Uniform Rules for Digital Trade Transactions: An important step in digitalising trade

The launch of the Uniform Rules for Digital Trade Transactions (URDTT) by the International Chamber of Commerce on 1^st October 2021 is a big deal for paperless trade and complementary to the World Trade Board’s mission to improve people’s lives by connecting trade, finance and technology, enabling long-term growth and prosperity.

URDTT provide a basis for trading counterparties to exchange information digitally and is compatible with the UNICTRAL’s Model Law for Electronic Transferable Records that the G7 has pledged to adopt.  

URDTT provides rules for each party that participates in a digital trade transaction where electronic records are used to evidence the underlying sale and purchase of goods and services and the incurring of the payment obligation.   

Being technology agnostic URDTT can be implemented into existing sale and purchase agreements, enable those transactions to be conducted without the need for paper and provide clarity as to who is responsible for the payment obligation resulting from the underlying commercial transaction.  

The key here is that the commercial contract is not ruled by URDTT and only how the transaction is evidenced is covered.  We welcome the introduction of URDTT and look forward to buyers, suppliers and their supply chain and financing partners implementing URDTT as part of their digital toolkit.