HL Deb 06 June 1967 vol 283 cc280-1

3.17 p.m.

Order of the Day for the House to be put into Committee read.

Moved, That the House do now resolve itself into Committee.—(Lord Walston.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.

House in Committee accordingly.

[The EARL of LISTOWEL in the Chair.]

Clause 1 [Application of Uniform Law on the International Sale of Goods]:

LORD WALSTON moved, in subsection (5), after "States" to insert "and in respect of what territories". The noble Lord said: I beg to move the Amendment standing in my name on the Order Paper. Your Lordships may remember that there was a certain amount of questioning concerning this clause, and this Amendment has been drafted in an attempt—I hope your Lordships will agree a successful attempt—to remove any uncertainties which might have arisen from the clause as it originally stood.

Article I(1) of the Uniform Law on Sales provides that the law is to apply to contracts of sale between persons in different contracting States. The scope of application of the law in the United Kingdom therefore depends on what States are different contracting States, and Clause 1(5) of the Bill accordingly provides for the making of Orders in Council declaring what States are contracting States and what declarations have been made under Article II of the Convention on Sales, which allows States having similar laws on sales to declare that they do not consider them as "different States" for the purpose of the application of the Uniform Law. However, under Article XIII of the Convention on Sales a State which is party to the Convention may declare that it applies to all or any of the territories for which it is responsible. The scope of the application of the Uniform Law in the United Kingdom therefore also depends on the extent of the application of the Convention to dependent territories of contracting States.

The Amendment enables the Orders in Council made under Clause 1(5) to declare not only whether a State is party to the Convention, but also to declare in respect of what territories it is a party. The effect of the Amendment will be to make the relevant Orders in Council more informative and will therefore go a considerable way to meet the anxieties which were expressed, both here and in another place, that there was no provision for publicising action taken under the Convention. This is a small technical Amendment, but I hope that noble Lords who have followed this difficult but important and worthwhile Bill in detail will agree that this is a considerable improvement.

Amendment moved— Page 2, line 2, after ("States") insert ("and in respect of what territories")—(Lord Walston.)

LORD NUGENT OF GUILDFORD

May I thank the noble Lord, Lord Walston, for explaining the purpose of this Amendment, and thank him for the trouble he has taken to meet the anxieties which were raised earlier in the discussions on this Bill. The Amendment seems to do so very satisfactorily, and I thank him for it, at the same time thanking him for his felicitous reference to me a little earlier. I am sorry that I do not qualify for the extra pound on the calf subsidy.

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 1, as amended, agreed to.

Remaining clauses and Schedules agreed to.

House resumed: Bill reported, with the Amendment.