (Sept. 22, 1992) (unpublished manuscript on file with author).
22. See infra part IV.A.
23. See, e.g. , Peter Schlechtriem, Unification of the Law for the International Sale of Goods, in XII Internationaler Kongreß für Rechtsvergleichung 1986 Sydney und Melbourne/Australien 121 (1987); K. Sutton, Methodology in Applying Uniform Law for International Sales (under the UN Convention) , in Law and Australian Legal Thinking in the 1980's 91 (Alice E.S. Tay ed., 1986).
24. See, e.g. , Christian Mouly, Que Change la Convention de Vienne sur la vente internationale par rapport au droit français interne? , 1991 Recueil Dalloz Sirey 77.
25. Bernard Audit, The Vienna Sales Convention and the Lex Mercatoria, in Lex Mercatoria and Arbitration: A Discussion of the New Law Merchant 139 (Thomas Carbonneau ed., Dobbs-Ferry, N.Y.: Transnational Juris, 1990).
26. Joseph P. Griffin & Michael R. Calabrese, New Rules for International Contracts , 74 A.B.A. J. 68 (1988).
27. Stewart F. Hancock, Jr., A Uniform Commercial Code for International Sales? We Have It Now , 67 N.Y. St. B.J. 20 (Jan. 1995).
28. Joseph Lookofsky, The 1980 United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, in International Encyclopedia of Laws-Contracts 1-156 (Roger Blanpain ed., Kluwer Law & Taxation, 1993).
29. Joseph Lookofsky, Understanding the CISG in the USA: A Compact Guide to the 1980 United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (Kluwer Law International, 1995).
30. C.M. Bianca & Michael Bonell, Commentary on the International Sales Law: The 1980 Vienna Sales Convention (Milan: Guiffre, 1987).
31. Fritz Enderlein & Dietrich Maskow, International Sales Law: United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (New York: Oceana, 1992).
32. John Honnold, Uniform Law for International Sales under the 1980 United Nations Convention (2d ed., Boston: Kluwer, 1991).
33. International Sales: The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (Nina M. Galston & Hans Smit eds., New York: M. Bender, 1984).
34. International Sale of Goods: Dubrovnik Lectures (Peter Šarçeviç & Paul Volken eds., New York: Oceana, 1986).
35. Joseph M. Lookofsky, Consequential Damages in Comparative Context: From Breach of Promise to Monetary Remedy in the American, Scandinavian and International Law of Contracts and Sales (Copenhagen: Jurist og Akonomforbundets Forlag, 1989).
36. Peter Schlechtriem, Uniform Sales Law: The UN - Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (Vienna: Manz, 1986).
37. Actes du colloque sur la vente internationale (Louis Perret et al. eds., Montreal: Wilson & Lafleur, 1989).
38. J. Adame Goddard, El contrato de compraventa internacional (1994).
39. Bernard Audit, La vente internationale de marchandises (1990).
40. Jean Paul Béraudo & Philippe Kahn, La vente internationale de marchandises (1989).
41. Das Einheitliche Wiener Kaufrecht (Hans Hoyer & Willibald Posch eds., Vienna: Orac, 1992).
42. Fritz Enderlein et al., Internationales Kaufrecht (Berlin: Haufe, 1991).
43. Alberto Espina Otero & Alexandro Quintana Hurtado, Compraventa internacional de mercader �as (Santiago de Chile: Editorial Juridica de Chile, 1985).
44. Franco Ferrari, Vendita internazionale di beni mobili (1994).
45. Alejandro M. Garro & Alberto L. Zuppi, Compraventa internacional de mercader �as (Buenos Aires: La Rocca, 1990).
46. Bernhard Gomard & Hardy Rechnagel, International Kobelov (Copenhagen: Jurist og Okonomforbundet, 1990).
47. E. Guardiola Sacarrera, La compraventa internacional y los incoterms (3d ed., Barcelona: Camara Official de Comercio, 1984).
48. Rolf Herber & Beate Czerwenka, Internationales Kaufrecht (M �nchen: Beck, 1991).
49. Jacques H. Herbots, Het transnationale koopverdrag. De Weense koopovereenkomst 1980 (Leuven: Acco, 1992).
50. Vincent Heuze, La vente internationale de marchandises (Paris: GLN Joly, 1992).
51. Martin Karollus, UN-Kaufrecht (New York: Springer, 1991).
52. R.A. Lichtsteiner, Übereinkommen der Vereinten Nationen über Vertr äge über den internationalen Warenkauf (1989).
53. Roland Loewe, Internationales Kaufrecht (1989).
54. Karl Neumayer & Catherine Ming, Convention de Vienne sur les contrats de vente internationale de marchandises (Commentaire) (Fran �ois Dessemontet ed., Lausanne: Centre du Droit de l �entreprise de l �Université de Lausanne, 1993).
55. Michel Pelichet, La vente internationale de marchandises et le conflit de lois , 201 Hague Academy of International Law 9-210 (1988).
56. Bernhard Piltz, Internationales Kaufrecht. Das UN-Kaufrecht (Wiener Übereinkommen von 1980) in praxisorientierter Darstellung (1993).
57. Gert Reinhart, UN-Kaufrecht (Heidelberg: Miler Juristischer Verlag, 1991).
58. Peter Schlechtriem, Einheitliches UN-Kaufrecht (1981).
59. Jean Thiéffry & Chantal Granier, La vente internationale (2d ed., Paris: Centre Français du Commerce Extérieur, 1992).
60. Kommentar zum Einheitlichen UN - Kaufrecht (Ernst Von Caemmerer & Peter Schlechtriem eds., 2d ed., München: Beck, 1995).
61. Wiener Kaufrecht (Eugen Bucher ed., Bern: Stämpfli, 1991).
62. Claude Witz, Les premieres applications jurisprudentielles du droit uniforme de la vente internationale (Paris: L.G.D.J., 1995).
63. Albert H. Kritzer, Guide to Practical Applications of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (Boston: Kluwer Law & Taxation, 1989).
64. Louis Del Duca et al., Sales under the Uniform Commercial Code and the Convention on International Sale of Goods (Cincinnati, Ohio: Anderson, 1993-).
65. Henry D. Gabriel, Practitioner's Guide to the Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) and the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) (New York: Oceana, 1994).
66. Guide to the International Sale of Goods Convention (W. Hancock, ed., Chesterland, Ohio: Business Laws, 1987-).
67. U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods: Annotated (Grant Ackerman ed., Boston: Warren, Gorham & Lamont, 1992-).
68. See also Germain �s Transnational Law Research: A Guide for Attorneys , Ch. III and Ch. IV (Transnational Juris, 1992).
69. Michael J. Bonell, An International Restatement of Contract Law: The UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (Irvington, NY: Transnational Juris, 1994).
70. Commercial and Consumer Law: National and International Dimensions (Ross Cranston & Roy Goode eds., New York: Oxford University Press, 1993).
71. William F. Fox, International Commercial Agreements: A Primer on Drafting, Negotiating, and Resolving Disputes (Boston: Kluwer Law & Taxation, 1992).
72. International Uniform Law in Practice (UNIDROIT ed., New York: Oceana; Rome: UNIDROIT, 1988).
73. International Commercial Agreements (Practicing Law Institute ed., 1990).
74. International Trade for the Nonspecialist (Paul H. Vishny ed., Philadelphia, PA: American Law Institute-American Bar Association, Committee for Continuing Professional Education, 1992).
75. Nicholas Kouladis, Principles of Law Relating to Overseas Trade (Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell, 1994).
76. Albert H. Kritzer, International Contract Manual.
77. Negotiating and Structuring International Commercial Transactions: Legal Analysis with Sample Agreements (Shelly P. Battram et al. eds., Chicago, Ill.: ABA, Section of International Law and Practice, 1991).
78. New Dimensions in International Trade Law: A Canadian Perspective (Jacob Ziegel & William Graham eds., Toronto: Butterworths, 1982).
79. Principles of International Commercial Contracts (UNIDROIT ed., Rome: UNIDROIT, 1994).
80. Clive M. Schmitthoff, Schmitthoff �s Export Trade: The Law and Practice of International Trade (London: Stevens, 1990).
81. Transnational Law of International Commercial Transactions--Studies in Transnational Law (Norbert Horn & Clive Schmitthoff eds., Deventer: Kluwer Law International, 1982).
82. The official text of the Convention can be found in: United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, Apr. 10, 1980, U.N. Doc. A/CONF.97/18, Annex I, reprinted in 19 ILM 668 (1980). For US sources, the UN - certified Convention text is published in 52 Fed. Reg. 6262 (1987). It is also printed in the Appendix to Title 15 of the United States Code Annotated . 15 U.S.C.A. app. (West 1995). The text of the Convention is also to be found in Martindale - Hubbell Law Directory, International Law Digest volume (MARHUB;INTDIG, added to LEXIS in August 1995).
83. See ULIS, supra note 7; ULF, supra note 8.
84. The records of the 1980 Convention are officially published in United Nations Conference on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods �Official Records, UN Doc. A/CONF.97/19 (1981) [hereinafter Official Records]. These official records include the documents of the conference and summary records of the plenary meetings and of the meetings of the main committees. The principle conference documents are the 1978 draft UNCITRAL text, a commentary on this draft prepared by the UNCITRAL Secretariat, and the Secretary-General's analysis of comments and proposals on the 1978 draft made by governments and international organizations.
85. See, e.g. , 1974 UNCITRAL Y.B. 44, U.N. Doc. A/CN.9/SER.A/1974; 1977 UNCITRAL Y.B. 59, U.N. Doc. ACN.9/SER.A/1988.
86. See Germain , supra note 68, Ch. III, 13.16.16.
87. Message from the President Containing the Legal Analysis of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, S. Treaty Doc. No. 98-9, 98th Cong., 1st Sess. (1983), reprinted in 22 I.L.M. 1368 (1984), and in Galston, supra note 33. See also Henry Landau, Background to U.S. Participation in United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, 18 Int'l Law. 29 (1984).
88. Report of the United States Delegation to the United Nations Conference on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods at Vienna, Austria, submitted to Secretary of State (1980) (Prepared by John O. Honnold, Co-Chairman of the Delegation) [hereinafter Delegation Report].
89. Peter Pfund, International Unification of Private Law: A Report on United States Participation, 1985-86 , 20 Int �l Law. 623 (1986).
90. Arno Liivak, International Sale of Goods: Documentary History of the 1980 U.N. Convention (Buffalo, New York: Hein, 1992).
91. The Convention for the International Sale of Goods: A Handbook of Basic Materials (D. Magraw & R. Kathrein eds., 2d ed., Washington, D.C.: ABA Section of International Law and Practice, 1990).
92. See infra note 127.
93. The United Nations Conference on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods- - Official Records: Documents of the Conference and Summary Records of the Plenary Meetings and of the Meetings of the Main Committees , 1981, U.N. Sales No. E.82.V.5 (1981).
94. Delegation Report, supra note 88.
95. Id.
96. Id.
97. John Honnold, Documentary History of the Uniform Law for International Sales: The Studies, Deliberations, and Decisions that Led to the 1980 United Nations Convention with Introductions and Explanations (Deventer: Kluwer Law & Taxation, 1989).
98. Dissemination of Decisions Concerning UNCITRAL Legal Texts and Uniform Interpretation of Such Texts: Note by Secretariat , U.N. GAOR, 40th Sess., U.N. Doc. A/CN.9/267 (1985).
99. Audit, supra note 25, at 176.
100. The CLOUT system is explained in United Nations, Commission in Iternational Trade LAw, Case Law on UNCITRAL Text (Clout): User Guide, U.N. Doc. A/CN.9/SER.C/GUIDE/1 (1993) (available from the UNICITRAL Secretariat, P.O. Box 500,Vienna International Centre, A-1400, Vienna, Austria. Fax: 43-1-21345-5813).
101. Michael Will, International Sales Law under CISG: The First Hundred Decisions (Geneve, Switzerland: M. Will, 1994).
102. Convention on Agency in the International Sale of Goods, reprinted in 22 I.L.M. 249 (1983).
103. U.N. Convention on the Limitation Period in the International Sale of Goods, June 14, 1974, U.N. Doc. A/CONF.63/15 (1974), reprinted in 13 I.L.M. 952 (1974), and Protocol Amending the Convention on the Limitation Period in the International Sale of Goods, Apr. 10, 1980, U.N. Doc. A/CONF.97/18, Annex II, reprinted in 19 I.L.M. 696 (1980). The 1974 Convention on the Limitation Period in the International Sale of Goods and its 1980 Protocol came into force for the United States on December 1, 1994. 33 I.L.M. 1619, 1620 (1994).
104. Executive Secretary of the Pace Institute of International Commercial Law and Editor of the CISG project.
105. Director of the Law Library and Director of the Pace Institute of International Commercial Law, and Internet Director of the Project. For further information: Pace University School of Law, 78 North Broadway, White Plains, N.Y. 10603, U.S.A.
106. Franco Ferrari, Uniform Interpretation of the 1980 Uniform Sales Law , 24 J. Int'l & Comp. L.Q. 183 (1994).
107. Henri D. Gabriel, The Battle of the Forms: A Comparison of the United Nations Convention for the International Sale of Goods and the Uniform Commercial Code: The Common Law and the Uniform Commercial Code , 49 Bus. Law . 1053-64 (1994).
108. 21 Cornell Int'l L.J. 419 - 589 (1988).
109. Isaak I. Dore & James E. Defranco, A Comparison of the Non - Substantive Provisions of the UNCITRAL Convention on the International Sale of Goods and the Uniform Commercial Code, 23 Harv. Int'l L.J. 49 (1982).
110. Gyula Eörsi, A Propos the 1980 Vienna Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods , 31 Am. J. Comp. L. 333 (1983).
111. J.D. Feltham, The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods , J. Bus. L. , Nov. 1981, at 346.
112. John Honnold, Convention on the Limitation Period in the International Sale of Goods , 24 Int'l Law. 583 (1990).
113. 8 J.L. & Comm. (1988).
114. Arthur G. Murphey, Jr., Consequential Damages in Contracts for the International Sale of Goods and the Legacy of Hadley , 23 Geo. Wash. J. Int'l L. & Econ. 415 (1990).
115. Muna Ndulo, The Vienna Sales Convention 1980 and the Hague Uniform Laws on International Sale of Goods 1964: A Comparative Analysis , 38 Int'l & Comp. L.Q. 1-25 (1989).
116. Symposium on International Sale of Goods Convention , 18 Int'l Law. 3 (1984).
117. Symposium Reflections on the International Unification of Sales Law , 8 Nw. J. Int'l L. & Bus. 531 (1988).
118. Francois Vergne, The "Battle of the Forms" Under the 1980 United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods , 33 Am. J. Comp. L. 233 (1985).
119. Peter Winship, Energy Contracts and the United Nations Sales Convention , 25 Tex. Int'l L.J. 365 (1990).
120. Peter Winship, Formation of International Sales Contracts under the 1980 Vienna Convention , 17 Int'l Law. 1 (1983).
121. Peter Winship, International Sales Contracts under the 1980 Vienna Convention , 17 U.C.C. L.J. 55 (1984).
122. John Honnold, Bibliography: International Sale of Goods , 27 Am. J. Comp. L. 345 - 49 (1979).
123. Daniel J. Jacobs, International Sale of Goods: A Selective Bibliography , 44 Rec. Ass �n Bar of City of N.Y. 342 (1989).
124. See, e.g., supra note 85.
125. Michael Will, International bibliography on the Uniform Sales Law (4th ed., Köln, Germany: Bundesstelle für Aussenhandels information, forthcoming 1995).
126. Peter Winship, A Bibliography of Commentaries on the United Nations International Sales Convention; Bibliography , 22 Int'l Law. 605 (1988).
127. Peter Winship, The U.N. Sales Convention: A Bibliography of English-Language Publications , 28 Int �l Law. 401-23 (1994).