Sixth Committee (Legal) — 80th session
Report of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law on the work of its fifty-eighth session (Agenda item 78)
- Authority: resolution 79/117
- List of speakers
Documentation
- A/80/17 — Report of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law on the work of its fifty-eighth session
- A/C.6/80/L.10 — Draft resolution "Report of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law on the work of its fifty-eighth session" [see also: statement of financial implications]
- A/C.6/80/L.8 — Draft resolution "United Nations Convention on Negotiable Cargo Documents"
Summary of work
Background (source: A/80/100)
At its twenty-first session, the General Assembly established the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) to promote the progressive harmonization and unification of the law of international trade (resolution 2205 (XXI)). Pursuant to that resolution, the Commission should submit an annual report to the Assembly. The Commission began its work in 1968. The Assembly has had on its agenda the item entitled “Report of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law” since its twenty-third session (resolution 2421 (XXIII)).
At its seventy-ninth session, the Assembly noted with interest the progress made by the Commission in its work in several areas during its fifty-seventh session and the decisions taken by the Commission on its future work (resolution 79/117).
Consideration at the eightieth session
The Sixth Committee considered the item at its 20th, 21th, 22nd and 38th meetings, on 20 and 21 October and on 21 November 2025. The views of the representatives who spoke during the Committee’s consideration of the item are reflected in the relevant summary records. (See A/C.6/80/SR.20, 21, 22 and 38).
The Committee observed a moment of silence in memory of Ambassador Julia Emma Villatoro Tario, the Chair of the fifty-eighth session of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law.
The representative of El Salvador spoke.
The Vice-Chair of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law at its fifty-eight session introduced the report of the Commission (A/80/17).
The Secretary of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law spoke.
Statements were made by the representatives of Cameroon (on behalf of the African Group), the European Union (also on behalf of its member States (the candidate countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, and Bosnia and Herzegovina aligned themselves with this statement)), Finland (on behalf of the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden and Norway)), the Republic of Korea, Israel, the United States of America, France, Germany, Austria, Sierra Leone, the Russian Federation, El Salvador, Armenia, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, India, Mexico, the Philippines, Nigeria, Thailand, China, Côte d'Ivoire, Algeria, Colombia, Singapore, Zambia, Saudi Arabia, the Maldives, Canada, Pakistan, Italy, Morocco, Japan, Paraguay, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Belarus, Ghana, Chile and the Dominican Republic.
The Vice-Chair of the fifty-eighth session of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law made a statement.
Delegations generally expressed support for the work of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law and emphasized the Commission’s role in the harmonization and progressive development of international trade law. Delegations commended the Commission for the progress made at its fifty-eighth session. This included the adoption of the draft convention on negotiable cargo documents, in connection which the delegations highlighted the facilitation of multimodal transport, increased legal certainty, the digitization of trade, simplified, more flexible and more efficient trade processes. Delegations further commended the UNCITRAL Toolkit and Background Notes on Asset Tracing and Recovery in Insolvency Proceedings as a practitioner-friendly contribution to ensuring legal certainty, protecting creditors and recovering misappropriated assets across borders. Delegations also welcomed the UNCITRAL Toolkit on Prevention and Mitigation of International Investment Disputes as a tool for increasing predictability, as well as preventing and managing disputes effectively.
Several delegations also welcomed the publication of the model organization rules for limited liability enterprises, the UNCITRAL–UNIDROIT study on the legal nature of verified carbon credits issued by independent carbon standard setters, and the adoption of the guidance document on legal issues relating to the use of distributed ledger technology in trade. Delegations welcomed the progress on the operationalization of the Advisory Centre on International Investment Dispute Resolution and commended its significant role in providing technical assistance and promoting capacity building for least-developed countries and developing countries. Several delegations expressed their interest in hosting the Headquarters or a regional office of the Advisory Centre.
In relation to future work, delegations expressed their interest in various aspects of the work of the working groups. Regarding Working Group II, several delegations highlighted the importance of advancing the work of dispute resolution in digital economy, especially the recognition of electronic awards and delivery of electronic notices of arbitration. Concerning Working Group III, a number of delegations highlighted the importance of making further progress on further structural reforms regarding investor-State dispute settlement mechanisms. Several delegations endorsed continuing additional one-week session for the Working Group through 2026–2027. Regarding Working Group IV, some delegations welcomed implementation of the mandate on the use of artificial intelligence and automation in contracting, as well as the ongoing work on data provision contracts. With respect to Working Group V, a number of delegations expressed appreciation for progress in the work on asset tracing and recovery in insolvency proceedings. Regarding Working Group VI, some delegations expressed appreciation for the finalization of work on negotiable multimodal transport documents. Several delegations expressed interest in the future work of the Commission, especially in those regarding to digital economy and artificial intelligence. Some delegations expressed interest in taking part in the colloquia planned for next year.
Finally, many delegations emphasized the importance of capacity building programmes and broad participation of all countries. Some delegations emphasized the important role of the UNCITRAL Trust Fund to facilitate the participation of developing countries in the Commission’s work and welcomed the opportunity to participate online at meetings. Several delegations supported the work of streamlining the text of future UNCITRAL omnibus resolutions.
Archived videos and summaries of plenary meetings
20th meeting (20 October 2025, 10:00am – 1:00pm) | Summary
21st meeting (21 October 2025, 10:00am – 1:00pm) | Summary
22nd meeting (21 October 2025, 3:00pm – 6:00pm) | Summary
38th meeting (21 November 2025, 10:30am – 1:00pm) | Summary
Action taken by the Sixth Committee
At the 38th meeting, on 21 November, the representative of Austria, on behalf of Armenia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Hungary, Japan, Luxembourg, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Zambia, introduced draft resolution entitled “Report of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law on the work of its fifty-eighth session” (A/C.6/80/L.10) and announced that Belarus, Bulgaria, Côte d’Ivoire, Cyprus, El Salvador, Finland, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Montenegro, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Peru, the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Sierra Leone, Thailand and Viet Nam had joined in sponsoring the draft resolution.
At the same meeting, the Secretary of the Committee made a statement regarding the financial implications of draft resolution A/C.6/80/L.10 in accordance with rule 153 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly.
At the same meeting, the representative of Austria, behalf of the Bureau, introduced a draft resolution entitled “United Nations Convention on Negotiable Cargo Documents” (A/C.6/80/L.8).
At the same meeting, the Committee adopted the two draft resolutions (A/C.6/80/L.8 and A/C.6/80/L.10) without a vote.
Under the terms of draft resolution A/C.6/80/L.8, the General Assembly would, inter alia, commend the Commission on the preparation of the draft convention on negotiable cargo documents, adopt the United Nations Convention on Negotiable Cargo Documents as annexed to the resolution, and authorize a ceremony for the opening for signature of the Convention in the second half of 2026 in Accra.
Under the terms of draft resolution A/C.6/80/L.10, the Assembly would, inter alia, commend the Commission for the approval or adoption of a number of its products and note with interest the decisions taken by the Commission as regards its future work and the progress made by the Commission in its work in several areas.
Subsequent action taken by the General Assembly
- Report of the Sixth Committee: A/80/448
- GA resolution: 80/161 | 80/162
This agenda item will be considered at the eighty-first session (2026).
Related links
